At the end of March, 18-year-old Nate Wilbourne was at the Grand Palais in Paris as an invited speaker at the Change Now conference. By mid-April, he was flying to New York to join 500 invited young people from around the world at the United Nations headquarters.
Last week he found out he was a finalist for the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the social impact category for the Asia-Pacific region.
All this while in his first year of studies for a Bachelor of Arts in Wellington, majoring in development studies and international relations.
He was briefly back home in Brightwater before returning to Wellington and a calendar packed with events and workshops around the country for the Gen-Z Aotearoa organisation he founded to help shape their future. The message he spreads is not just about looking after the planet and including young people in the discussion, but encouraging positivity and hope for his generation.
“If we have hope and are positive, we can change things,” he says. “Change always comes from ordinary people who don’t give up. It’s finding people in the community who feel the same - everybody has the power to create change.”
That’s why, in May he will give a TEDx talk at university about choosing hope in the age of uncertainty.
In Paris at the world’s largest conference focused on solutions for the planet, he shared the stage with global leaders and discussed how social media can be used to shape hopeful narratives to energise young people into action.
Despite the turmoil in the world, the cost of living and the fears often held by young people, he says previous generations have also faced challenging times and achieved change.
“Throughout history, they still found a way to create change – that’s what I tell people. If history can do it, why can’t we? You can learn from history.”
In New York, he met with young leaders from around the world for the UN Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, focusing on sustainability goals.
“I was pretty humbled – thinking am I really meant to be here? But it’s about hope again, with so many young people doing incredible work, which continues to inspire me.”
His next international event is in Greece in September, when he will speak at the Athens Democracy Forum that discusses the challenges facing democracies worldwide. Then it’s Kenya in November for the United Nations Environmental Assembly.
Consequently, he is always seeking financial support, particularly from people who want to see young people make a difference.
