AY Young’s battery-powered tour started with a simple idea. After auditioning for the X Factor in 2012, AY started hosting community concerts and soon realized he wanted his music to reach as many people as possible — well beyond his hometown of Kansas City, MO. When asked about his decision to power his concerts with clean energy he’s quick to respond: “I didn’t want to do a concert that was destroying the world.”

Over the last decade, AY’s Battery Tour has become the longest-running clean energy concert series in the world. At 960 shows — and counting — AY is nearing the finish line on the Road to 1000 concerts this year. He’s performed at venues like the Roxy Theater, the Phoenix Suns NBA halftime show, and local towns across the globe from Haiti to Switzerland.

While planting potatoes on his family’s urban farm, AY recalls his “first eureka moment” when he learned that 1 in 10 people worldwide don’t have reliable energy access. After this realization, AY expanded the Battery Tour to a music for impact concept, bringing renewable energy to 19 countries. He powers his concerts with portable solar batteries and provides the communities where he performs with energy and internet access through donated solar powered battery boxes. “I realized everyone in the world is an outlet for change,” he says, “If we’re plugged into each other, then we can power lasting change.”

Then, one day he received a call from the office of the then UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth where he spoke to Secretary-General António Guterres and other young global leaders about the SDGs. “I had no idea what the Goals were at the time,” he laughs, “but the Secretary-General told me I was achieving Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and Goal 13 (Climate Action).”

For AY, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal tool for engaging and educating communities about sustainability. “It’s a great way to reach people who have never seen the Goals before through a universal language like music,” he says.

Soon after that conversation, Project 17 was born. To bring the Goals to new audiences, AY has written one theme song for each SDG in collaboration with international artists.

The collaboration doesn’t stop there. AY pairs each song with a nonprofit organization that will receive donations from issue-aligned corporate sponsors, along with proceeds from the music and tour sales. “I’m meeting people where they are with the Battery Tour. These partner organizations can bring solutions to people through the platform we’ve built, and I’m able to give innovators more reach for the work they do to achieve the Goals.” The project will come together in a 17-epsiode docuseries that showcases all partnerships for each SDG.

His hometown is a special part of Project 17. The first track of the album is a collaboration with Tech N9ne, a Kansas City native and a pioneer for independent hip-hop artists. “I remember showing Tech N9ne the Goals,” he recalls, “He was telling me a story from his childhood and said Goal 1 (No Poverty) really spoke to him. From there, we started recording the song on my family farm using clean energy.”

Always in motion, AY attributes his passion for helping people to his parents. “My mom and dad are changemakers who transformed our community. My journey has always mirrored theirs – bringing the world together city by city, country by country,” he says.

He believes radical collaboration and storytelling are key to a more sustainable future. From show 1 to 960, AY continues to be a catalyst for change and encourages others to make change too, whether big or small. “Music and lyrics are the heart of this,” he says, “We try to bring everyone together to become an outlet and use their passion to take action.”

— Faith Williams, United Nations Foundation