By Todd Cohen

Young Americans want to make a difference, and they want to do it by building alliances built around individuals and grass-roots organizations.

That's the conclusion of a new study that says change in the U.S. will come from small groups of resourceful individuals, not from individual leaders.

Young Americans "place a premium on a set of traits that represents an extraordinary break from traditional models of American leadership," says the study, which was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in Washington, D.C., and commissioned by Public Allies, a national group that provides nonprofit apprenticeships for young people and helps develop them as leaders.

"Young people embrace a style of leadership that emphasizes the power of collective responsibility, cooperation among diverse individuals, sensitivity toward others, and equal participation by all citizens regardless of their authority or position in the community," the study says.

"Contrary to popular portrayal of today's young Americans as self-absorbed and socially inert," it says, "the findings from this survey reveal a portrait of a generation not searching to distance itself from the community, but instead actively looking for new and distinctive ways to connect to the people and issues surrounding them."

Yet unlike the Baby Boomers who came of age in the 1960s and focused on political leaders and broad social institutions, the study says, the outlook of young Americans today is "distinctly personal, with a heavy emphasis on direct, one-on-one, individual service."

Young people "embrace a model of leadership that is best characterized as 'bottom up' rather than 'top down,'" the study says, and "place a premium on the efficacy of small groups of people working together to effect change in tangible ways."

Young people also place a high priority on diversity and "reaching out to connect to and work with people from different backgrounds to address problems and formulate solutions."

The biggest overall impact on young Americans is the increase in divorce and single-parent families.

The breakup of the traditional family, says Meredith Emmett, executive director of North Carolina Public Allies, is directly related to the desire among young people to get involved in their communities.

"If you're going to have a strong family, you've got to have a strong community," she says. "You've got to have good schools, you've got to live in a safe neighborhood, your kids have got to have safe places to go after school."

For a copy of the study, call Public Allies at (202) 822-1180.

Todd Cohen can be reached at
tcohen@mindspring.com