Global Citizen CEO taps into Generation Z's sense of urgency

abcnews.go.com:

The CEO of activism organization Global Citizen says the sense of urgency that younger generations bring to solving international challenges needs to be nurtured in the rest of the world

NEW YORK — Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans says the sense of urgency that younger generations bring to solving international challenges needs to be nurtured in the rest of the world.

“So many of the world’s most prolific movements were started by people when they were young,” Hugh Evans said, noting that Martin Luther King Jr. was only 34 when he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. “Can you imagine that? (Nelson) Mandela was 26 when he co-founded the ANC Youth League. Malala (Yousafzai) was 11 when she gave her first protest speech. And my hero (William) Wilberforce was 21 when he entered into politics. So we have to get our skates on.”

The Associated Press spoke with Evans shortly before Saturday’s Global Citizen Festival in New York, am event headlined by superstars like Post Malone and Doja Cat, as well as breakout artists like Benson Boone and Rauw Alejandro. The festival generated more than $1 billion in new commitments to fight extreme poverty, as well as a new partnership with FIFA in which Global Citizen supporters get tickets to matches by taking action on humanitarian issues.

The interview was edited for clarity and length.

A: We’re operating against the backdrop of a world with constant shocks — the ongoing shock of recovering from the pandemic and now the shocks of global conflicts. That has resulted in the first time in our lifetime where poverty for the last three years has been on the increase. We’re talking about 719 million people now living on less than $2.15 a day worldwide. The other big shock that the world hasn’t