by Jae Aron · November 12, 2013 10:40 PM

In May 2008, then-presidential candidate, Barack Obama, filling in for Ted Kennedy, made an unscheduled campaign stop to deliver Wesleyan University’s commencement address.

His speech called on the red and black sea of graduating seniors to follow the Kennedy’s legacy and ask what they could do to serve their country.

I was only a freshman, but for the first time in my life, I felt like a politician actually got me. Here was a guy running for office who was unabashedly intellectual, pragmatic, and moral. He was multiracial, eschewed party labels, and he was younger than my parents. This wasn’t empty rhetoric – this was change I could believe in. And what’s more, he believed in us.

As millennials, that’s not easy to find. Too often, we’re dismissed as entitled, lazy, and too reticent to become productive citizens. And with so much political dysfunction and gridlock in Washington, it’s tempting to live up to the stereotypes: to give up on real progress, and by extension, ourselves.

That’s where LaunchProgress comes in: a nonprofit dedicated to identifying future leaders and helping them along the way. And there’s strength in numbers: Twenty-somethings represented under one-fourth of eligible voters in 2012; in 2016, we’ll reach 30%, and by 2020, we’ll rise to 36% of the electorate.

I’ll admit, we twenty-somethings still have a long way to go– but so does this country. So instead of abandoning all the “hopey, changey” stuff of 2008, I joined LaunchProgress.

I hope you will, too.

Jae Aron is an Account Assistant at GMMB. She currently lives in Washington, DC.

Barack Obama at Wesleyan Commencement Ceremony

by Megan Marjan Ramsey · November 07, 2013 12:29 AM

While the 1996 presidential election dominated the media, I was a waifish 7 year old trying desperately to organize a mock election in my elementary school. Shockingly enough, the 5 to 10 year old set isn’t very politically active.  Besides some quizzical looks at the two greasy cardboard boxes and a folding chair in the corner of the cafegymatorium, my campaigning attempts went completely unnoticed.

In the years since, I have only grown more politically wonkish, though the fruitfulness of my attempts remain questionable. No matter how many well-crafted puns I Sharpie onto protest signs, or how many bar patrons I bother with the varied argumentations for minor party ballot access, it is impossible to gain any political influence without representation in elections.

My generation of Millennials was raised on the notion of voting for the lesser of two evils.  We vote for Kerry because “at least he’s not Bush,” Obama because “at least he’s not Romney,” McAuliffe because “at least he’s not Cuccinelli.”  We’ve grown so jaded and cynical in just a few election cycles.  If we don’t get some invigorating candidates soon, who actually represent our values and perspectives, our generation will be lost to political apathy.

That’s where LaunchProgress comes in.  While establishment candidates ride waves of disingenuous campaign slogans, and a gridlocked Congress does nothing to address America’s needs, 22 million young Americans are ignored, LaunchProgress is changing that by empowering young progressives to take the next step in public service—to run for office. Their goal is to identify youth leaders who represent our changing, diverse America—women, people of color, people from lower-income families, people who are disabled—and connect them to unique professional development resources.

Our generation is the future of this nation, and it is time to fight for a say in the policies that will shape America.  With LaunchProgress’ help, our candidates have a chance to fight for us—the next generation of America’s leaders–in local, state and federal office.

Megan Marjan Ramsey is the Marketing Coordinator at FiveFortySix. She is a LaunchProgress supporter and volunteer, and an avid political news junkie. She currently lives in Alexandria, VA. @MarjanRamsey