--- --- # Harnessing Youth Power to Shape a Better Tomorrow  Left to right: Jaden Gabb, Pascalyn Omatosha, and Maurits Acosta Left to right: Jaden Gabb, Pascalyn Omatosha, and Maurits Acosta They’re young, they’re passionate, and they’re changing the world through service. Today’s youth see community service not just as a good deed, but as a powerful catalyst for growth, leadership, and meaningful impact. And when they come together, their energy is electric. This transformative power shone brightly at the inaugural year of [The Allstate Foundation National Youth Service Summit](https://expandingleadership.org/summit/). The dynamic event brought together inspiring youth changemakers from across the country, highlighting their incredible potential to transform our world for the better. "Being surrounded by youth leaders who are just as passionate about creating change has reignited my belief that real progress happens when we come together, support each other, and dream bigger than the limitations we often face," says participant Nahom Sisay.  ## The significance of service For today’s youth, community service isn’t just a box to check—it’s a way to grow, lead, and make a real impact. The Allstate Foundation, in collaboration with The Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity (CELO), recently released a [report](https://expandingleadership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Leveraging-the-Potential-of-Youth-Service.pdf)​ with the results of a survey that illustrates just how true this is: * 79% of youth see community service as a way to create positive change in their community * 77% report increased leadership skills * 70% feel more prepared for future careers But despite their passion and the payoffs, youth often face barriers to engaging in service, including insufficient support, burnout, and disillusionment. Creating energizing opportunities to connect and collaborate with like-minded young people and service leaders are crucial as they work to tear down these obstacles. Greg Weatherford II, director of [The Allstate Foundation](https://www.allstatecorporation.com/the-allstate-foundation.aspx)​ & Social Impact, says the Summit is a key component of their ongoing commitment to empowering youth to serve and improve communities by directly investing in their service journeys. The Allstate Foundation and CELO centered the Summit around three themes: connection, co-creation, and renewal. “We have seen how oftentimes youth changemakers can feel alone in their service journeys, especially if they’re not surrounded by other young people who are similarly passionate and driven to serve their communities,” Weatherford says. “So, we designed many aspects of the Summit around providing these youth with the space to build meaningful connections with other youth from across the country and cultivating lifelong support networks.” Dr. Kristan Cilente Skendall, chief operating officer and co-founder of CELO, says the Summit anchors one of CELO’s strategic priorities: elevating youth. Drawing from years of research, including data from more than 600,000 young people, Skendall says that youth are engaging in service at unprecedented rates. According to The Allstate Foundation’s research report, Leveraging the Potential of Youth Service, about 70% of youth ages 18 to 25 engage in monthly service experiences. “This passion for positively impacting their communities was on full display during the Summit,” Skendall says. “Youth weren’t just participating in service to pad their resumes or increase their odds of securing an internship. They see service as a vehicle to rebuild social cohesion, connect with community, and share responsibility for building the world they want to live in.”  ## Building solutions The Summit was a whirlwind of ideas and action. The weekend’s agenda included networking sessions, panels featuring prominent national youth leaders, activities to help participants prioritize self-care and renewal, and opportunities to develop solutions for real-world issues. A fast-paced design challenge put participants in the driver’s seat. They broke up into teams to brainstorm, create, and pitch solutions to pressing issues in just a few hours. The result? Innovation in action. Each team competed to secure grant funding for youth-serving nonprofits in Chicago, and a total of $17,500 was awarded to six organizations. Weatherford says he was inspired by the exercise. “These youth who did not know each other 24 hours prior rallied each other to create innovative and incredible program ideas,” Weatherford says. “This was truly a testament to how Gen Z is eager to make a difference and has the drive and innovative spirit to do so.” Zoë Jenkins, a 21-year-old student at The University of Virginia, says the experience was unlike any other. “A lot of my youth service experience has been showing up in adult-dominated spaces and trying to represent young people to adults who normally think that you don't belong there,” Jenkins says. “But this is a space of almost 70 other young people, and there's no pressure to try to fit in something that's adult-oriented or to do the conference in the ‘traditional way.’ We can just be young, make jokes, and talk about meaningful service work at the same time.”  ## Ongoing impact The buzz of the Summit has reverberated far beyond the weekend. Many participants made plans to collaborate, and an ad hoc alumni committee formed to host recurring virtual meetings. To keep the momentum going, The Allstate Foundation is supporting participants with a total of $75,000 in microgrants to collaborate on service projects going forward. Plans for future summits are in the works. In the meantime, Weatherford encourages everyone to visit [The Allstate Foundation’s website](https://www.allstatecorporation.com/the-allstate-foundation/youth-empowerment.aspx)​ for resources to empower the young people in their lives to realize the power of service. For more information and to be notified when next year’s Summit application opens, visit [The Allstate Foundation National Youth Service Summit website](https://expandingleadership.org/summit/).  [Learn more](https://www.allstatecorporation.com/the-allstate-foundation/youth-empowerment.aspx) Harnessing Youth Power to Shape a Better Tomorrow ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/the-allstate-foundation/empowering-tomorrow-youth-leaders-changing-communities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/the-allstate-foundation/empowering-tomorrow-youth-leaders-changing-communities/"},"headline":"Harnessing Youth Power to Shape a Better Tomorrow","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:28:27.372Z","dateModified":"2026-06-03T16:28:47.856Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/the-allstate-foundation/empowering-tomorrow-youth-leaders-changing-communities/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/the-allstate-foundation/empowering-tomorrow-youth-leaders-changing-communities/","name":"Harnessing Youth Power to Shape a Better Tomorrow"}}]}] ```