Paging through the Democrat’s recent Pride publication for the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, I spotted something unexpected.

Did I see that the Chamber had named a 45-year-old a “young emerging leader”?

Maybe I read that wrong.

I went through the sentence again.

Yup. Forty-five.

You know that sort of instant mood boost you get when you get to pet a puppy or see a rainbow? Those feel-good hormones that start to surge somewhere inside you?

That’s exactly what hit in that moment.

Gen Z is busy changing the world, and seeing a 17-year-old named Time’s Person of the Year (Greta Thunberg in 2020) or 14-year-old Anika Chebrolu coming up with potential therapies for COVID is encouraging. The kids? They’re alright.

It’s also humbling.

Born right on the cusp of Gen X — sometimes called the slacker generation — and millennial with its own negative nickname as the slacker generation, there’s an almost unspoken pressure to defy the odds.

But the kids? They’re outshining us day after day — fighting for climate change action and LGBTQIA equality, using TikTok to shine a light on mental health concerns, and calling on brands to be more inclusive and diverse.

They challenge us every day.

They’re young. They’re emerging. And they’re leaders.

But they’re not the only ones.