Unveiling the Power of Youth Cultural Wealth in Technology and Innovation

This blog is the third in a 5-part series that YouthxYouth has collaborated on with SecondMuse's program, Headstream, to support uplifting the wisdom from Co-creators within Headstream’s Youth Collective program, the Co-Creator Club.

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Beyond being the first generation to grow up with social media, Gen Z brings an incredible depth of experience to the table. As the most racially and ethnically diverse generation yet, Gen Z is driven by progress and inclusion. We not only strive to think independently, but to ensure that the sole direction society moves is forward. Recently, we’ve witnessed global warming reach all-time highs and mental health worsen across all demographics,  while watching our supposed leaders argue over whether or not TikTok should be banned. Technology and innovation decision-making is becoming increasingly more unstable with a severe lack of youth representation at the table. What better time to incorporate youth perspectives? It’s said that we’re the voices of tomorrow, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that tomorrow is happening now. 

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Mission to Understand Youth Cultural Wealth

Valuing the significance of incorporating younger generations’ perspectives in technology and innovation starts with understanding youth cultural wealth. Dr. Yosso, a professor at The University of California, Riverside, coined the term “cultural wealth.” Cultural wealth is defined as: “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities and experiences that are learned and shared by a group of people.” Youth cultural wealth can be observed in different ways. For instance, some cultural wealth for Black girl youth could be the shared experience of having gotten box braids. On a wider scale, some cultural wealth for youth could be remembering the time when creating slime took over. Youth cultural wealth can be both focused and broad. It’s important to not merely recognize youth cultural wealth but to know how to incorporate it.

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The Infinities of Youth Perspectives On Technology

Last month, NY Governor, Kathy Hochul, attended a business conference where she discussed the urgency for marginalized communities to have access to emerging AI technologies. There, Gov. Hochul said, “Right now, we have young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word computer is.” This ignorant comment begs the question: who was at the table when Gov. Hochul was preparing her remarks? It doesn’t seem like any Black kids from the Bronx were there because if that were the case, Hochul’s bizarre comments likely would’ve never been uttered. 

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If Gov. Hochul had invited young people from the Bronx to the table, they would’ve used their cultural wealth to help strategize ways to bring her AI accessibility ambitions to life. This instance seamlessly, though harshly, exemplifies how vital it is to value youth cultural wealth when it comes to technology and innovation. If an issue that’s being solved involves a youth, those very youth should be provided with a seat at the roundtable.

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Exploring Wonders of Youth Cultural Wealth

Fortunately, there are exemplary stories highlighting the power of youth cultural wealth. In 2012, an activist founded Girls Who Code after becoming aware of the major gender gap in computer science classes. Initially, the program taught coding to 20 girls in NYC. Participants of the program can fill out feedback forms and start their own “GWC'' clubs at their schools. GWC also has an Alumni Advisory Council, where past participants share their perspectives and assist in shaping programming. Currently, Girls Who Code has taught coding to 580,000 girls, women, and nonbinary individuals around the globe. The success of GWC proves how powerful the incorporation of youth cultural wealth is. 

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Flying Back to Reality

As wonderful as incorporating youth cultural wealth is, it can be arduous to bring to reality. Many youth come from backgrounds where there’s no opportunity to speak up. Youth from marginalized backgrounds have it especially difficult, given the prevalence of “isms” and inequities. It's key to empower youth in technology and innovation, by not only providing seats for them at the table but allowing them to speak and make decisions. For example, some peers and I discovered about the Headstream Co-Creators Club through a youth civics podcast. It’s in ways like this, through communicating opportunities to youth in youth spaces, that the incorporation of youth cultural wealth can truly begin.

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The Only Direction Is Up

As problems across the world worsen, technology and innovation hold the torch in impacting the futures of younger generations. This stresses the urgency to integrate youth cultural wealth in technology, and programs that educate and mentor youth in nurturing their innovations have the opportunity to do just that. The key to integrating youth cultural wealth in technology remains this: we not only have to create a seat for youth at the roundtable, but we have to actively invite youth to take a seat at that very table. 

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We challenge everyone to support and amplify youth voices in technology in any way possible. Whether that means encouraging youth in your life to share their perspectives or even creating a youth advisory council in your organization. Young people bring an incredible depth of experiences to the table, experiences that we need to hear from to ensure there’s a better tomorrow. - A tomorrow that looks like it’s happening today.

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We, SecondMuse, provide a platform to amplify diverse voices, especially the youth in our programs. The views and content in this blog series are those of the individual authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of Headstream, SecondMuse, or YouthxYouth.