May 28, 2025.

Gen Z tends to lack trust in the major institutions that previous generations expected to safeguard their futures. The philanthropic sector is working to reverse that disillusionment by empowering Gen Z to make the structural change they so often seek. Born out of the idea that young people distrust institutions because they don’t feel served by the status quo, several initiatives are underway with hopes that more responsive institutions will be seen as more legitimate. For example, DoSomething has been boosting youth volunteering since 1993 and the nonprofit is now providing opportunities to make more lasting community change. Summer Dean, 27, says: “Young people — we’re not just victims of these systems. We have agency and we have power.”