1M2030 Story #1: Leading Youth Leaders - By Alexander Taylor
My name is Alexander Taylor and I am one in a million. And this is my story…
I am 21 years old, public speaker & social entrepreneur, as well as both the Business Development Ambassador for the 1M2030 initiative and founder of Artem NexGen youth leadership organization. Since the age of fifteen, I have been empowering and convening fellow social entrepreneurs to address social justice and environmental issues. I believe that we are not only the future leaders of the world, but also current ones. We are here as stakeholders, and we have a voice as catalysts for our generation. This generation has a valuable perspective to share and much to contribute. After all, we are inheriting the challenges of today. So, we must, therefore, engage now and contribute to the solutions of making the world a more just and more sustainable place.
I believe that we are not only the future leaders of the world, but also current ones
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. My mother, a first-generation American, was adamant that I knew about my heritage and history. She was the descendant of a Haitian Ambassador and French Jews. She told me that I was a global citizen and therefore had a civic responsibility to contribute to my environment. “Do well so that you may do good,” was one of her many sayings. So, it was no surprise that when I approached her when I was fifteen, about the negative media portrayals of minority youth, she responded, “So what are you going to do, to change the narrative?” And thus, Artem NexGen was born. Artem currently has over 3,000 global youth leaders participating in its network.
“Do well so that you may do good,” was one of her many sayings
After graduating high school, I spent a gap-year overseas in Senegal as Global Citizen Year Merit Scholar. I worked on developing a school for children with disabilities and creating a chess program in Wolof (the major native and cultural language) to encourage after school activities for high-school students. I later became the Business Development Ambassador for the 1M2030 Initiative, sponsored by the Global Challenges Forum Foundation (GCF) in collaboration with UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research). 1M2030 is a program for youth social entrepreneurs to become societal and responsible leaders. Our launch on September 27th, 2019 at the United Nations European Headquarters brought youth spotlight speakers and experts to work together on the empowerment of youth worldwide.
Through my appointment as one of the youth spotlight speakers selected from a pool around the world to speak at the UN, I was appointed as the Youth Ambassador for the Global Challenges Forum and the Business Development Ambassador for 1M2030. I now work in both capacities to help 1M2030 reach its goal of empowering 1 million social entrepreneurs beyond 2030.
I am committed to engaging young leaders in tough conversations
Following my mother’s advice to “Do well so that you can do good,” I am committed to engaging young leaders in tough conversations regarding racism, global warming, socio-economic disparities, gender inequalities, and so on. I believe that we can indeed be the change we need in this world and that we can lead the way.
*This article originally appeared in AwareNow Magazine
1M2030 Stories
1M2030 Stories is a weekly feature of a young leader and their unique story.
If you think you have a compelling story to tell, we invite you to send us your article to info@1m2030.org.