Mayor Ras J. Baraka has announced the launch of a groundbreaking youth-led democracy and sustainability initiative, Gen Green, headed by the City’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Nicole Hewitt-Cabral. It is the first youth-led participatory budgeting process focused on sustainability in the country. For this bold initiative, the Newark Office of Sustainability, Resilience & Community Transformation is setting aside $50,000 of its annual budget for Newark youth ages 23 and under to determine how they spend the money.
“Through Gen Green, young people are not just participants—they are the decision-makers,” said Mayor Baraka. “This innovative program puts Newark’s youth at the center of the city’s sustainability agenda – right where they should be – giving them real power to decide how the city invests in environmental projects that impact their neighborhoods and future. By putting decision-making power in their hands, we’re not just preparing tomorrow’s leaders; we’re empowering them to lead today.”
Participation in Gen Green helps Newark’s youth
- develop leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills,
- see their voices influence real life sustainability projects in Newark,
- join a growing network of youth sustainability/environmental leaders,
- connect with city leaders and learn how public decisions are made,
- and together, build Newark’s next generation of environmental/sustainability visionaries and decision makers.
“Gen Green is a youth-powered, community-driven, future-focused, initiative where Newark is leading by example,” said Chief Sustainability Officer, Nicole Hewitt-Cabral. “Gen Green is a call to action and collaboration—bringing together city agencies, community organizations, and residents to create a Newark where every young person has a voice in building a sustainable, thriving future.
Gen Green accentuates and intertwines with other city-led sustainability and community transformation initiatives like Rooted In Newark, Nourishing Newark, and Love Your Block, Newark!. It bolsters Newark’s long-term commitment to incorporating residents’ voices in its urban greening, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience efforts. From clean energy to green spaces, from climate justice to community resilience, Newark’s young leaders are shaping priorities, driving change, and redefining what civic leadership looks like. This initiative reflects Newark’s belief that a sustainable future must be built by the generation that will inherit it.
“A sustainable Newark isn't a future idea, it's a necessity that needs to happen now,” said Gen Green Youth Fellow Roselyn Muniz. “We've created a space for the youth to move beyond talk and implement ideas that directly improve our community, it's an honor to be a part of this movement.”
Gen Green is a form of participatory budgeting (PB) that was first seen in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989. PB is as a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend public budgets, and is one of the fastest growing forms of democracy around the world.
Newark’s Gen Green is divided into five phases, each with a timeline:
- Ideation and Outreach: September-November 2025
- Proposal Development: December 2025-January 2026
- Voting: February-March 2026
- Announcing winning proposals: Earth Day Press Conference – April 23, 2026
- Project implementation – May-December 2026
Gen Green is partially funded by a generous grant from the Participatory Budgeting Project, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization that creates and supports PB processes that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective.
"Newark's Gen Green initiative is a powerful model for the future of democracy and climate justice," says Nisha Thompson, New Jersey Advocacy Manager for the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP). "PB is vital because when the people most impacted by public decisions lead the process, we get more equitable and effective solutions. Gen Green invests in a generation of civic leaders who are learning that their voices hold the power to build a more just and resilient future. PBP is proud to support this groundbreaking work, and we hope it inspires communities everywhere."
Over the past three months, the Gen Green team has been visiting schools and afterschool programs, brainstorming project ideas that address sustainability and climate-related issues in our own city communities. The team has engaged students at the Thirteenth Avenue School, Eastside High School, Central High School, the Boys and Girls Club and other organizations. In October, the team canvassed hundreds of Newark Public School gathered at Riverside Park for CanoeMobile, where Newark Public School children enjoyed canoe rides and sustainability educational activities.
“The Youth is Our Future, and we want to help build the next generation of leaders,” said Gen Green Youth Fellow Marilyn Cerrrato. “We ask young people ages 23 and under what sustainable changes they would like to see in their community and where they would like to see these ideas implemented.”
The team is now working with volunteers through the Gen Green Youth Ambassador program and the newly formed Gen Green Budget Committee to turn ideas into proposals that will be on a ballot for young people to vote on the best idea during the voting phase.
For Newark’s latest Gen Green Video,
click here.
For photographs,
click here.
