About Us
The Next Gen Come Up is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that encourages young people to explore activism, pursue community service, and raise awareness by creating thought-provoking works of art. Through content creation, grassroots organizing, mutual aid efforts, and educational programmatic, The Next Gen Come Up strives to inspire youth to be revolutionary and use art as a tool to create social impact.
Our Story
Originally founded as a media publication in 2018, The Next Gen Come Up was once a place where young people could read about everything from pressing social dilemmas impacting Gen-Z, to the most controversial political issues, to even the humanitarian conflicts affecting marginalized communities worldwide. But while our digital platforms were amplifying social issues through media, we were simultaneously working to ensure that our organization had a community service arm that was just as active on the ground in communities across the nation.
Since it's founding, The Next Gen Come Up has grown into a well-rounded grassroots organization that encourages youth to spark real-world change and amplifies the current events sparking those mobilizations (via social media and digital news articles.) The Next Gen Come Up has earned a reputation for mentoring aspiring change agents and involving them in social impact demonstrations, mutual aid initiatives, and community service efforts --- all over the tri-state area and across the country. From organizing school walkouts to advocate for gun safety in schools and leading demonstrations to raise awareness for climate change, to creating social media campaigns that advocate for the eradication of period poverty and period shame, The Next Gen Come Up and its members are constantly finding new and innovative ways to influence radical social change.
Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Anya Dillard -- our founder & President -- contributed to the largest civil rights demonstration in West Orange, NJ history. Not long after, The Next Gen Come Up joined forces with The West Orange Youth Caucus to organize West Orange New Jersey's first-ever public Juneteenth Celebration. Most recently, The Next Gen Come Up partnered with Free My People to host a march and rally in Mississippi to demand justice for Jaheim McMillan -- a 15-year-old boy that was shot in the head 8 times by a police officer after putting his hands up. We flew 4 volunteers out to aid us in this effort.
"As team members of The Next Gen Come Up pride ourselves on our expansive community outreach focus and are always striving to inspire the next generation of young people to be intersection thought leaders, radical creatives, and bold community organizers. We look forward to continuing to grow! but most importantly, we look forward to continuing to disrupt narratives and developing a community of creative young changemakers from all over the nation."
If you are interested in learning how to support our work, visit our donate page or contact us about becoming a volunteer. And if you would like to know more about the face behind our organization, scroll below and check out our founder and organizing partners.
Our Partners
