Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York thinks “we need to amplify [the] voices” of young people.
The 64-year-old duchess is the Founding Ambassador for the Youth Impact Council – a new non-profit organisation designed to amplify the voices of youth activists making an impact in climate action – and she firmly believes that young people need to be listened to.
The duchess – who has Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 34, with her ex-husband Prince Andrew – told PEOPLE: “There are young people at work who aren’t being listened to enough by people who can make change for them. And so I think we need to amplify their voices and execute their wishes.
“They have the solutions – if only grown-ups would ask them, ask Gen Z, for the solutions they have in these youth leadership positions.”
The duchess has always valued the opinions of young people, and she is really passionate about the Youth Impact Council and what the organisation can achieve.
She shared: “It’s almost, this is the university of life for me to be learning from young people that are actually out there doing the work.”
The Duchess – who has been involved with several charities over the years – has actually learned a lot from listening to her own children.
She said: “It’s like Beatrice and Eugenie are out there doing the work.
“Eugenie does a lot with The Anti-Slavery Collective, Beatrice does an enormous amount in technology and with dyslexia and really believes in humanity in the workplace, with compassion.
“I believe that all those values, I was able to help guide them into this place they are, is what I’m going to bring to the youth leaders of Gen Z.”