By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The Seattle CityClub recently launched its first-ever Civically Engaged Youth Council (CEYC). Composed of youth and young adults ages 15-24 from across Western and Central Washington, the council will provide young people with the opportunity to examine the value and impediments of free speech; discuss and learn about national and international issues of critical importance; and be challenged to discover ways in which they can actively participate in public life.
According to Alicia Crank, Executive Director of the Seattle CityClub, the launch of the youth council has been a long time coming. She believes that the youth council is a critical turning point to get members of Gen Z active in civic engagement, volunteering in the community, and joining different boards and commissions all in hopes of having their voices heard.
“This is a program I’ve wanted to do since I came to this organization,” says Crank. “It’s time for Gen Z voices to be front and center in conversations involving politics, civic engagement, and civil discourse.”
CEYC Leadership Team Member, Chirag Vedullapalli, is optimistic about the impact that the council can have on the greater community.
“The youth council is a way to pull young folks together who are actively engaged in civics in a variety of aspects like podcasting and working in politics,” says Vedullapalli. “We are all able to share what has been working, what has not been working, and new things that are happening that we think could fix parts of problems.”
Since its founding, the Seattle CityClub, a local nonprofit organization founded by eight women in 1980 who wanted to participate in civic engagement, has elevated the voice of those who often did not have a seat at the table.
“At the time [we were founded] they did not accept women members in service clubs like the Rotaries, and that is how the Seattle CityClub came to fruition,” says Crank. “The mission has always been to do good in the community, so we have been trying to hold ourselves to that standard ever since day one.”
The Seattle CityClub is currently recruiting members across the region to be a part of the CEYC. Members of the council will participate in a number of events, group outings, and forums that are informed and led by the council to be held across King and Snohomish Counties.
“We are going through an interest form phase and then will begin choosing members,” says Crank. “We want to make sure that we can get youth council members who are either doing something civically already as part of their personal activities or someone that is looking to advance their participation in civic activities, as well as having a diverse pool of people that can represent at least one particular point of view.”
One of the tasks for the CEYS is crafting questions for the upcoming Washington State Debate Coalition debates slated for later this year. Crank says this is an excellent opportunity for the youth to engage in the political process, and to ask questions of political candidates that are most important to them and their peers.
“When I came into this role in July of 2022, one of the things I thought about coming out of the last election was that the youth vote is not as high up there as it should be, especially coming off the Seattle City Council races recently where the young vote was totally blasted out, making up only about 16% of the total electorate, and that alone told me right there that it was time to energize this,” says Crank.
Looking to expand their community/audience with young people, the Seattle CityClub began utilizing social media platforms to find youth who are making a positive impact in the community, and helped Crank to identify current members of CEYS like Vedullapalli who was already making progressive change happen in the community.
“Being involved with Seattle CityClub has allowed me to spread awareness and get more people talking about important matters within our community,” says Vedullapalli. “I appreciate being a CEYC leadership team member because it is an opportunity to share projects that are led by youth for youth, and also address national and local problems at the same time.”
Crank says that by building a bridge between Gen Z and older generations through the CEYS will not only provide great benefits to the broader community but also allows the young people to benefit from infrastructure provided by organizations like the Seattle CityClub.
“There are a lot of different groups out there that are trying to do the same thing, but they are not connected, and we want to be that place where we connect these other organizations to have this central hub of ideas, support, and programming,” says Crank.
“With the youth council launching, it is a step in the right direction for making sure that young people can voice their opinions on issues that affect them, and that it also shines a light on young people that are not just leaders for the future, but are leading today,” says Vedullapalli.
