About This Project
The young people at the center of this special report, “Generation TBD,” are grappling with economic forces that many say have left them feeling “lost,” “burned” and “left behind.” But even with youth unemployment rates above 50 percent in many countries, young people are innovating, collaborating and hustling to create new jobs and better lives.
As a continuation of Generation TBD, The GroundTruth Project has launched YouthVoices, a multimedia storytelling platform where young people around the world can share their own experiences and ideas about alleviating youth unemployment.
The GroundTruth Project’s first reporting fellowship for Generation TBD was a year-long project in 2014 that brought together media, technology, education and humanitarian partners for an authoritative, global exploration of the youth unemployment crisis.
Chosen from more than 400 applicants who proposed stories in 90 countries across six continents, the selected 21 fellows reported from 11 countries as part of a GlobalPost Special Report titled Generation TBD – named for the estimated 290 million young men and women around the world whose futures are “to be determined,” as employment, education and training remain out of their reach.
The reporting fellows spent two to three weeks in the field interviewing millennials in countries including Italy, Nigeria, Brazil, Iran and the United States. The GroundTruth Project reporting fellowship culminated in October 2014 with a global conference hosted by International House in New York City that convened thought leaders, journalists and social entrepreneurs to highlight the issue of youth unemployment and to search for solutions to the problem.
The fellowship, made possible with support from the Ford Foundation, was led by GlobalPost co-founder and The GroundTruth Project executive director Charles Sennott, along with VII Photo Agency co-founder Gary Knight and The GroundTruth Project managing editor Kevin Grant.
The Fellows:
Corinne Chin and Fabiano Leal, Brazil
Monica Ibrahim, Menan Khater,
Laura El-Tantawy, Egypt
Tik Root and Juan Herrero, Spain
Yeganeh Salehi and Maryam Rahmanian, Iran
Eleanor Stanford and Saila Huusko, United States
Lauren Bohn and Chika Oduah, Nigeria
Coleen Jose, Philippines
Rachel Hoffman and Cindy Huang, South Africa
Biz Herman and Velma Saric, Bosnia
Chris Livesay, Italy
Gayathri Vaidyanathan and Mirela Iverac, India