Become a Changemaker

The world is beautiful, and the world is broken. Both are true! There are so many good things to be thankful for in life, but also deep problems that you probably see all around you. Is there one that you already notice and feel bothered about? 

Maybe you live in a place where you see homeless people; or maybe you see how humans are harming the environment and causing climate change. Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you why some people start off with lots of money, when other people start life off in poverty with so many problems to deal with before they even become adults.

You can’t fix everything, but you can make a huge contribution. Kids’ voices are powerful – just look at the story of Greta Thunberg, who at 15 years old began protesting for climate change by skipping school on Fridays to stand in front of her country’s main government building, and began a movement of millions of people to fight climate change and save our Earth. You can make a huge difference: the key is to choose an issue that matters to you, and learn how to be an effective changemaker.

1. Getting Started:

   1. Find Your Cause: Is there a cause that already speaks to you, or an injustice you notice that makes you want to do something? If yes, then you already have a starting point. If not, don’t worry — your cause is just waiting for you to notice it.

      There are a few ways to find it. One is just to read the news. Check out the local news (maybe a newspaper website) and the national news, on a major website like CNN or the New York Times. See the issues and problems that are talked about there - is there one that feels especially important to you?

      Another way to find your cause is to interview people. You might choose 3 adults and 3 young people to speak to, and ask them what cause or problem speaks most to them. No one can tell you what cause is right for you, but the more you know, the more likely it is to find the right one for you.

   2. Find Your People: Correcting an injustice is usually not something to do alone; you will have more insight into the problem, and much better chances of actually causing change, if you work with others. Once you have an issue to work on, look online and ask others if there are groups already working on this. For example, groups like the Sierra Club might already have resources to help people work on environmental issues; or affinity groups like the GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) may have resources if you’re working on discrimination against people on the basis of gender and orientation. It doesn’t have to be an official organization — it might be a peer at school or in your neighborhood who you realize has a similar interest, and the two of you could work together on this. If it’s an organized group, try to find their website and sign up for their updates, or find and follow their social media accounts.

   3. Find a Starting Point: Once you have an issue and are connecting to others working on it, the next step is to begin taking action.

      Often this begins with raising awareness, so other people know about this problem too. For example, imagine a friend is eating food that they don’t realize is rotten. You might first want to say “Hey, watch out! that food is not good for you” - that is like helping them realize that a behavior they’re doing, or a system they’re supporting, is actually hurting them and others.

      In practice this might be making posters to make people aware of a problem in their community, or creating an online group, hosting meetings of others interested in a given issue, or creating a petition to gather signatures showing an authority that many people care about a given issue. See the challenge on Giving Feedback to Authority for some specific tips.

   4. Find Your Superpower: As you work on a social change effort, you’ll probably discover that you are really good at one particular part of the work. Maybe you’re awesome on social media and can get hundreds of people to follow your efforts. Maybe you’re good at making signs to hold in a protest, or at organizing friends to meet up and work together. Look for that superpower and then try to use it as much as possible. That’s what makes an awesome team — everyone knows and uses their superpower — and it’s usually a team that causes real change to take place.