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.

First, the “Running for Office” panel was amazing. The panel consisted of Kai Stinchcombe (whose great sense of humor kept a lot of the audience chuckling after every answer), Brent Pencak, and Ezra Temko, one of YP4’s own. Before the panel, I met Ezra and another senior fellow Nekpen Osuan and we discussed how exciting recruitment is going to be this year. Both were pretty interested in being on the steering committee.

But, back to the amazing panel. The three panelists talked about the pros and cons of being young enough to be your opponent’s grandchild and pursuing public office. They gave meaningful insight on how to stay organized, and why we as young people should consider running for public office to bring about change in our respective communities—whether on a local level or as large as the being a State Legislator in California. By the end of the conversation, I was thoroughly more interested in not only politics but young people’s role in our government.

Following the panel, I attended break out session/panel made up by Thea Lea of AFL-CIO, Tsedey Betru from DMI, and Kweli Kitwana from Progressive Majority. The three women shared their very unique experiences in public policy and the progressive movement. They also gave feedback on a highlighted paper from the 25 Ideas publication. This article was on Non-Violent Drug Offenders.

The most exciting part of the program was also the newest addition to the annual policy expo—a plenary session broke up into specific policy interests. I participated in the education group led by Kendal Nystedt. We were also graced with the presence of Carmen Berkeley and Angela of USSA and Luke Swarthout from US PIRG. The purpose of the plenary sessions was to give the 6 groups a chance to develop and present an action plan for the year to come. The best action plan will receive a $1000 grant to implement the idea.

As evidenced in the paragraphs above, Roosevelt packed a lot into the Expo and I got a lot out of it. I look forward to seeing Roosevelt Institute and other young leaders shape the public policy and discourse in this nation and abroad!