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The Global Futurist Initiative™ (G-Fi) is a youth-led social effort working to prioritize youth issues in global agendas in pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. On Sept. 25, 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was passed at the United Nations General Assembly, which in turn, created the Sustainable Development Goals (colloquially referred to as the SDGs or Global Goals), and all stakeholders agreed to meet the 17 goals by 2030. Today, Secretary-General António Guterres speaks of “rescuing the SDGs” — and for good reason. Based on current data, the world is 43 years behind schedule and multiple reports show that youth are the most impacted by the decline.

Over the past decade before Global Futurist Initiative  was even a concept, G-Fi’s youth activists have been working hard to build an agenda for making youth issues a priority in global agendas such as the SDGs and defining what it means to achieve this goal. Inspired by the SDGs and ignited by the disservice they face for their future, youth from all over the world connected by these common passions gathered over a series of video calls to develop the blueprint and create the illustration of a new "18th SDG," following in the footsteps of the original 17 Goals, entitled Youth Equity.

Trebuchet’s “Avatar-in-Residence” Rachel started G-Fi through her creation of the organization’s Assembloids program, and I was very supportive of her independent program which today serves as a case competition for equipping youth with experience to receive early exposure to shaping policies and strategies for meeting youth equity. Through this effort, Rachel met another young colleague and Convisero mentor, Julia Samson, who is a Columbia University graduate and created Global Futurist Initiative’s CAST 4ward, the Enactus award-winning art program bridging artistic expression, education, and entrepreneurism for youth equity and the SDGs.

I am a strategic advisor for this organization and through my pollinating, introduced Convisero mentors Rachel, Jeffrey Aresty, and Rafael Reisz who are all collaborating together across various work streams to help G-Fi thrive. As IBO and G-Fi each bring unique expertise and experience necessary to accomplish their missions, they also knew that working together in alignment will further their mission and impact much greater. They have since established a formal partnership to build on each other’s work. This model includes The Trebuchet as an integral partner to the community building efforts.

In Spring 2023, the G-Fi leadership team were all invited to the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum after they met with the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth Office (OSGEY) to discuss Global Futurist Initiative's SDG 18 campaign. Rachel will also be in Washington, D.C. in June 2023 where she will be speaking at the United Nations Association of the USA Youth Declaration on Human Rights civic engagement event through the UNA-USA Leadership Summit. 

Global Futurist Initiative and UNA-USA are partnering based on overall alignment, but also notably because Rachel will be on Capitol Hill speaking to legislators about passing H.Rres.30: Supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals upon her successfully published op-ed “The US Needs to Get on Track with the Global Goals” in the political commentary We Didn’t Start the Fire from Inkstick Media. UNA-USA and G-Fi are strategically aligned on amending the bill to be more data-driven, localized, and youth inclusive but ultimately to get it passed. The University of Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, Foreign Policy for America Next Generation Leaders, US Global Leadership Coalition, and others are also looking to partner with G-Fi. A mutual partner of the UN Foundation (sponsor of UNA-USA), Global Futurist Initiative was also accepted to be part of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). WBA is a nonprofit organization with a two-fold purpose: 1) developing a series of benchmarks assessing 2,000 of the world’s most influential companies, ranking and measuring them on their contributions to meeting the SDGs, and 2) building a movement with Allies to incentivize businesses and hold them account towards creating a sustainable and inclusive future.

Below are various photos of G-Fi’s presence at the 2023 UN ECOSOC Youth Forum (portrayed in the first 5 photos featuring activists Julia Samson, Nick Wu, and Pooja Tilvawala), AFS Intercultural Programs Youth Assembly (next two photos featuring activists Rachel Svetanoff and Ifeoma Ilobodo), and United Nations Global Goals Week 2022 (remaining 5 photos featuring G-Fi mentor Peter Fusaro, activist Selina Kuang, and Rachel and Julia).

Global Futurist Initiative’s three tenets of approach are evidence, action, and advocacy. Evidence works to fill gaps on data about the role of youth. According to the UN World Youth Report (2020), every 1 in 5 youth are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), and to meet global youth needs, 600 million jobs would have to be created over the next 15 years. Only 1 metric in any youth report found (3 total) was used to measure youth representation: percent of young members of parliament. No metrics are available on how much youth know about the Global Goals.

Action is centered around two programs Assembloids and CAST 4ward. Assembloids aims to serve as a case competition for bridging youth and experienced professionals with policy and advocacy training to receive early exposure to shaping policies and strategies for global-scale agendas. G-Fi was accepted by Enactus and One Young World’s Action Accelerator for the CAST 4ward program. The Idea Captain (Rachel) along with a team of Mentors and event participants “hacked” the challenge and came up with a solution (for CAST 4ward) which was then pitched to a distinguished panel of judges and an audience of 3,000+ people. The first pilot was conducted for the Harvard University Seminar for Leaders in China where students were able to digitally create their own SDG 18 as they learned the principles of the UN Global Goals and what it means to them from what they encounter in their daily lives. 

Rachel’s consultancy with United Nations award-winning fashion designer Berny Martin is partnering with Global Futurist Initiative on an upcoming CAST 4ward pilot held virtually. Students will learn how to sew their own garments, how to be environmentally conscious with their work, and how to put on a fashion show production as the capstone project.

Advocacy is focused on raising awareness about the need to invest in the future with youth through a novel goal to push through global agendas. This became what is known as “SDG 18 Youth Equity.” After hearing the news that the the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution for establishing a UN Youth Office in 2022, G-Fi activists felt emboldened to launch this campaign and build on the momentum of elevating youth. Therefore, the youth of G-Fi are proposing the resolution of the newfound Sustainable Development Goal for adoption by consensus of the 193 United Nations member states. 

Below is a visual highlight of the advocacy work that the G-Fi leadership team led, shaped, and participated in since its founding in chronological order starting with the most recent events.

According to these young people, supporting youth needs a symbol to unite those that will not only assist in spreading awareness for their equity but will further highlight how all 17 SDGs rely on global youth and future generations. As such, they believe there must be a freestanding UN-supported global goal. It is through the name of SDG 18 Youth Equity that youth activists and those who work on behalf of marginalized youth feel to be seen, heard, and prioritized.

Today, Global Futurist Initiative, with the collective effort from agencies such as the Dutch Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN’s Division of Sustainable Development Goals, Young UNICEF, and many youth-centered organizations, are pushing for the ratification of SDG 18 into the current Global Goals framework. This new Goal is striving to implement temporal justice in safeguarding the future for those coming well after the current generations. It is imperative that goals constructed beyond the mark of 2030 are similar in nature to the initial goals outlined by the United Nations. They must have both locally-focused, and when possible to track, globally ambitious but practical measurable targets. Below is a depiction of “SDG 18.”

Title: Youth Equity: Providing equitable access to resources and opportunity for global youth. The future of the world is uncertain if the future for youth is uncertain.

Color: Purple is recognized as a color that represents transformation, solidarity, strength and power. This movement means to embody the meaning of this color.

Symbology: Separating the meanings of ‘equality’ and ‘equity’ is demonstrated by showcasing an unequal distribution of resources based on individual need for a common purpose.

Scope: The proposition includes the United Nations’ definition of youth (15 - 24 years old) within the scope but also wish to expand on this range to include all peoples 35 and under.

Goal: Achieve youth equity and elevate youth contributions to society and the natural ecosystem

Targets:

18.1 Make efforts to significantly increase the level of youth leadership, including in the private sector and multilateral institutions
18.2 Substantially increase youth representation at the global, national, and local level of law- and policy making
18.3 Strengthen efforts to safeguard and protect sustainable environments as a result of decision-making that impacts multiple generations into the future
18.4 Ensure that all youth have universal access to interpersonal development, leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
18.5 Substantially increase youth training in financial literacy and access to independent banking, including resources, investments, loans, and options
18.6 Adopt enforceable legislation for creating and ensuring a universal safe environment on the internet for youth and children