Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Youth are the change we need now

Portrait of three young adults
MoMo Productions/Getty Images

Wright is a youth leader at NM CAFe.

Politicians often proclaim that “youth are the future,” but they don’t listen to our voices or consider our opinions when making policies that will shape the future. The reality, however, is we don’t need to wait for young people to become changemakers — we already are changemakers. We are actively shaping the world through activism, raising our voices and organizing — and it’s time for politicians to take us seriously.


As a young person, I know that we are already challenging the status quo and reshaping the organizing sphere. I have witnessed the success of including young people in organizing from a young age when, at 16, I started working on disability accessibility in my home state of New Mexico. This led to furthering policy that helped support students with dyslexia, which I also have. Organizing around disability accessibility led to the state funding more money for testing for youth with disabilities.

Including youth voices in organizing is essential to adapting our current landscape to the needs and aspirations of those entering the space — something often overlooked in discussions about necessary steps toward building an inclusive economy that centers working people and families and treats those people with dignity.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Organizers face many challenges, but I want to focus on solutions. Transformational change in organizing must begin with a genuine interest and commitment to creating a long-lasting impact. Increasing diversity within organizing is a crucial first step. This goes beyond checking boxes across race, faith or gender; it means building a bigger table that includes young people.

Gen Z is unapologetically authentic and consistently shows up for our communities. The necessity to adapt is an important quality that youth leaders bring to the ever-changing field of organizing. We are digital natives, adept at using technology to amplify our voices and connect with others globally. Being fluent in this rapidly changing landscape allows us to organize quickly, spread awareness and mobilize support in ways previous generations could only dream of.

Intergenerational organizing, like the program Faith in Action and NM CAFe are building through Rising Youth, provides a home for youth who are interested in creating social and political change but aren’t typically in communities that allow space for them to get fully engaged.

Youth organizing spaces shift the current sphere of thinking to focus on issues that have often gone overlooked and under-prioritized. By listening to and empowering young voices, we can change the narrative to one that represents future leaders.

Youth have become boisterous champions of environmental justice, gun reform, LGBTQ+ rights and racial equity. In New Mexico, youth led the successful effort to be part of building the world we want to see, through working on immigration reform, mental health initiatives and creating a national platform for youth to be connected and empowered through organizing

Young people are demanding their voices be heard and will mobilize to ensure the issues that matter most to them aren’t swept under the rug. Young voters' political and social opinions are pivotal in driving change in this country. We are becoming more civically engaged than the country has seen in the last few decades.

Elected officials and candidates are joining platforms like TikTok and X to reach young voters because they want to build a base of young supporters. However, we don’t just want to be reached through social media; we want to be included and have a voice in the issues that impact us daily.

It is crucial that we continue to support and amplify youth-led initiatives, ensuring that young leaders have the resources, platforms and opportunities that we need to succeed. This means investing in youth programs, fostering intergenerational collaboration and creating spaces where young voices are not only heard but valued. The future is shaped by our actions today, and with youth leading the charge, we can create a more just, inclusive and vibrant world for all.

By listening to and empowering young voices, we can create a better future now. Our generation is ready to lead, and the time for change is today, not in the distant future. It's time for society to recognize and embrace the potential of the next generation as the driving force for positive change.

Read More

Sen. John Ossof and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Sen. John Ossof and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer rank as 'builders' for their ability to work on significant issues that resonate beyond their districts.

A new kind of political scoreboard: The Builders Power Rankings​

Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Fantasy football coaches take in their weekly scoreboard every Tuesday and analyze what went right and wrong over the weekend. They determine where the weaknesses are on their team and plan to adjust the lineup so that next week the scoreboard is more favorable. This Tuesday, while focusing on one of the country's most divisive presidential elections in history, Americans are also electing representatives from Congress down to village board. We have studied the facts, made our choices, and set our lineups. The decisions may have been easier if we'd had a scoreboard that ranked our lawmakers in a way that gave us insight into what adjustments to make.
Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump speaking

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Peter W. Stevenson /The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump's violent legacy

Monti is a professor of sociology at Saint Louis University.

Donald Trump presents himself as the greatest defender of American democracy since Abraham Lincoln. His monumental conceit might be dismissed out of hand, except for this: There is some merit to his boast. Surely not in the edifying way he intends but still deserving more serious attention than many Americans would be inclined to give it.

At the heart of the violent legacies left by Lincoln and Trump is the problem of order: imagining the kind of people Americans should become and harnessing the energy of a restive population whose own views on that question could not be ignored.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Derek Kilmer

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Derek Kilmer, two congressional workhorses, are retiring at the end of the year.

Congress is losing some of its best players this year

Fitch is a former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation and a former Capitol Hill staffer.

The college basketball world got a jolt to its system this month when beloved University of Virginia coach Tony Bennett announced his retirement. A big loss for the Cavaliers, and even a loss for the sport. When great leaders or players leave an industry, it can cause significant harm for their organization and the people they serve.

Similarly, at the end of the 118th Congress, the House and Senate will lose a greater number of “superstar players” than at almost any other time in recent memory. Most of these public servants are not household names, yet that is the definition of a “workhorse” in Congress (in contrast to a “show horse”). They show up, put their heads together and hammer out bill after bill to benefit the American people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Julie Wise
Issue One

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Julie Wise

Minkin is a research associate at Issue One. Clapp is the campaign manager for election protection at Issue One. Whaley is the director of election protection at Issue One. Van Voorhis is a research intern at Issue One. Beckel is the research director for Issue One.

Julie Wise, who is not registered with any political party, has more than 24 years of election administration experience. Since 2000, she has worked for the board of elections in King County, Wash., an area that includes Seattle and is home to about 1.4 million registered voters. In 2015, she was elected the director of elections in a nonpartisan race, earning 72 percent of the vote. She was reelected in 2019 and 2023, when she garnered 84 percent of the vote.

Keep ReadingShow less