Duke Alumnus Creating Global Youth Movement
Blue Devil working with United Nations on sustainable global development
-By Charles Givens
November 21, 2024
Charlie Zong believes in the power of young people to reshape the world. This belief has led him to create South-North Scholars, a youth-led network that helps students and young professionals in over 120 countries promote inclusive innovation and community-led solutions for sustainable development.
Zong credits Duke not only for his personal growth, but for uniting the team behind South-North Scholars. He vividly recalls the experience of encountering different students on the Durham campus, which exposed him to new perspectives. “I think coming to Duke was really eye-opening because now you’re on the same campus with students from different backgrounds, both geographic and social, so you start to come in contact with issues that you hadn’t thought about before. For me, this was really powerful.” Zong explained. “This has tangible effects on the way we think about global issues.”
Duke’s other signature strengths, its interdisciplinarity and focus on research-driven learning, also shaped Zong’s worldview and goals. While completing his undergraduate research on the 2008 financial crisis through the Bass Connections program, Zong interacted with experts in law, economics, public policy, sociology and philosophy. The broad reach of disciplines informed his work. “Where else can you find an opportunity to do research like that as an undergrad?” he asked.
These strengths were further enhanced by Zong’s participation in the joint Duke-UNC Robertson Scholars Leadership Program. Made of up students from the two campuses, the Robertson Scholars program helps students make transformational change in their communities.
It’s not surprising that Zong’s interests would lead him to the field of sustainable development. He soon recognized, however, that interventions often missed out on meaningfully engaging young people as thought partners, who were often treated as passive recipients rather than active contributors.
This disconnect inspired an event South-North Scholars co-hosted in March 2023 with the Duke Center for International Development. Zong co-moderated the event, including a discussion between Dr. Pedro Conceição, Director of the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report Office (HDRO), and Duke Professor Anirudh Krishna. With over 100 students in attendance, the event that was initially centered on defining and measuring human progress shifted to a dynamic question-and-answer session. The student audience pressed Dr. Conceição with practical questions about applying these frameworks, eager as they were to see real-world impact.
“Young people all over the world have this really remarkable pragmatism and problem-solving orientation,” noted Zong. Zong approached Dr. Conceição after the event with a bold proposal: to collaborate on a platform for amplifying young people’s voices and innovative ideas in the sustainable development field. This was the beginning of Solving for Humanity, a youth-led global competition to reimagine approaches to the biggest human development challenges.
Solving for Humanity brought together over 600 students and recent graduates from 120 countries, challenging them to form multicultural teams tackling issues from climate change to ethical AI. Top teams have presented their ideas to United Nations experts to inform the influential Human Development Reports, in which South-North Scholars was recognized.
Unlike traditional startup competitions, the focus wasn’t on pitching specific solutions, but on identifying critical challenges and defining the criteria for effective, sustainable solutions.
For example, one team from the Netherlands, made up of members with diverse backgrounds from Latin America, proposed to examine often-overlooked cultural impact of climate change. They argued that effective climate mitigation strategies must prioritize preserving and engaging with the wealth of knowledge held by indigenous communities, particularly in managing natural ecosystems.
“WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOUNG PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD WHO LIVE THROUGH THESE CHALLENGES ARE ALSO EXPERTS ON THAT LIVED EXPERIENCE.”
As Zong sees it, this reveals a crucial aspect of his vision for South-North Scholars: redefining innovation. True innovation must move beyond mere technological advancements to encompass intellectual and social shifts. “If we are going to really bring young people and people all over the world into the problem-solving process, then we need to think beyond technology innovation,” Zong said.
As a part of innovation, Zong believes social innovation needs to create truly inclusive spaces and processes that break down traditional hierarchies. “What do we consider to be knowledge? Who do we consider to be experts? Policy makers listen to experts and experts listen to other experts, so how can we challenge the assumption of who the experts are?” asked Zong. “We need to recognize that young people and communities around the world who live through these challenges are also experts on that lived experience.”
As a recent graduate, Zong looks back on his Duke experience as transformative. “Intentional community built around a mission has been a defining characteristic of my time at Duke,” said Zong. In thinking about his status as a Duke alumnus, Zong asks fellow Blue Devils to challenge their way of viewing their world.
“What kind of mission do you think Duke alumni can get together to accomplish?” said Zong.
“If you are a student at Duke or a recent alum, I want you think about what is possible to achieve if you assume that, right now, this is the smallest network you’ll ever have.”
