by Pichaya Winichakul · June 23, 2014 2:44 PM

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak at the New American Leaders Project Alumni Conference on supporting emerging political leaders.

I joined Jess Carrano (Acting Political Director, Working Families Party), Dan Altschuler (Coordinator, Make the Road New York Action Fund), and Azi Paybarah (Reporter, Capital New York) in encouraging community leaders of color from across the country to run for office.

Young people are the most diverse generation in the country. Yet people of color are severely underrepresented in politics, making up only 16 percent of members of congress.

But we are all working to change this.

The Working Families Party in particular is an example of how an organization whose focus in long-term candidate investment can yield tremendous results. WFP, as Jess Carrano explained, works to support progressive candidates at the local level to influence state and even national politics. Their work, along with the work of allies, has created a sea change in New York City politics. They’ve helped grow the city council’s progressive caucus to 19 members this year. And, as Azi Paybarah acknowledged, WFP has become increasingly powerful in New York State politics, where they swayed Gov. Andrew Cuomo to adopt their platform and move further left on a number of issues, ranging from the New York DREAM Act to public financing of elections.

Dan Altschuler of Make the Road New York, whose sister organization works on immigration reform, noted there are significant opportunities to lift up candidates from areas where people don’t often try to run a progressive candidate, or a progressive candidate that doesn’t fit the usual “political mold.” His group, for instance, is working with progressive candidates on Long Island, whose elected officials and candidates are usually white and male.

And it’s not just organizations. Candidates have used state and local office as a place to generate more influence and jump-start their political careers. U.S. Reps. Yvette Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries, for example, both got their start in the New York City Council.

Just like these groups working in New York City, LaunchProgress is committed to supporting young progressives getting their start in politics. By working with candidates running for state and local office, LaunchProgress can build a new generation of leaders, who will run for higher office in the future.

We hope to echo the Working Families Party’s successes in also being able to move discussion around issues toward our progressive values. And like Make the Road New York, we focus on uplifting the voices of people from underrepresented backgrounds in politics. We value different perspectives in shaping our nation and only with those voices in the room can we move the country forward.

I am very humbled to have been on a panel with two fantastic progressive advocates. LaunchProgress is looking forward to working with groups like New American Leaders Project, the Working Families Party, and Make the Road New York to make sure our representatives better reflect our diverse America, starting at the local and state level.