Generation Changemaker

"Gen C" is the initiative promoted by the Agenzia Nazionale per i Giovani and Ashoka Italia to create a community of young promoters of change.

The project stems from the conviction that in recent years the youth community has suffered from a univocal and often stereotyped narrative that has incompletely described the so-called “Generation Z” and the “Millennials”. The recent pandemic experience, its social, economic and cultural effects on the new generations have also contributed to spreading the idea of a ‘Covid generation’.

The Agenzia Nazionale per i Giovani and Ashoka Italia have decided to overturn this perspective, through the initiative “Gen C”: GENERATION CHANGEMAKERS, which aims to promote youth protagonism and establish a community of young people as promoters of social change. The aim is to tell the experience of many girls and boys who, beyond Covid, are contributing to generate Change, through Comparison and Sharing among peers and putting their own Skills at the service of the territories.

The initiative was presented on June 23 in Rome, and was attended by the Minister for Youth Policies, Fabiana Dadone, the Director of the National Agency for Youth, Lucia Abbinante, the Director of Ashoka Italy, Federico Mento, and the representatives of the many institutions and organisations that have decided to support Generation Changemaker.

The project “Gen C: Generation Changemakers” is divided into two phases: the first phase aims to collect, through the direct involvement of young students and university students, data and information on innovation and the leading role of the new generations in Italy, with the goal of disseminating and communicating their ideas for change; the second phase envisages the birth and consolidation of the community of “Young Changemakers”, i.e. young protagonists of social change who will be encouraged to promote the European Programmes, their ideas and experiences, in order to generate a multiplier effect among peers and on the territory.

A large number of organisations and associations have already joined the project and participated in its presentation: ItaliaCamp, the APRE Agency, Save The Children’s Sotto Sopra movement, the ANG inRadio network, the EuroPeers Italia network, Giovani per l’Unesco, the National Youth Council, ANCI Giovani, JA Italia, ANGI, Treno della Memoria, Terra del Fuoco Mediterranea, UNICEF Italia, Start-Net, L’Oreal, Fondazione Unipolis, Premio Italia Giovane, Fondazione Unipolis, One Day Group, the Open Source School, ESN Italia, Young United Nations Delegates, Youth20, Mondo Internazionale, Agrigento and Trapani Community Foundation, Terre des Hommes, Bottega del Terzo Settore, Women20, InventoLab, Randstad, CARISAP Foundation, Italia che cambia, SNAM Foundation, Casillo Foundation, Noi al Centro (Ashoka), Prime Minister, Humans to Humans, Teach for Italy, GAI, LegaCoop, Visionary Days, Network of Schools for Peace, Libera, La Fabbrica. Media partner of the project is “Change for The Future”.

Ashoka Italia is a partner of Torino Social Impact for a series of projects including the construction of the Italian Ashoka Hot Spot, a legacy of the global summit that was held in Torino in 2021. The global summit of Ashoka, the largest international network of social innovators, was indeed held in Turin on December 2. The Ashoka Changemaker Summit (ACMS) is the most relevant continental event where Ashoka brings together its fellows, supporters and partners. The ACMS connects a broad community of social entrepreneurs and leaders in business and philanthropy, disseminating inspiring examples and collaborating to develop strategies for social change.

You can review the Young Changemaker award session at the Ashoka Summit here (from minute 1:01:15 to minute 1:38:00) and here.