Finishing my last semester of college, I felt unprecedented anxiety about what my future would hold. Transitioning from eighteen years of schooling to suddenly being completely on my own - or so I thought - has by far been the most difficult thing I have and continue to experience. Feelings of doubt and fear were flooding my life and I genuinely began to believe that I did not have a future and that all of my hard work amounted to nothing. At 22-years-old I was trying to take on the biggest structural problems in the world while simultaneously trying to figure out who I was as a person and what I wanted to do with my life.

As I began to start my last dead week of college, I reached out to Deja Foxx, a friend to help me pursue a passion project. I decided I needed something to work on that did not seem as daunting as trying to single-handedly solve the climate crisis. I came up with an idea of an opportunity database for young women and femmes, to help find jobs, networking opportunities, internships, etc. As I was explaining my idea to Deja, she told me about a bold idea she had to create an online community solely focused on using social media as a community-building tool to redefine sisterhood for Generation Z. She originally came up with the idea out of her own experience of moving to New York City and struggling with finding her own community. A few weeks after our call, GenZ Girl Gang was born.

The GenZ Girl Gang community was born out of the desire to build a community that knows no geographic or demographic borders. Our generation is building understanding and connection across lines of race, socioeconomic status, and sexuality in an unprecedented way. We challenge the basic features of Instagram to build deeper connections, create opportunities, and provide resources to our community members. This empowers our members to support each other and ultimately, redefine sisterhood in the age of social media and infinite connection.

Over the past year of being a part of the leadership team with GenZ Girl Gang, I have been absolutely blessed with being a part of a community that has and continues to create and share opportunities, bridge generational gaps, and learn from and teach our community members. At a time where I felt completely alone and isolated from everyone I knew, GenZ Girl Gang helped me create a community with friends all over the world who not only empower me but remind me that I’m not alone. While providing me a well-needed community, GenZ Girl Gang has also helped young women and femmes build their own communities with each other; whether it be through a wellness group chat or a book club Gen Z Girl Gang has built a global community that continues to thrive despite being in a global pandemic.

Words by Sequoia Smith

Contribution: Gen Z Girl Gang…