On 12 August, International Youth Day invites us to reflect on the role young people play in shaping our societies. This year’s United Nations theme, “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” reminds us that, despite very different realities around the world, young people share common aspirations for opportunity, participation, leadership, and a better future.

For BPW International, this reflection is especially meaningful.

Young BPW members bring different cultures, professions, experiences, and perspectives to our global network. What connects them is the opportunity to learn, collaborate, grow, and contribute to an organization that believes in women’s leadership across generations.

But this day also invites us to ask an important question:

Are we creating enough opportunities for young women not only to join BPW, but to participate, contribute, lead, and feel that they belong?

Young women are not only the leaders of tomorrow. They are already entrepreneurs, professionals, innovators, volunteers, advocates, and changemakers today. Their ideas, perspectives, and leadership strengthen our organization now.

A strong BPW is also an intergenerational BPW. When experience meets new perspectives, we create space for knowledge to be shared, leadership to grow, and new possibilities to emerge.

So, on this International Youth Day, I invite every BPW club and federation to look within and ask:

Where are the young women in our BPW?

Are we welcoming them?

Are we listening to their aspirations?

Are we creating meaningful opportunities for them to participate?

Are we encouraging them to grow into leadership?

And are we building an organization in which they can see their future?

Invite them in. Listen to them. Mentor them. Give them opportunities to participate and lead. Above all, recognize the value they already bring to our organization.

To every Young BPW member around the world, wherever you are and whatever your context may be: your ideas, your aspirations, your leadership, and your contribution matter.

Together, across generations and across borders, we can continue building a BPW that connects experience with new perspectives and creates opportunities for women to lead, grow, and shape a more sustainable future.

Izadora Letchacoski

Young BPW International Representative