Moteelall: There are a lot of organizations out there that were set up 20 to 25 years ago that work with the boomers, but they don’t necessarily understand young people. Those organizations lean on us as their youth-donor education and organization arm. Just as there’s an intergenerational transfer of wealth occurring, there’s also a leadership transition within the nonprofit sector. We’re focusing on a niche group, but being a youth-led and youth-focused organization lets us be a little more on the edge, to push a little, to shape the agenda and then create the programs for that.

Gilmore: If you see RG as part of the larger movement for social justice—which is how I look at it—then you see that youth organizing leads a lot of change. Young people have always had the vision and done the cutting-edge work.

Do you have advice for parents about their kids?

Moteelall: Have honest dialogue. Don’t be dogmatic. Open up the conversation. Let young people bring their full selves into the family, into the money, into the position.

Gilmore: One of the powerful things about having a youth-focused group is figuring out how to have those conversations, especially in, for example, the family foundation context, where there’s usually a powerful family structure set up. To figure out with your peers how to navigate that and then go into intergenerational conversation is important. My advice is: There is so much thought and intention to learn from young people—create the spaces to do that.

Photograph by Erik Rank.