Students from a Whitefish High School art class and a music class filed into the AP environmental science classroom and found spaces to sit before guest speaker, AY Young, leapt to the front of the room. 

“Everybody say, ‘Outlet!’ Everybody say, ‘Plugged in!’” he began. “I have this belief that everyone in the world is an outlet for change.” 

Young is a United Nations Youth Leader for Sustainable Development Goals. He is also a producer, singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. He has electrified the music scene with over 900 concerts powered entirely by renewable energy through his pioneering initiative, the Battery Tour. 

At Whitefish High School, he was hosting an interactive question and answer session with students to inspire them to become outlets for change. He asked the students what their “why” is, after explaining a person’s “why” is what drives them. 

His voice is as smooth and as wide-ranging as his movements. One moment he swooped to the far side of the classroom to listen to a student’s response and then, nearly floated across the room to ask another student, “What’s crackin’?” 

He’d squat to be at eye level to a table of boys one second, and the next he would rise and appear to be 7 feet tall.  

Young told the kids he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was homeschooled and earned the rank of eagle scout. He learned about community from his family, especially his dad, who was a community leader. 

“We grew our own food when it wasn’t cool,” he added, spurring a round of giggles from the students in the Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. “I think where you come from really does shape you.” 

He always wanted to change the world and, for a while, thought sports would be the way. He played Division I basketball with the University of Missouri-Kansas City. When a student asked if he participated in March Madness, he said, “No, but I lost to teams that did play.”  

After school, he considered his options. 

“How can I do what I love to do every day?” Young said. “We should, because that’s what life’s about, right?” 

Later, he was a contestant on the X Factor, a music competition TV show. 

“I learned a lot about the music business on the X Factor,” he said, “That’s when I learned, don’t let people tell you no; you can do anything you set your mind to.” 

That’s when he developed his idea for the Battery Tour. Battery Tour concerts are powered entirely with clean, renewable energy as he raises awareness and funds for specific sustainable development goals. His concerts actively fund, promote and deploy sustainable energy solutions to communities in need worldwide. 

Young has just 40 concerts to go before he hits the 1,000 mark and earns the Guinness World Record for the most clean-energy concerts ever. 

He’s currently working on Project 17, an album with one song dedicated to each of the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals.  

The sustainable development goals were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 and represent the world’s plan to build a better world for people and the planet by 2030. The UN says the goals are a call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the environment.   

The goals include things like zero hunger and poverty, gender equality, quality education, good health, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, peace, economic growth, climate action, and issues below water and on land.  

Young is collaborating with other prominent artists, like Billie Eilish and Tech N9ne, each having a special interest in one particular goal. 

Each of the 17 songs is also backed by a corporate sponsor that supports the goal connected with the specific song. To date, partners like Samsung, General Motors, BNP Paribas, and ENEL Green Power have signed on to support Project 17. 

Young’s project also involves nonprofit organizations that receive all benefits and finances from the music and tour and implement the work on the ground, getting energy to people. 

“You do not need a million followers to make an impact,” he told the students. “I don’t have a million followers, and I’ve helped bring energy to 18 countries ... food, water and power.” 

Fresh Water and the Montana World Affairs Council partnered to bring Young to Whitefish to meet with the students as well as local music, environmental and renewable energy leaders. 

Young will return to the state in March as the featured speaker at the Montana World Affairs Council’s Academic WorldQuest event at the University of Montana in Missoula, an event which brings together 500 high school students from across Montana to learn about different cultures and test their global affairs knowledge. 

Other local organizations are looking to host Young for a Battery Tour concert in Flathead Valley this summer.  

For more information about Young and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, visit batterytour.com and see AY Young - Project 17 - (2023).