Y’22 began with a question that wouldn’t leave me alone: Why weren’t more young people in the rooms where decisions were being made?

In Pittsburgh and across the country, I kept seeing the same pattern. Nonprofit boards filled with talented, experienced leaders, yet few, if any, seats for the next generation. The irony was hard to ignore. So many of these organizations existed for young people, yet so few were willing to share power with them.

That realization sparked something. I didn’t just want to talk about youth engagement. I wanted to move it.

That’s how Y’22: A Youth on Boards Movement was born, a national initiative dedicated to advancing youth representation in nonprofit governance. Y’22 worked to place young leaders on boards across the country while equipping both youth and organizational stakeholders with the tools to practice collaborative governance, foster age equity, and build sustainable leadership pipelines. It became more than a placement program; it was a reimagining of what leadership could look like when experience and new energy met at the same table.

I started Y’22 because I knew what it felt like to be the youngest person in the room, to be asked to share ideas but not be given the same authority to act on them. I believed then, and still do, that young people bring not just fresh perspective but accountability to the future. When every generation has a voice, decisions become more innovative, more equitable, and more enduring.

In the early days of the movement, I had that move-that-mattered moment. I often heard the same well-intentioned response: “If you want a board seat, you can have it.” But that wasn’t the point. I didn’t want a seat for me. I wanted to build a pathway for us. Because movements aren’t made by single players; they are made when others step onto the board.

That’s when I learned that one of my favorite lessons from chess applies to leadership too: advantage. In chess, advantage means making a move that shifts the balance in your favor.

But advantage is rarely about one piece. You can make a flashy move, capture something valuable, and still lose if the rest of your position is weak. The real question is, what move creates a stronger position for everyone?

For me, Y’22 was that move. It wasn’t just about youth. It was about intergenerational diversity, about creating a culture where a 19-year-old and a 59-year-old could sit side by side and learn from each other’s experience. It was about ensuring that leadership wasn’t defined by age but by insight, empathy, and strategy.

Advantage, after all, is about shared progress. It’s the quiet, intentional moves that transform a single opportunity into a lasting structure of inclusion.

That’s the power of a shared board, where every generation plays for the future, not just the win.

Find the advantage below. White’s turn to move. Comment what you think!