by: Jeremiah Ellis, Director of Outreach & Partnerships, Generation Next

When we talk about the mission of Generation Next and our Education Partnership Coalition partners, we often focus on systems, pathways, and long-term equity goals. But what does that work actually look like in practice?

It looks like young leaders taking the mic on an international stage to challenge how we think about civic engagement and racial equity.

Earlier this month, the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice at the University of Minnesota hosted the 7th World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality. Building on the legacy of civil rights leader Roy Wilkins, the Center brought together academics, practitioners, and impacted communities from India, South Africa, Brazil and beyond to identify concrete strategies to remedy systemic inequities across four priority tracks:

• Global Collaboration for Impact, Community, & Ubuntu
• Youth & Leadership in the 21st Century
• The Future of Prosperity and New Economic Models
• Human Rights, Dignity, and the Future of Democracy

Among the highlighted sessions was The Use and Effect of Community-Based Structures on Inequality, which explored how individual and collective choices shape societal outcomes.

Local Partnership, Global Impact

During this session, two extraordinary youth advocates from Red Wing, Minnesota—Amarie Williams and Katherine Tazin—delivered a powerful presentation titled “The Bystander Effect: Addressing Civic Disengagement as a Barrier to Racial Equity and Human Rights.”

Recent high school graduates Amarie and Katherine are members of the Community Youth Council at RiseUp Partnership, a fellow Education Partnership Coalition partner. In their presentation, these two young leaders examined how the psychological concept of the bystander effect—driven by fear of deviance, diffusion of responsibility, and power imbalances—manifests as “political bystandership” and desensitization to systemic harm.

Drawing on real-world examples ranging from federal immigration actions in Minnesota to social media desensitization, they made a compelling case for shifting from passive observation to active intervention. They left the audience with practical, actionable strategies for active bystandership:

• Direct: Address harmful behavior head-on when safe to do so.
• Distract: De-escalate or interrupt potential harm by shifting focus.
• Delegate: Mobilize others or bring in community support to intervene collectively.
• Delay: Check in and offer meaningful support after an incident occurs.

Why This Matters

For two high school leaders and future legal scholars from rural Minnesota, presenting alongside seasoned academics and veteran Minneapolis civil rights advocate T. Williams was a transformative experience. In addition to meeting iconic leaders like former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, their presence enriched the conference by ensuring young, impacted voices directly shaped the dialogue.

As Jeimmy Yusty Rojas, Director of Cradle to Career Initiatives, shared following the event:

“This was an incredible opportunity for two young people from a rural community in Minnesota to share their voices in an international space… [It is] a great example of what our coalition can make possible for young people.”

The 7th World Conference will survey all participants six months from now to track which strategies shared at the event have been implemented in communities worldwide. We are immensely proud to see our coalition’s youth leading that charge.