Nikki Donovan boards a flight to Washington every year. She isn’t there to visit. She is there to fight. 

Her flight touches down in Washington, D.C., and she steps out to see the nation’s capital, where she will spend the next few days speaking one-on-one with representatives, politicians, and aides, pushing for essential policies.

Donovan is among the thousands of youth activists pushing for political change on different issues. She is a climate champion who works with many organizations to fight for a better future.

People are only given a vote when they are 18, but they have found other ways to ensure their voices will be heard. Youth activism has begun to shape the political landscape and bring issues youth care about to light. 

Many of these issues weren’t discussed when young people brought them to the national stage. 

In the past, activists like the Greensbourgh Four, a group of students, Jibreel Khazan, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond, led the most prominent sit-in during the civil rights movement. Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were about 20 and still in college when they started a nonviolent resistance group against the Nazis, the White Rose, have shaped history. Now, activists like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai are shaping the future. Youth, through time, have brought new issues and subjects that were ignored by the public to political leaders’ attention. 

“We should make the change we want to see because we’ll be the ones living in the future,” Donovan said. 

Youth voices in politics

Donovan works with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), a global organization that advocates democratic solutions to climate change, such as a tax on carbon emissions.

She is one of the three co-leads of the student groups in the San Mateo chapter. They work on contacting politicians and lobbying for a policy-driven solution to climate change. 

Working with the student chapter, Donovan and the other co-leads have organized several projects. Currently, the group is working on bringing restaurant plastic bans to San Mateo County and lobbying local officials for a bill to improve the county’s air quality.

“Youth perspective, youth dialogue, education, and speaking out. I think that’s all really important for youth to be doing,” Donovan said.

According to a survey by United Way NCA, 33% of people ages 12 to 27 have contacted politicians to lobby for a specific cause or social issue at least once.

“It’s important for politicians, especially local politicians, to listen to youth because they will end up becoming their constituents,” said Sweekriti Ratnam, president of the Political Science Club at Carlmont.

Donovan works with several activists to help them understand the legislative system and teach them how to lobby for things they are about. 

It is more important for youth to reach out to politicians about issues that will affect them the most in the future. The discussions around climate change have highlighted this. This is why young people are often at the front of climate activism.

“Many times, politicians are inclined to listen to youth because they will be inheriting this world, and we have left them a mess,” said Elaine Salinger, the student mentor for the San Mateo County chapter of CCL.

One significant shift in youth activism is that politicians are younger now, especially in the House of Representatives. The youngest incoming member of the House of Representatives in 2024 is only 26 years old. 

According to the Pew Research Center, Boomers and the Silent Generation have gone from making up 72% of the House of Representatives in 2017 to only 50% in 2024.

Younger politicians are a considerable advantage for youth activists. They are bringing up the problems that youth can’t solve by themselves and need the support of politicians and adults to resolve them.

“When you’re an elected official in power, you need to realize that you’re serving the community,” Ratnam said, “You’re serving everyone, not just the people who can vote.”

Respecting youth voices

Respect is key to getting young activists a seat at the table.

When most people think about young people in activism, they think about protests and marches, things with no direction or plan for politicians to act on.

“Some people just don’t respect the youth, period,” Salinger said.

Historically, many movements, like the Civil Rights movement, were started by adults, but youth were instrumental. Youth-led protests like the Greensboro sit-ins added a lot of weight to these campaigns. 

“We live in a society where youth and children have historically had their power disrespected,” Charla Agnoletti, a PhD student in Education and Human Development at UC Denver and a faculty instructor at UC Denver, said.

“Losing hope is something that happens a lot, but I feel like there’s still a lot we can do,” Donovan said.

In addition, when youth reach out to politicians, they can be pushed aside because politicians don’t think they have enough experience to have a valid opinion on policies.

“In society, we have this construct that if you’re young, you don’t hold as much power,” Ratnam said.

Reaching out to politicians and lobbying can be difficult for many young people without the proper knowledge or means to contact politicians. Many organizations that Donovan works with are trying to fix this.

“Political figures aren’t as inclined to listen to this technical advice from young people,” Donovan said. This hasn’t discouraged her, though. 

Donovan has helped organize trips to Sacramento for her school’s climate club and participated in youth lobbying in Washington, bringing youth voices to political policies. Each of her trips was highly researched beforehand and prepped for months.

“You aren’t always in those rooms, but you can put yourself in those rooms,” Agustin said.

For her, getting the respect of politicians required finding the right politicians to work with. She and her youth group have worked closely with a few politicians, including Josh Becker and Kevin Mullin, on problems that both the politicians and the youth care about.

Politicians have begun to take youth complaints seriously through lobbying, protests, and rallies.

“Focus in on what’s important to you; you don’t have to watch every single bill go,” said District Representative Isabel Agustin, who works for Josh Becker and covers issues of climate energy and environmental problems in the district. 

Donovan has mentored many young people and passed on her experience working with political figures.

Even when politicians ignore youth and disrespect them, they still speak up. As youths have raised their voices recently, politicians have been forced to pay attention.

“I felt like I’m not respected or not understood by a political figure,” Donovan said, “But I’ve also felt very appreciated by others.”