I'm a First Global!

Photo by Christian Fischer

“America’s young adults are the ‘First Globals,’ a term coined by the pollster John Zogby. The group of people born from 1979 to 1990 travel; they embrace and feel connected to other cultures; they want to make a difference.”

This quote is from Ross H. Palfreyman, author of the book Two Years in God’s Mormon Army. He also shares these fun facts about 22- to 33-year-olds:

• Two-thirds have passports. By comparison, according to officials from the U.S. Travel Association, less than one-third of all Americans – 30 percent – have passports. Two of five Globals say they expect to live and work in a foreign capital at some time in their lives.

• 270,000 young people studied abroad in 2009-10. In 1989-90, only about 30,000 did so, according to the International Institute of Education. While Western European countries are still their top destinations, students are increasingly choosing more far-flung locales, especially China and other Asian nations.

• They want to “make the world a better place to live." A study of 10,000 adults by Campbell & Co. fundraising consultants found this group is more likely than any other generation to cite world improvement as the key reason for their philanthropy. (They also give just as much as other generations.)

• They want to make a global impact. The Campbell study found they are most likely of all age groups to respond positively to messages that focus on the global impact of an organization's work.

I thought that was pretty cool :) Thanks to Ginny Grimsley at News and Experts for the information!