Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to attend Roosevelt Institute’s Policy Expo
in Washington, DC. There convened about 150 students and young leaders from as far as California to take in all that Roosevelt had to offer us for the day, and Roosevelt offered us plenty! I will talk about the parts of the expo that I was most immersed in and enjoyed.

Leadership Academy fellow Josh Bolotsky just posted this Drinking Liberally Shot of Truth at OpenLeft.org. In it, he compares the new Open Society Institute Fellowship to other members of the "progressive-movement-builder" family, spotlights 2007 fellow Alex Hill's S.C.O.U.T.B.A.N.A.N.A., and talks a bit about his experience in the Leadership Academy:

78 percent of Young Elected Officials Network's members re-elected!

It was a good election day for young progressives at the state and local level across the country.  Tuesday's voting returned many young elected leaders to office, and new progressive leaders were elected for the first time.

The Young Election Officials Network , the nation's only network for progressives elected officials aged 35 and under, saw a 78 percent re-election rate among its members, and celebrated the success of new young elected officials, including:

Andrew Gillum, Tallahassee city commissioner and creator of the Young Elected Officials Network, has been named the new Emerging Leader of the Year by Impact D.C.

Andrew received the award while co-hosting a reception with Sen. Barack Obama. His victory came after a two-week Internet poll in which “so many votes were cast that it crashed the Web site.”

How will you make a difference in the world?

Front Line Leaders Academy is not just a place for campaign managers and future State Legislators. FLLA is also a training ground for leaders in progressive politics that work locally to make change. Young elected officials usually get their start a mayors, city council members, and school board members- and it's a great place to make visible change in the community.

Hoboken School Board President Carmelo Garcia (NJ) was one of the first trainers for FLLA in 2006, and he helped inspire fellows to work towards platforms that were true to their values.

"Carmelo Garcia was one of my favorite FLLA trainers without a doubt. Being the only fellow from New Jersey, I was so excited to meet and interact with a young elected official from my state, and I couldn't have asked for a better one," wrote Elizabeth Camuti, FLLA 2006 Fellow. "School Board Pres. Garcia was passionate about making a difference and encouraged all of us to get involved in our own unique way. Since our first training in Arizona, I have been in touch with NJ YEOs and I hope to be able to serve in office with some of them in the near future. Without FLLA none of this would have been possible!"

FLLA is accepting applications for the class of 2007 until May 8th- and one of our alumni from 2006, Alex Flores, shares his impressions of FLLA below:

"What are Young Elected Officials? They're just like you and me. They're just a couple of years removed from college, still paying their loans, still listening to some of the same music we do. They enjoy the same culture, have the same understanding of the world, and uniquely appreciate our point of view when it comes to politics.

"And that's what made FLLA so special."

Tallahassee, Florida City Commissioner, Andrew Gillum and Georgia State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan are the leaders of the Young Elected Officials Network, a program of People For the American Way Foundation.

This weekend they hosted the second of four three-day workshops for the 20 Fellows enrolled in the Front Line Leaders Academy.

The Front Line Leaders Academy works with young, unknown leaders and provides trainings on a wide range of leadership development and political skills.

Each leadership development class of FLLA engages in a series of face-to-face workshops and hands-on, interactive sessions facilitated by successful local leaders and industry experts. The program also involves members of the Young Elected Officials Network who serve as instructors, advisors and evaluators for the Front Line Leaders Academy. Between bi-monthly sessions, Fellows work on training-related assignments and receive customized instruction to further develop their skill set through the internet and conference calls.

Read more to learn more about the program and what the Fellows learned this weekend!