 Well, hey there and welcome. We are so glad you're here for another episode of the nonprofit show. And today we have with us a brand new guest we have not heard from before. I'm really excited to have her with us, Bre Gentile, PhD. So we're gonna refer to her as Dr. G, CEO and founder of Dr. G's lab. She's here to talk to us about youth engagement strategies and in particular, how we can amplify the voices of our youth for social change. So Dr. G is gonna light us up and share so much amazing information before we pass the baton. We want to remind everyone across our viewership and everyone who's listening around the globe who we are. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet. So Julia Patrick is here. Of course, Julia is the CEO of the American nonprofit academy. I get to play alongside each day with Julia as the nonprofit nerd and CEO of the Raven group. My name's Jarrett. And I'm really excited to have the ongoing support. Thank you, thank you, thank you to these amazing partners, which include Bloomerang, American nonprofit academy, nonprofit thought leader, fundraising academy at national university, 180 management group, your part-time controller, staffing boutique, JMT consulting, nonprofit nerd as well as nonprofit tech talk. These companies collectively have supported these conversations to the tune of nearly 1,000 episodes. So you can find us on these channels, go ahead and pull out your phone, scan that QR code, download the app. You can also still find us on streaming broadcast and podcast platforms. So wherever you like to binge watch, binge listen, go ahead and queue up the nonprofit show. So again, honor to have you with us Dr. G for everyone watching and listening, Brie Gentile, PhD. So again, Dr. G, CEO and founder of the one and only Dr. G's lab, welcome to the show. Thank you. I'm so glad to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah. You know, this is a really fun thing to have somebody come on and talk just specifically about this. And Jarrett, I was thinking today is getting ready for the show. We haven't had too many conversations that have talked about the involvement of youth and youth driven moments in the nonprofit sector, the social sector. And so, wow, I mean, this is really an important thing, Dr. G, for us to be talking about, not just on the political spectrum, but across all levels of our nonprofit sector. So talk to us about the role of our youth in our social impact sector. And what are you seeing? What are you seeing right now? Yeah. So it's really important to actually look at where these impacts that we're looking at, right? These social changes and these trends that we're currently seeing, where they actually got started. And you'll find that the people who actually started them were quite young when they started them, right? So we think of like Greta, right? But for example, how young was she? She was a teenager and she got other teenagers to get on board with this. She used the power of social media to create this impact. And then we have other ones, like Sunflower, which is based in Thailand, which use Thailand youth and they're trying to help other youth who have been trafficked or exploited. So it's really interesting to not only see that youth are involved, but that they're actually starting things. And that to me is just beyond exciting because it gives me hope, right? That our youth are thinking. They're thinking and they're aware and their eyes are open and they're listening and they're caring. And that is hope for me as an adult. That is hope. Yeah, for sure. Well, and I know we don't wanna get political. I'm going back to the Obama campaign because I do feel that that is truly for me what stood out and you speak of hope, right? What really ignited our younger generation. That's when it came up for me, right? Like that's when I really started to acknowledge how much galvanization, is that a word? Like was happening with our youth and the power of social media, it seems like this landscape is changing. And I'm gonna say for the good. Yes, we hope so, right? That is the idea. And social media can be tricky, right? Like there are wonderful places of social media and it can be used for a catalyst to galvanize those things. And then it can also be used for just this horrific place, right? And I think that also kind of gets the human factor, right? And I think that that's where youth really actually are being more realist than some of our adult friends where they're saying like, hey, life is not fair. Life is not all peachy and that's okay. We actually need to just sit in that for a minute and figure out what we need to do with it. And I think that adults sometimes like to put our heads in the sand because we have other stuff to worry about. We've got, there's wars going on. There's mortgages going on. There's refinances going on, right? There's all sorts of things going on. But our youth really keep us centered and grounded in this idea of like, we kind of have to sit in the yuck for a minute. Well, it's interesting. I'm much older than the two of you. And I think about when I was a little girl, the Vietnam War and those were youth led. I remember like the older teenagers in my neighborhood because I remember my parents talking about it. Like, oh my God, these teenagers are marching or taking signs to school. That was like a really big thing. And then going back to the civil rights movement, look how many young, young people. I mean, like we're talking 12, 13, 14 year olds that marched to their physical peril throughout the South and in major cities. Without social media, they had to use human capital to organize, which is so frightening to me when I think about the call of action to get people that didn't even have telephones, not talking cell phones. They didn't even have landlines in their homes. So what are some of the strategies that you're seeing that engage youth? Because you said something really interesting and that was adults have these pressures like mortgages and refi and jobs. And they put their head in the sand. What can we get? How do we see this movement with our youth? Yeah, so it does actually take a lot of presence for adults, right? It actually takes some actual pillars to actually put in place in order to work with youth. And what I think the scary thing is that adults feel like they have to come to youth with some sort of structured plan, some sort of rough draft, right? Some sort of like, well, gosh, I can't come as an adult with just a blank piece of paper. And that's what they want. Like Julie, this is the most exciting part is like, they actually just want us to come with a blank piece of paper and a pen and listening ears. And so one of the strategies that we need to do is actually just listen, but come in with nothing, no expectations. Now that doesn't say that we don't set them up for success, right? Like we need to have set times that we need and they need to understand what the objective is, right? But when we're designing with them, we can't come to them with this long list of like, this is off the table, right? Like, whoa, we have to actually have some space and some flexibility for them to actually say, I don't think that we need this. We actually need something completely different. Like, oh, okay, all right, tell me more, right? So that's one strategy that I always have to remind myself, but I have to really level set with a lot of projects of just what's your clothes list look like? What's the list that really look like that is, you know, off the table? And if it's too long, I don't know if this is a time to actually engage with you. Maybe this is a time you want your advisory board of adults, right? And that's okay. You know, what I'm hearing, and I see this as well, I'm raising a teenager, is, you know, they don't want constraints. They don't want confinements. They do want that blank canvas. And they, when I see my son, friends, whomever I de-ate, it's like amazing. Isn't it? Things that they come up with, and I can't help but think, is it because we as adults are jaded? Like, we think it's not gonna work or we've tried that or that's gonna cost, like we come up with excuses and our youth are seeing so much possibility without the jaded side. That's exactly what it is. We always think somebody's done it, right? Or somebody must be already doing it, right? And so we just cut ourselves off right away. We cut the oxygen off to our ideas. Or we think that if we give it a little bit, we're like, oh gosh, when it comes to actually putting money into it or time, and if we don't have like some sort of insurance on the other end to say this is gonna be worth it, I promise, we're like, I'm not so sure, right? And that makes sense because as you get older, you're less risk, you know, like you're less risky. So that makes sense. And so that's the beauty of youth is they have this risk mentality. And I don't mean that in a negative way, but they've got this mentality that's just like, well, what do I have to lose, right? And so that's like the best part, exactly. It's like, what do I have to lose? And so what if somebody's done it? I bet I have like add something different to it, right? And so I think that's the cool part. Dr. G, what about are there certain initiatives, certain topics, certain activities that you're seeing the youth really support? And I'm sure that's across the board, but like what are the hot topics, if you will, that are showing up that are being led with our youth? Yeah, so one of the big thing is having an inside look into colleges before you go. It's so interesting to watch our high schoolers become more savvy, not only in their choices of, you know, what type of college do I go to, or where do I go, but in the financial decision of college. It's like, this is an investment for them. I don't know about you guys. I wasn't thinking like that when I was getting ready for college, right? It was like, well, where am I going? What is the name across that sweatshirt? And what is that bumper sticker that my mom's gonna get, right? I was not thinking about this, you know, $500,000 investment I would be making, or how will I pay this back, or what job will I get? So one of the things that youth I'm seeing a lot of is just this breaking down barriers to get into college. And it's not financial barriers, but it's access to advisors, access to admissions counselors, access to college students who actually go to the college. And that's what they want. So they're really looking for platforms and ways to connect with college students before going to college, before making that investment. And I think that that's a little bit of a trend, which is just kind of like seeing what's ahead, right? And you see that even with young adults, they really wanna understand what's it like to buy a home before I buy the home. So similar to that, we're just really seeing this idea of like let me connect to the folks who have done it before. So I know a little bit, not necessarily what to expect, but so I can just understand what I'm gonna go through. You know, I mentioned Dr. G in the green room that I moderated a panel at Arizona State University a couple of weeks ago. And it was about campus activity, specifically in the realm of race and democracy. So it was a different direction, but one of the things that was my big shocker of the day, I have been talking about this now to Jared for like almost three weeks was that the professors all said to an individual that they were shocked that the students were not involved. They weren't voting, they might register to vote, but they weren't marching, there weren't the tables that when you, every college campus you walk down the thoroughfare, there's always tables of people passing out literature, none of that. And they felt, because I said, well, why is that? One, security, because they were fearful of the environment, physical safety. And two, that they're so stressed out about money and the cost of attending school that they're like, I can't screw with this. I gotta get in and get out and the clock is ticking and it was shocking for me to hear this because it was such a different ecosystem to what I've witnessed throughout the trajectory of my life. And I'm wondering if you're seeing this being played out across America when it comes to college campuses. Yeah, it's super interesting. And I think it's a seed that's actually kind of planted a little bit before they go in, right? Of just this idea of college costs a lot of money. And I don't think that was really a narrative that was talked about, it wasn't politicized anyway in shape or form, it was just like, well, you either have the parents that pay for it or you have parents that don't pay for it, and you get the loans and you figure it out. There was never this idea of, you gotta make it work, gotta make it worth it, right? So we were able to really enjoy college. And I was thankful enough to go to college before Facebook, so I didn't have all of this. I also have to protect who I am and protect my image. So I could go to this, I could go to the Black Student Union, I could go to the Catholic, whatever, I could go to those places and nobody knew. Nobody would know, right? And so I think that's another thing is that the youth are in a fishbowl. Like it or not, that is the world we live in. And so everything they do, they know is being watched and they know is being judged. And if they put out literature about pro-life, oh, right, that could affect somebody who's pro-choice and they don't wanna mess up up. And so many people, maybe influencers even, our college athletes now are able to have this, little bit of an ecosystem going on and where they get paid for being popular in some sense. And so it's like, you don't wanna mess things up. And I think that is the part where you talk about physical safety. There's that piece, but there's also this idea of emotional safety, psychological safety, which our adults need to do a little bit better job at, which is that bringing people of different opinions is not always the best thing. Like, yes, it is great, but you have to be so incredibly mindful of it and you have to facilitate it so well that you have to just put a lot of thought into it. It's worth doing, it is so worth doing. We're designing a video game right now with sixth graders. And I originally thought when they came to me that it was gonna be just like all boys. I was like, okay, it's gonna be all boys who are just, you know, Roblox, Minecraft, all of this stuff. And I was shocked when one of them said, okay, she's gonna give me the cartoons. And I was like, oh, see. And she's a gamer and she's working on the cartoons. She's working on the drawings. And it was, it's gonna be really awesome to have a girl in the mix of all of this because I know she's gonna feel safe because she was brought in by the boys. Not by me. I didn't predetermine the group. She was already brought in. So I think what adults can do is they can look for pre-formed groups, right? Look for the groups that are already happening naturally. Look in your classroom, see what students are kind of already together and ask them to do a project with you. You know, you don't have to open it up with a survey and say, I'm looking for five boys and three girls and, you know, this shade of skin and all of that, right? Like just watch where these groups are already popping up and try by the grace to insert yourself as an adult. That I think is what we need to do is kind of flip it a little bit where we need to actually insert ourselves. And I think that's what I'm seeing across campus, Julie, is like, there's a lot of kids and young adults who want adults in their lives and they want that wisdom. They have no idea how to approach it without getting the, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, right? They just want a friend and a mentor, but not in this authoritative way. So we have to insert ourselves where we already see groups happening. That's the best way to do it. Dr. G, do you provide private coaching? Yes, I do. You are so on spot, but yes, I do. Yes, and no, it's hard. It's hard, it's hard. I have to ask it. I'm going back to how you were saying, like when we were in college and we're probably about the same age, looking at, you know, there was no Facebook, there was no social media. I mean, I think I still had a beeper maybe, a pager. Right? Like that kind of timeframe. But on the flip side, are you also seeing youth building their resume younger and younger, like really digging into what they believe in, building their skillsets, speaking up, like you mentioned Greta, like are you seeing that happening on the flip side as well? Yes, yes. And where I see it happening is with the non-bullying, which I think is just so cool. So my son may see this years and years from now, hopefully. But I was going through his texts because he's in sixth grade, so I still monitor the texts. Thankfully I still have the password, all that good stuff. Judge away if you will, but I'm still monitoring. And I saw them frequently remove people from the group and they were like, no, you can't say that. Or like, no, you keep spamming. Stuff, I don't know what they're saying, like bra, like, you know, whatever. Then all of a sudden they're removed and then they get another text that's like, hey, I'm sorry, will you please add me back in? So they are, they're like standing up for themselves and being like, you know, look, you can't say these no-no words, whatever the no-no words are, I know it might not, but I don't know what theirs are. And so I'm like, hey, you can't say that. And they're like, they remove them from the group. And I'm like, way to go, right? So I am seeing them stand up for themselves and for their friends. Now I think that's a little bit different than them seeing something out in the world and being like, I want to stand up for the whales. I don't know about you guys. When I saw Free Willy, I wrote to President Clinton and I was like, we need to do something about the whales. I had no idea what I was doing, but he wrote a letter back and I was thrilled. We don't have that access to our president. We have too much access. Sometimes to our presidents, right? We just have too much access. And so they're not quite interested in these big, worldly impacts. They're interested in their community. Their smaller community. And I think that's going to be interesting to watch that change, but it's going to be pretty cool. I'm pretty excited about it. Yeah. You know, that's a fascinating thing to look at is like the microcosm of an action, taking it down to a different, a subset if you will. And actually having more influence when you can look across a room or use your digital device to make those connections. It's a really interesting thing versus having something that goes across the nation or a larger region. I've got it. We don't have much time left, but I've got to ask this question because I find it just fascinating to be thinking about this, especially as we move into a general election. So many kids started going back to school for the second semester. I mean, things kind of get amped up because of that. Anyway, talk about youth-led initiatives and aging out. Like what happens when your leaders graduate from high school or graduate from college or graduate from eighth grade, what? I mean, how does this momentum keep going or does just stop? Yeah, all things have to eventually change, right? And it does, it changes. And I find that if there's an adult involved and the more structure there is towards the end of the product, if you will, that is how I know if it's gonna live on. If there's not a lot of adults involved towards the end of it of like, okay, we're gonna take this to market, we're gonna put it in an accelerator, we're going to, you know, whatever. The adults then have to be the, this is usually a bad word, but it's a good word. They have to be the enabler, right? So the kids are putting this in motion and they've got all of the stuff going and then eventually they have to go off and live their life. They have to go off and be adults and be kids or whatever, right? And then it's us as adults that are like, that's a great initiative. For example, Greta's not doing her own stuff anymore. There's a bunch of adults behind that now, right? There's a social media publicist, there's a marketer, there's people involved behind that. But there weren't adults in the beginning. So I think that's the key, Julie, is that if you find something that you are like, oh my gosh, look at these kids, look at what they're doing. Watch them. And then as it starts to like, you know, build, you can insert yourself and say, I really don't want this to die out. I really don't want this to age out. I like age out better, we don't need to die. I don't want this to age out. How can I support you guys? And it may just be more mentorship or maybe putting them onto your show, right? We, you know, it doesn't necessarily have to be monetary, but I think that's just some really good ways to kind of keep it going from aging out. Does it also like, they pass the baton as they purchase their minivan, they're now passing the baton to the next generation of like, okay, now it's here, you go, here's the keys to the castle, to the project, to the video game we created, you create the next version. Like, are you seeing that, I want to say mentorship from our youth to our youth of different age brackets. Is that happening? You know, it happens, but it's very structured. It will happen in example for like an accelerator, for example, where you'll have subject matter experts and they'll give advice to the youth, but then that project dies out, right? So I think we need a little bit more of the college to high school kind of feeling. And I think that will happen, but I don't quite see it yet, but I'm hoping. That would be, that's my hope, that's my hope. Yeah. When we talk about this, Julie, I just couldn't help but to think of the minivan, you know, it's like- Oh my God. It's fabulous. With the minivan status. Oh my God, when you said that, I swear, it was just hilarious, because it's true. It's true, so true. I mean, you know, one of the things before we let you go, I'm interested in it, this might be a little bit of a curve ball, but you know, so many organizations in the nonprofit sector, 1.8 million of them registered in this country. So there are a lot out there that say, we need a youth board and we need a youth group or whatever. And so they want to, you know, navigate this. We see this a lot more with animal welfare and healthcare or disease specific, right? I'm wondering what you see with that Does do movements like that pick up youth attraction or is that more the parents pushing it down onto their children? It's a really great question. So we specialize in actually forming youth boards and getting those going for nonprofits and other organizations. So we see a lot of these, a lot of it is kids who just want to be involved. Their parents are not telling them, they don't get college credit for it, nothing. They just want to be involved in it. And so if you're thinking about doing a youth advisory board, you know, absolutely do it. If you are wondering, gosh, will the youth come? Or what do, you know, don't worry about those things. You know, give me a call. We'll figure all that stuff out, but definitely absolutely get youth involved. It's the, it is like, I almost want to guarantee it, but I don't want to be that person that has the flashy guarantee. But man, I can almost guarantee you that if you get youth involved, they want to be there because they believe in it, not because of any other reason. Love to have you on to talk about what that looks like. Like how do you build a youth board? How do you set parameters? How do you also hand over a blank canvas? You know, creating those guardrails too tight or too close. Let's do it. Yeah, this has been fascinating. And I also want to say thank you, because I know you're in the Bay Area of California and you were so committed to sharing this conversation with us today, despite of the weather and, you know, some of the challenges that you're facing. So thank you, Dr. G. Thank you all. I appreciate it. It's been really a lot of fun. It's gone by so fast. Brie Gentile, PhD, CEO and founder of Dr. G's lab. Check out drgslab.com and you'll get even more information from Brie and her team and the amazing things that they're doing. It's really, I think an important thing to be talking about and how we navigate society and leadership, especially in the nonprofit sector. I mean, as Jared and I talk about this all the time, you know, we're aging out our higher leadership, C-suite board leadership. We've got to be pulling in this culture of, you know, youth led philanthropy and youth engaged as well. So really cool conversation that we had here today. And I know we'll want to keep going. Yes, Jared. The other thing I want to add and Brie probably again, similar aging, you know, I have been in the nonprofit sector 20 plus years, but that's not what I studied in school. Like it didn't exist as a program, so to speak. So I entered it as an internship which changed the trajectory of my life and my career. And now Julia, we have students studying nonprofit leadership, management, change agent in like, you know, at 18 years old. It's fascinating to me. And it's so healthy. And you know, when Dr. G talked about hope for me, Jared, that's a big hope point. Huge. It's not just a passion project. It's educated, super educated people, not from just one institution from across the country with different thoughts. And so yay team. I mean, this might be the second golden age of philanthropy in our country as we launch these people in. Dr. G also has an amazing tome. I'm going to call it a tome from psychology to UX, the evolution of a career and the intersection of disciplines. Love this concept because as we know in the nonprofit world, it's all about the intersections. And so super cool to have you on and to know that you've been exploring this topic. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, been joined by Jared Ransom today. I want to thank our amazing sponsors from Bloomerang to American nonprofit academy, nonprofit thought leaders, staffing boutique, your part-time controller, 180 management group, fundraising academy at national university, JMT consulting, nonprofit nerd and nonprofit tech talk. They joined us day in and day out for these fabulous conversations and we are ever so grateful. We're also grateful for our viewers and listeners that joined us today. And as we end this episode of the nonprofit show, we went to end, you know, Jared, I always say mantra, but it's like saying or it's a wish or I don't even know what it is, but it goes like this, to stay well so you can do well. We'll see you back here tomorrow.