NYC youth voter turnout is always low. Can this digital tool change that?

A new tool is poised to help Gen Z New Yorkers strengthen their civic muscle.

The Youth Civic Hub offers high-school-aged New Yorkers and other young people a one-stop resource for information about elections, community events, and opportunities — both volunteer and paid — with local community and civic organizations across the city.

Launched this week, the new digital platform comes nearly two years after a group of young people made it a priority to increase communication about how to participate in the city’s civic sphere as part of the first NYC Youth Agenda, a platform led by the nonpartisan nonprofit YVote and other partners.

Voter turnout among young New Yorkers is consistently low, with only 26% of 18- to 29-year-olds voting in the 2022 midterm elections — trailing all other age groups. But a growing network of youth-focused organizations and youth leaders are looking to chip away at obstacles to civic participation by making youth-inspired ideas a reality.

“We knew there was a deep need for a one-stop shopping clearinghouse of civic information, opportunities, and events written by and for youth with youth-friendly language and design,” said Sanda Balaban, executive director of YVote. “The young people involved had an idea for a digital hub that would accomplish these goals.”

The Hub’s student director of technology, Ryan Manthy, a senior at the Illinois Institute for Technology, built the site with help from a team of high school and college web-and-design interns. Their work was supported by grants from the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the New York Community Trust.

Other participating organizations include the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, CUNY’s Intergenerational Change Initiative, the Office of Neighborhood Safety Youth Council, and My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper.

The Hub will be updated with information about opportunities and resources for young people in and around the city, including information on key policy areas that will be important to young voters in the 2024 presidential and 2025 municipal elections.

“The unfortunate reality is that our voices are kind of drowned out, but we definitely do have power,” said Emmanuel Annan Jr., an 18-year-old senior at Brooklyn College Academy who was part of the team that unveiled the Hub. “The digital Civic Hub is definitely a way that we can showcase and extend our power to others who may need a helping hand.”

The young people behind the Youth Civic Hub are not stopping there.

On Monday, at what they called a “policy party” marking the Hub’s launch, youth leaders presented another set of policy recommendations, the 2024 NYC Youth Policy Agenda, to local elected leaders, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Brooklyn Borough Antonio Reynoso.

In groups of two and three, members of the different youth steering committees stood under the arched ceilings of the second-floor atrium in the Beaux-Arts-inspired Municipal Building and presented their recommendations to the officials and more than 100 of their peers in attendance.

They offered proposals to address economic mobility, educational equity, environmental justice, housing security and mental health. Among their specific recommendations was a call for free and accessible mental health care in schools.

Heba Elkouraichi, 16, a junior at Yonkers High School, said she was struck watching the elected leaders listen and nod along as she and her team presented their ideas.

“The Hub creates a way for everybody to have that voice,” said Elkouraichi. “And I think that that’s amazing.”