"Youth interest in civic engagement is soaring among the generation that the global volunteering nonprofit Points of Light says was already the most active in history. More than half (53%) of Generation Z individuals said they wanted to get more involved in their communities post-COVID, which was higher than any other generation, according to a 2020 Points of Light survey. “If there is something that is harming us directly, we should be the ones to take charge,’’ said Isaiah Llamas, a recent high school graduate who helped facilitate a spring youth leadership session in Albuquerque. The New Mexico meeting was one of six around the nation co-hosted and funded by America’s Promise Alliance, a national network of groups working to improve conditions for young people... Young people – and adults who support them – say they’re trying to use the pandemic as an opportunity to organize, connect and plan for a better future. “Our generation is more aware and takes the time to understand each other and advocate for diversity, and not division,” said Deyona Burton, senior class president at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, and founder of SPEAR (Showing Political Engagement and Responsibility), a youth-led social and political action group."