This past January, middle school, high school, and college students from across the United States gathered to participate in the Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit. Working as Delegations for Change, the students had the opportunity to hear from subject matter experts and collaborate in small-group breakout delegations to generate solutions to real-world challenges that our president and their generation will have to face in the coming years. Contrary to popular belief and what the media says, these next generation leaders still have hope, and they are asking for the support and collaboration needed to improve our collective future.
Today, Envision released “Generation Now,” the culmination and Call to Action of the students’ non-partisan collaboration in effort to solve problems for their future. The report has been distributed to the President of the United States and Congressional Leaders and is available for download here.
The Delegation for Change Competition
Envision used crowd-sourcing to find what the scholars felt would most directly impact their future, resulting in these six delegation topics: Drones, Clones & Genomes; Curing the Future; Racing Extinction; Imagining Peace; A Smarter Planet; and Pathways to Power. The scholars selected the topic of their choice and were tasked with partnering with their peers to create solutions for their issues, keeping in mind the progression of the Digital Age and hot topics like the rise of Artificial Intelligence and its effect on the workforce.
Although given the tall order of reimagining institutions and businesses in a more wired world, the scholars succeeded with commendable short term and long term solutions for education, business, and technology, including:
- Advance students to the next grade based on competency, not age
- Provide government funded re-education of workers displaced by technology
- Train school personnel, including maintenance staff, on how to handle terrorist situations
- Reverse ocean pollution through new technologies, creating a cleaner planet and more jobs
- Turn waste into cleaner conditions in impoverished areas of the world
- Create self-cleaning concrete to reduce the amount of smog caused by vehicle emissions
The “Generation Now” report includes the Delegation for Change winning proposals addressing these topics and creative solutions from the college, high school, and middle school delegations.
These next generation leaders not only believe in the American Dream, they are determined to play an impactful role in expanding it.
About Envision
Envision helps students turn their career and life aspirations into reality. The Envision portfolio of programs enable students of all ages to explore their interests and gain learning experience beyond the classroom. Since 1985, Envision programs have served more than 800,000 students from more than 145 countries, with programs designed to connect high aspiring students with the leadership, scholarship, and career skills needed to success in today’s competitive college and career landscape; providing unique, real world experiences that enable students to discover their passion, try out a future career, and positively impact the world around them.
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