Last Wednesday I spoke on a panel at Demos about the role of young people, technology, and nonprofits in democracy. The other panelists were Jared Duval, a fellow at Demos and author of Next Generation Democracy, and Ben Berkowitz, CEO and co-founder of SeeClickFix, an organization that allows people to report problems in their neighborhood to government, businesses, and other community members online.

What was exciting to me about being on this panel was that there has been a push for nonprofits to take stronger and larger roles in addressing the needs of the people they serve. In fact, an American Express survey found that 70% of Americans trust nonprofits to solve social issues-more than they trust government or business.

However, are nonprofits ready to answer that call? In preparation for the event I thought about challenges facing nonprofits as young people enter the field and as they are called on to move America forward.

How will nonprofits engage change makers outside of the sector?

1. Beyond the 501c3 model: Young people are simply opting out of the sector. There is a growing movement around “Doing Well and Doing Good:” whether it be hybrid models or businesses with triple bottom lines, young people is challenging the idea that working within a nonprofit is the only way to address a social issue. Models of this approach are TOMS Shoes or SeeClickFix which is a self sustaining for-profit. New classifications-such as being a B-corporation-are emerging as well, signaling the growing role of business in social change.

2. Free agents: The phrase was coined by Allison Fine and Beth Kanter in their book “The Networked Nonprofit” and describes people who harness social media to mobilize their networks to take action-whether it be signing a petition, making a donation, or attending a protest. What’s key about free agents is that they do all of this outside of the confines of an organization, indicating a shift away from being part of nonprofits.

For those who do opt to join the sector, what structural changes are they bringing?

1. Shared leadership: The executive director position can be intimidating and unappealing to many young people entering the sector. As a result, there has been a move towards shared leadership, which can mean having two or three executive directors instead of one. For example, at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy conference the Chinook Fund shared the benefits and challenges in shifting from one executive director to three co-directors. Can shared leadership reduce burnout and increase commitment?

2. Inclusive leadership: Beyond the executive director position, inclusion needs to happen at every level. Excluding young people from important conversations is problematic and decreases the level of investment and commitment you could potentially get from younger employees. The worst feeling in the workplace is the feeling of being treated unfairly and nonprofits are not immune from accusations of being unjust to their employees.

Throughout the conversation some challenges were raised by the audience and panelists that I think millennials need to consider:

Are we fair to members of our own generation? Ironically, when it comes to millennials, our diversity is both celebrated and ignored. While I certainly identify with my generation, conversations about leadership must focus on race, gender, and class and we need to challenge our image of a millennial . The last time I checked, in NYC only 28% of black males graduated from high school. Are they not part of our generation?

Are we really challenging power? Ben noted that while Mayor Fenty of DC pioneered using technology to connect with his constituents, he completely ignored the answers he was getting. Voters ultimately voiced their dissatisfaction at the polls this year but this raises an interesting challenge: while the mediums may have changed to voice opinions, who selects which opinions to listen to, if they get selected at all? How do we prevent abuse of technology?

Are we ready to work with the other three generations? It’s too easy to focus on millennials as they stand to be leaders of organizations. However there are still other people in these organizations who should be included as well. Additionally, we will not be the youngest generation for long. How do we ensure our conversations address collaboration and not generation takeover?

What do you think?  Are nonprofits and young people addressing these challenges?  Are there other challenges to consider?

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