by LaToya Egwuekwe-Smith · May 29, 2014 8:49 AM

I’m LaToya Egwuekwe-Smith. I’m a young progressive living in Washington, DC, and I’m a LaunchProgress supporter.

LaunchProgress Action Fund is a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of young progressives in local office today to grow the base of progressives in national offices in the future.

They recently launched their membership program, which will give supporters like us an opportunity to show our commitment to building a progressive future that includes more voices in our political process.

As a monthly member, you’ll get inside access to LaunchProgress resources, conversations with progressive leaders, and access to our developing resource platform for young progressives and future candidates. Your support—even $10 or $20 per month—will help LaunchProgress reach thousands of progressive supporters and help build a sustainable financial system for the organization.

Will you join me and become a LaunchProgress member today?

Best,
LaToya

LaToya Egwuekwe-Smith is a Communications Specialist for the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), one of the largest industrial trade unions in North America. Born and raised in the Chicago area, LaToya currently resides in Washington, DC, with her husband, two children and German shepherd.

by Stevaughn Bush · May 29, 2014 9:05 AM

This month, we sat down with Sandra Fluke, a young progressive running for State Senate in California’s 26th District. While you may remember her as the target of controversy a few years ago when, as a Georgetown Law student, she gave testimony before Congress on the topic of comprehensive insurance coverage for reproductive health, Sandra has turned her political convictions to a new arena.

Sandra Fluke is a young progressive who brings a fresh perspective to her race for California State Senate. Sandra wants to use her platform to lend a voice to the problems millennials face.“Right now, there are staggering economic insecurities that my generations is facing,” she said, citing crippling student loan debt that could impact the entire economy, record high young adult unemployment, and a lack of career opportunities for recent graduates. “When the stakes are that high, [millennials] must have a seat at the table to determine solutions,” Sandra says. Also on the agenda is protecting the environment by calling for a moratorium on fracking, by addressing California’s water crisis, by investing in sustainable transportation alternatives, and by protecting the coast from over-development.

She’s also calling for a number of solutions to the job crisis in California, including investing in tech and green jobs. “Like anywhere in the country, we’re concerned with jobs and economic opportunity”. She talks about businesses leaving her district–and taking viable jobs with them–as a result of tried and unsuccessful ways of thinking. “It was extremely distressing to see an automobile plant recently leave Torrance, California,” Sandra continues, “I want to explore ways to improve our tax code to encourage hiring and job development,” all of which would ultimately help to expand the middle class.

Sandra has an extensive 10-year curriculum vitae of fighting for gender equality, LGBTQ rights, economic justice, and representing victims of human trafficking and domestic violence. She also has experience speaking out on these issues at the national level. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee initially refused testimony from Sandra, a Georgetown University Law student at the time and the only woman scheduled to testify at a public hearing regarding women’s reproductive health care. “The initial denial of my testimony before Congress is a perfect example of the importance of all voices being heard and represented in our government,” Sandra says, “There is little doubt that a young woman chairing the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would not have convened a panel of only older men to testify on contraception policy.”

Sandra saw the aftermath of the controversy as a way to bring fundamental issues that strike at the heart of choice, opportunity, and prosperity in our country to the forefront. “As the media attention and the personal attacks grew,” Sandra says, “I knew I could retreat and wait for it to pass, but I believed it was my responsibility to stand up and use the microphone I was given to advance the policies I’ve always fought for.”

With her unanticipated “celebrity” status, we asked Sandra why she chose to run for State Senate, instead of a U.S. Representative seat, where supporters believed she could have helped diversify a Congress in which only 8% of its members are under 40 and the majority of members are men. But Sandra let us know that she preferred the progressive spirit of California and the residents of its 26th district over the gridlock of the United States Congress. “I wanted to go to work somewhere that real progress can be made and important work can be done, and I knew that the California State Senate was the place to do that,” Sandra said. “California is a place where real progressive change can happen. Other states, and the country at large, look to California to set the progressive agenda.”

by Pichaya Winichakul · May 14, 2014 11:33 PM

Want electeds that reflect America? So do we.

by Joelle Gamble · May 05, 2014 4:44 PM

“I was told the only way I could win my election was if I moved to a different district. The current political leadership in my community made it difficult for a newcomer to be viable in the election.” A couple days ago I heard yet another political candidate under 40 say this phrase.

We talk incessantly about how the “Millennial” generation is steering away from government and public service. Yet, we talk down to, push aside, or actively undermine young people who have the motivation to run for office in our system.

While it may be true that my generation is becoming increasingly disenchanted with our system of government, we are still civically engaged. More than eighty percent of young people engaged in community service in high school, a trend that we continue even after graduation. My generation is participating in civic life; it is government and our systems that need to change.

This change needs to come from the bottom up. We need to build local infrastructure for young people to be able to run for office, win, and change policy. Not only should those invested in young people’s political engagement support quality, diverse candidates now, they should also invest in the people who have the potential to become candidates later. LaunchProgress does this. LaunchProgress’ goal is not to build another generation of young people who only view office as a way to serve themselves. Instead, we work to elevate those who serve others into positions where they can maximize their impact. We should build infrastructure that doesn’t just throw money into elections but, instead, provides a training pipeline for young people who are not thinking about running now to still be well-positioned for elected office in the future. This is why we need LaunchProgress.

Joelle Gamble is National Field Strategist at the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and a member of the LaunchProgress Action Fund Board of Advisors.

by Stevaughn Bush · April 28, 2014 3:28 PM

Welcome to our ongoing interview series highlighting young elected officials and young candidates. This month we spoke with Saatvik Ahluwalia, a 24-year-old American of Indian descent who recently ran for Board Selectman in his native Lexington, Massachusetts.

Saatvik first ran for the office at the age of 22, for town meeting legislature in Lexington. With a vision for a more efficient local government, Saatvik won election despite not having any political connections at the time. “I was curious to learn more about my town and to see where there might be inefficiencies in local government that can be worked on, how we can create more transparency, and better lines of communication between citizens and their elected officials,” Saatvik said.

Despite this criticism, Saatvik believed he had experience and ideas to contribute to government.  “Young people are given 1,000 excuses not to run for office, ‘you need to get more experience’, etc.” he says. “But if you’re truly passionate about it then you don’t have to wait. Get the signatures, raise the money—even knock on doors because that will show that you care.”

Although Saatvik lost his election, the people of Lexington definitely took notice of his candidacy. “Even though I didn’t win the first time around people really appreciated the fact that I went ahead and did the hard work,” he said. Indeed, Saatvik’s campaign and ideas continued to generate excitement. Shortly after the election, he was even featured in the Boston Globe. “I did achieve showing people the town is changing,” Ahluwalia said. “The new town is ready to get involved.”

by Colin Koffel · April 25, 2014 4:39 PM

LaunchProgress Co-Founder Poy Winichakul joined Madison Kimrey, an amazing twelve-year-old political activist, on HuffPost Live today. Both Poy and Madison talked about their own early involvement in politics and emphasized how important young voices are to the future of our nation.

Madison asked Poy what young people can do to get candidates to focus on what matters to young people. Poy’s helpful advice:

• Write and speak out—online, in letters to the editor, etc.—about issues that matter to us
• Get involved in campaigns
• Involve your friends

We’re looking forward to the future when people like Madison take over.

by Stevaughn Bush · April 11, 2014 3:07 PM

Welcome to our ongoing interview series highlighting young elected officials and young candidates. This month we spoke with 30-year old Stephanie Chang, who is running for state representative of Michigan’s 6^th district. If elected, Stephanie would be the first Asian American woman in history of Michigan’s state legislature.

This is Stephanie’s first time running for office. As a young organizer, Stephanie worked on a number of civil rights and other social issues where she showed her commitment to her community.

Although Stephanie’s community was excited about the prospect of her running (even current state representative of the district, Rashida Tlaib, tapped her as the ideal candidate to run for the seat), Stephanie was initially unsure of it all. “It took me 6 months to decide because running for state representative wasn’t something in my planned career path.” Ultimately, however, Stephanie was motivated by her community and by her own desire to make a difference. “After one-on-one conversations with friends and community leaders, I realized that it would be an amazing opportunity to be a progressive voice in the Michigan state legislature and use the experience I have as a coalition builder working with both sides of the aisle and as an organizer….And, there’s a bigger picture that keeps me motivated—thinking about the future I want for my future children, like making sure we have a good education system, and a fair justice system,” Stephanie adds.

Stephanie, who is currently attending graduate school full-time and working part-time in addition to campaigning, says her biggest challenge so far is balancing her time. But she manages to counter it with a strong sense of purpose and an indefatigable spirit. “It can be a lot in terms of juggling a lot of different responsibilities,” she says “but the biggest thing to remember is why I’m doing this and who I’m doing it for.”

When asked if he had any words of wisdom to impart to others under 35 who were considering running for office, Stephanie emphasized finding a good mentor and engaging in some soul-searching before reaching a decision to run for office. “Have conversations with people close to you…to really think through your strengths and weaknesses and to really be sure this is something you want to do. Also, it’s really important to find yourself a great mentor. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of great mentors, like Rashida Tlaib, and that’s been very helpful.”

“Have a strong reason for wanting to run,” Stephanie goes on, “because that’s what will keep you going day in and day out”.

by Stevaughn Bush · March 26, 2014 4:48 PM

Welcome to our ongoing interview series highlighting young elected officials and young candidates. This month we spoke with Rory Slatko, a 21-year-old American University student who is an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner representing the area around his school.

Rory ran for office at the age of 19 and was elected in November of 2012. Seeking to improve relations between D.C. area students and their neighbors, he entrenched himself in his local community to build, and in some cases rebuild bridges, shoring up better lines of communication between residents.

Rory was motivated to run by what he perceived to be a lack of student representation in the community. “There was a pretty significant dearth of representation for our generation and students, in particular,” Rory said. “Our neighbors were having conversations about us, without us.”

It’s no secret that politics is not about what you know, but who you know, and this is an area difficult for a younger, less-established candidate – however idealistic – to compete in. As a young candidate, Rory’s campaign was not without some of these obstacles. “I think my biggest initial obstacle was getting on the ballot, and the reason is pretty straight forward when you think about it. The petition time period,” Rory explained, “is over the summer, and the way the [Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner] election worked during the 2012 cycle was with an especially limited time period. It ended up being between June and July, squarely in the middle of the summer.” But there are resources that help mitigate this disadvantage, like organizations that specifically support students running in local elections.

Rory says the most challenging part of holding office for him has been realizing and understanding the context of political discourse in his community. “Most people say that you have to develop thick skin, not take things too personally. For me, the questions have been why don’t certain possibilities exist, why are there bridges that are burned, and achieving a real understanding of that context instead of getting irritated, fired up, angry. Because that’s the easy way out – to take it personally, to take offense.”

When asked if he had any words of wisdom to impart to others under 35 who were considering making a difference, Rory emphasized the right backing and mentorship, “I have a ways to grow in the position, but I think that young people have to be dynamic, that they need to have the right mentors that come from the right sources. That’s where LaunchProgress comes into the picture: to get that support from people who are developing an expertise in representation for young people.”

by Ruya Norton · March 05, 2014 2:43 PM

We need more young progressives in office. Here’s why.

1. Millennials rocked the vote in both 2008 and 2012

2.  Even though 18-24 year-olds make up 25% of the population, you wouldn’t know it if you saw how underrepresented we are in government

3. Diversity in other demographics is just as abysmal

4. Political gridlock is standard procedure these days

5. Even when the national budget isn’t looking so hot

6. Corporations aren’t people, but they’re somehow treated better than human beings

7. Saying “vagina” in a State House proceeding is wrong, but transvaginal ultrasounds are just fine

8. Social issues, like gay marriage, are being fought against on the grounds of “religious freedom,” but our generation is ready to embrace inclusivity

9. Young progressives have already done amazing things to promote bi-partisanship (check out our MoveOn Petition to see how!)

10. Because young people know “blah blah blah” is not an appropriate response to a question on national legislation

by Luke Squire · February 26, 2014 1:01 PM

Co-Founder Poy Winichakul criticizes Arizona’s anti-LGBT law in today’s Huffington Post Blog. This law is “really just the 21st century version of a segregate lunch counter.”

We hope that Governor Brewer will veto SB1062, but if you missed the news on this discriminatory and offensive law, you can read about it here. As Poy writes, this is another example of why it is so critical we engage and support new voices into public office:

So if you’re as angry as we are about Arizona’s anti-LGBT law, help LaunchProgress support a generation of candidates that will be accountable to our values at the local level and the national level in the future. Tell the political establishment to recruit local politicians that represent America–young, diverse, open-minded, solution-oriented–so we can vote for equality now, in Arizona or wherever your home state is.

Start today by signing the LaunchProgress petition, which asks the parties to recruit and support young, progressive candidates from top to down ballot races.

Regardless of party identification, we can have a generation of representatives that share and will lead on our values. But we must start now. Help us build toward that future today.

See Poy’s full article here.