In a ballroom at the Courtland Grand Hotel on Tuesday — just steps away from the Georgia State University campus — 25-year-old Daphne Frias encouraged the hundreds of her peers that gathered there to harness their superpower.
“For me, being a young person is my superpower,” she said. “I understand that my youth and my generation are changing the world.”
The youth and disability advocate gave her remarks at the National Youth Employment Coalition annual forum held in capital city of Georgia — a crucial swing state in the upcoming presidential election where young voters could play a key role in the success of candidates.
“We absolutely need youth voices to show up, but not only show up but to lead — giving us the spaces to have our voices be heard,” Frias said. “I think a misconception is that youth are the future. Youth are the right now.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Biden administration officials took the opportunity to tout investments in youth employment — both in the south and nationally to the country’s young population that’s often hard to reach.
Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Julie Su highlighted President Joe Biden’s youth-related policies like mass cancellation of $1.2 billion of student debt and focus on topics that are top-of-mind for younger generations like climate change and mental health supports.
“President Biden understands the urgency, he shares it,” she said. “And that’s why he’s put young people at the center of his agenda.”
The cabinet member’s visit is another in a string of stops from White House officials and federal politicians themselves as the Biden and Harris campaign works to promote policies enacted during the last four years.
Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden have made recent trips to Georgia. President Joe Biden, too, is scheduled to fly into Atlanta this upcoming weekend ahead of the state’s March presidential primary.
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
During his first term, Dickens has had a heavy focus on youth programs, particularly employment opportunities for Atlanta’s young residents that will feed into the city’s workforce.
The mayor dubbed 2023 the “Year of the Youth,” which encompassed initiatives from grants to early child care providers to the city’s summer youth employment programs. This past summer, the city helped more than 5,000 young residents land jobs at an average of $17 per hour.
“When you ask what does a community that best supports its young people look like, we think it looks like the ATL — we think we think it looks like Atlanta,” Dickens said Tuesday.
Atlanta is taking part in the National Youth Employment Coalition’s Youth Champion Communities Mayors Challenge Framework program that works nationwide to help communities better set-up their young residents for economic success.
Twenty-two year old Josh Morrow, from Indiana, who sits on the National Youth Employment Coalition’s youth council, said that his interest in youth employment came as he watched his friends struggle against economic or social barriers that kept them out of the workforce.
“There’s just not enough — whether it’s college, high school, or even certification — pipelines to actual tangible jobs that last a long time and that actually care about the employees, not just as a number but also as a person,” he said.
