Derin Ege Sezgin is 15. He is Also Trying to Regulate AI at the United Nations.
“On Paper, It Looks Like a Typo”On the seating chart for the United Nations General Assembly, it appears as just another speaking slot. On the livestream, it looks like any other youth representative at the podium. On paper, it looks like a clerical error.
Fourteen years old (at the time of the speech). President of a UN-recognized 501(c)(3). Youth delegate addressing ambassadors about AI water consumption in Georgia, drought emergencies in Spain, and collapsing infrastructure in Bengaluru.
When Derin Ege Sezgin finished his remarks at the High-level Multi-stakeholder Informal Meeting on AI Governance at UNGA 80, Ambassador Philip Thigo praised the speech. So did ASG Cherith Norman Chalet. So did a room full of diplomats who are not easily impressed. Derin had a geometry test the following week.
The High School Sophomore Who Built Real Infrastructure
Derin Ege Sezgin is the founder and president of SDG Youth Connect, a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit and UN Civil Society Organization. He is also a student at Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey. The most defining characteristic is his absolute refusal to wait for permission to lead.
The gap between theory and power arrived early in his thinking. In classrooms, the SDGs were presented as colorful frameworks for understanding problems. Outside those rooms, decisions about climate, technology, and development were being made with almost no youth involvement.
Building Pathways From Awareness to Authority
SDG Youth Connect (formerly SDG Kids Connect) began in September 2023 as Derin’s attempt to construct what was missing. The three-part structure he built—Awareness, Advocacy, and Action—was less branding exercise and more operational map for climbing from social media engagement to structural authority.
He reached out to dozens of institutions before being taken seriously. He built national coordinator networks across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.By the time he walked into the UN General Assembly building, he had already spoken at the High-Level Political Forum five consecutive times across five days.
The Work That Moves Beyond Symbolism
Today’s SDG Youth Connect operates across multiple continents with measurable impact. The organization runs health screenings for sickle cell anemia and hemoglobin across Africa through chapters like Nigeria and Cameroon. It co-organized the SDG Design Challenge with NextGenNav, attracting over 400 participants, 20 judges, and a $50,000 prize pool for AI-driven SDG solutions.
The organization placed youth observers at World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings. It secured bilateral meetings with UNDP’s Human Development Report Office. It connects youth from around the world to United Nations meetings and conferences.
The statistics driving his urgency are stark: 35% of SDG targets have stalled since 2015, and 15% have regressed. By 2023, only half the world knew the SDGs existed.
Governing the Speed of the Machine
Derin’s focus on AI governance is strategically calculated, not incidental. He argues that AI represents both the greatest accelerant and the greatest threat to SDG achievement, depending on how deployment proceeds.
His arguments are grounded in specific examples. In Georgia, communities lost water access due to nearby data centers. In Aragon, Spain, tech companies plan water-intensive facilities amid climate-driven drought. In Bengaluru, data centers consume millions of liters daily in a city facing its worst water crisis in decades.
At the ECOSOC Youth Forum, he delivered “From Clicks to Systems: Youth Power in the Age of AI Governance,” arguing that young people must move beyond digital engagement into structural decision-making roles.
The Generation That Refuses to Wait
The 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals is not abstract to Derin Ege Sezgin. He will be nineteen when it arrives. The decisions being made now, in rooms he is increasingly accessing, will determine the world he inherits.
His advice to peers feeling excluded from policy conversations is characteristically direct: “Do not wait for permission to participate. Build something that demonstrates your ability to contribute, then use that as your entry point. Focus on creating value in the conversation, not just being present in it, because that shifts you from participant to contributor.”
The United Nations was not designed to listen to teenagers. It was built to maintain order among established powers. Derin Ege Sezgin forced his way into those rooms anyway, armed with data, constituencies, and specific arguments about responsible technology deployment.
The generation that will live deepest into the age of AI is already trying to write the rules.
Key Takeaways / Playbook
- 1. Systemic Engagement: Move beyond digital awareness and digital clicks into structural authority and decision-making roles within global institutions.
- 2. Do Not Wait For Permission: Build real, value-driven infrastructure that proves capability first, and use that impact as the structural leverage to access key policymaking rooms.
- 3. Align Innovation with Human Rights: Establish globally coordinated frameworks for technologies like AI to ensure deployment doesn’t compromise foundational resources like water infrastructure.
