How Three Young Volunteers Help Their Generation Paint a Brighter Future

As digital natives, young people are proving that technology, when used with purpose, can be a powerful force for good. From fundraising on TikTok to organizing virtual campaigns on Instagram, they’re making a real difference in their communities and beyond. This year’s International Youth Day theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development,” shines a light on young leaders who are harnessing this potential to drive meaningful change.

In line with this, we’re taking the time to feature three of our dedicated volunteers, who believe deeply in their generation’s ability to shape a better future.

From left: Marlon, Pau, and Sherwin.

Pau, a creative professional with a passion for digital literacy, spends her free time lending her skills to various nonprofits across the Philippines. In makesense, she’s helped teach young teens from the Virlanie Foundation how to stay safe online in a world where grade schoolers know the latest TikTok trends better than their parents. During the activity with Virlanie, she pointed out how she met Erich, a promising young scholar who is also passionate about digital literacy and cybersecurity.

“I love her commitment to learning, how she takes notes on every topic addressed, and how she shares her knowledge with her fellow scholars,” Pau reflects. But even though she’s been volunteering for about 4 years now, she says that it’s not without its challenges. And while her fear of public speaking comes and goes, she mentions how having fellow volunteers helps her get over it and still successfully facilitate volunteering activities like this.

”The world isn’t just about competing. It’s about coming together to make it better.”

For Marlon, a HR professional, volunteering has always been about giving back to his peers. Outside of his full-time job, he also dedicates his time to helping nonprofits like makesense, recognizing the crucial role youth can play in “re-empowering” his fellow youth. He played a key role in our recent job interview coaching session, where volunteers from the software company SAP held one-on-one mock interviews with underserved youth. The goal? To help them develop the skills and confidence needed to excel in job interviews and expand their employment opportunities.

Reflecting on the activity, Marlon shares a moment that left a lasting impact on him: “One of the participants told me she was afraid to share her experiences because she thought they weren’t relevant. But through the coaching, she realized these experiences were actually her strengths. Now she sees them as leverage in her job search.” For Marlon, this was a powerful reminder of the importance of community over competition. “The world isn’t just about competing,” he says. “It’s about coming together to make it better.”

Sherwin, a college student with a deep-seated motivation to help his community, has channeled his passion into contributing insights about the current challenges his generation faces. This drive led him to play a significant role in our recent skills training program for environmental science students. Alongside other volunteers, Sherwin shared essential skills in areas like sustainability reporting and client management—skills that could help these students get their environment-related projects off the ground.

And while Sherwin is hopeful about the students’ potential to create impact, he’s also quick to emphasize the importance of supporting them beyond the classroom. “To fully realize the potential of our environmental advocates, it’s essential to provide them with the right support, including mentorship, program monitoring, and funding for implementation,” he stresses.

Inspiring the Next Wave

Following weeks of volunteering, Pau, Marlon, and Sherwin remain optimistic about convincing their peers to volunteer as well, and to find ways to channel their tech-savviness into helping each other. As Pau wisely quotes Audrey Hepburn: “’As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands—one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

Sherwin echoes this sentiment, adding, “Volunteering connects you with various community sectors, offering a sense of fulfillment through helping others and understanding the current challenges of the community.”

Marlon, reflecting on the broader impact of volunteerism, says, “We should strive to make the world a better place, and it does not require superpowers to make it happen. But imagine how much more positive change you could make if you had superpowers, right? Still, we can all contribute in our own ways, no matter how big or small.”

As we celebrate International Youth Day, it’s volunteers like Pau, Marlon, and Sherwin who remind us of the power of youth-led initiatives. Their stories highlight the potential of young people to not only envision a better world but to actively build it, one digital step at a time.