Dear America:
Next year, the United States turns 250 years old. But, it's more than just a big birthday party. The U.S. 250th is a milestone moment to ask ourselves whether the America we’re living in has lived up to its founding promises.
For young people today, political division, economic instability, and global crises are the backdrop to our coming of age story. We’re the largest youth generation in U.S. history — but we’ve had few chances to shape the decisions that define our future.
Our country was started by a letter. A defiant vision and call to action – from people younger than most of those in power today. We’re starting up where they left off.
A country that builds with young people is a better country. If the United States of America is going to have a future, then America’s future must have a seat at the table.
It’s time to rekindle the revolutionary spirit of urgency and invention. Gen Z is ready to lead our country into the future.
With our country’s 250th birthday a year away, we’re calling on leaders and young people nationwide to make this moment a turning point. Over the next 12 months, join us in making these commitments:
- Include young people in every room where decisions are made. Not with tokenization, but with real responsibility, roles and influence.
- Share our stories, ideas and experiences on your platforms. We bring a unique point of view to shape culture and policy.
- Co-create the future. Don’t design for us, design with us. We have our finger on the pulse and our insights are essential for business, media, government and society.
This is your invitation. If you run a business, lead an institution, shape policy, or influence culture – pass the mic to the next generation. Challenge your peers to do the same.
And if you’re a young person reading this, you already belong in this work. Join the Youth250 movement. Volunteer your voice for the national Content Corps. Ask questions. Take action. Help write the story of where we go from here.
The best birthday gift we can give this country isn’t nostalgia. It is power shared across generations. To imagine. To govern. To build what comes next.
With urgency and hope,
Youth250
Co-Signed by leading efforts across sectors:
- ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
- Amplify Pledge
- Atlanta History Center
- Campus Compact
- Charles Wright Museum of African American History
- CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)
- Civics Unplugged
- CoGenerate
- Conner Prairie
- DoSomething
- Future Caucus
- Generation Citizen
- Her Campus
- Hopelab
- History Co:Lab
- HistoryMiami Museum
- Institute for Citizens and Scholars
- Japanese American National Museum
- Lincoln Presidential Foundation
- Made By Us
- National Archives Foundation
- National Youth Leadership Council
- New Voters
- PBS News Student Reporting Labs
- Points of Light
- Senator John Heinz History Center
- The New York Historical
- Young Futures
- Youth Service America