Connor Wong: Making Room for Young Leaders
Connor Wong was in middle school when he first tried to sell his own stationery and hit a wall. Etsy and eBay had fees and required users to be older. Farmers markets charged $500 for a booth. Nobody was making room for kids.
So eventually, he made space for himself. Now a first-year at Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy, Wong co-founded Sandbox Synergy, a nonprofit that hosts youth entrepreneur festivals where young vendors pay no fees, face no barriers and get a real chance to test their ideas in front of a real community. Sponsors including Disney and Berkshire Hathaway have backed the mission.
That work earned Wong a spot among the country's most recognized young nonprofit leaders. Chosen from a pool of more than 500 applicants, he was one of 65 young changemakers selected to attend the second annual Allstate Foundation National Youth Service Summit in Chicago last year.
The four-day summit — widely considered the premier development opportunity of its kind for leaders ages 18 to 22 — featured workshops, panels and mentoring sessions with senior executives, along with a social impact design challenge. One highlight, Wong said, was hearing from Sophia Kianni, who founded Climate Cardinals, the world's largest youth-led climate nonprofit. “She's a strong example of personal branding for our generation,” he said.
For Wong, the summit was also a reminder of why he chose the School of Education and Social Policy. His focus on learning and organizational change ties directly into his nonprofit work. “I wasn't looking for a traditional business major, Wong said. “I wanted to understand leadership and organizational impact — how to make real change." At Northwestern, Wong has been working to make the Open Democracy club more sustainable since becoming finance officer, securing multiple grants that increased the budget from a few hundred dollars to an expected $2,000 by winter quarter.
He's also preparing his team to apply for a leadership training program that will provide coaching and $5,000 in support, noted Matt Easterday, professor of learning sciences and director of the Civic Engagement program.
“Connor truly models how to use learning and organizational change principles in civic engagement work," Easterday said.