Next Gen Dem Next Gen Dem

With so many millennials beginning to engage in politics for the first-time, it is important to figure out how to channel that energy into political donations. Millennial under-engagement has been a major problem in the past, but Jake Mikva may have found a way to effectively engage young professionals and motivate them to give with his startup GoodWerk.

GoodWerk is a PAC that mixes civics, digital media and political giving into a format that encourages young people to get more involved in elections and take political action.At scale, GoodWerk has the potential to completely transform the way people of all ages connect with and give to political campaigns.

On Episode 14 of Next Gen Dem, Jake and I discuss how he got the idea for GoodWerk, key takeaways from the recent elections in Virginia, as well as the long-term potential of the GoodWerk platform.

Jessica Alter has been starting and growing some of Silicon Valley's most impressive companies for her entire career, but her latest endeavor, Tech for Campaigns, is her most important startup yet. What started as a simple Google Doc shared among her friends and colleagues in the tech world to see who was interested in providing tech expertise to Democratic campaigns following the election of Donald Trump has since morphed into a full-fledged organization with an army of volunteer digital talent ready to be dispatched to progressive and centrist campaigns at a moment's notice.

On episode 13 of Next Gen Dem, Jessica and I discuss how Tech for Campaigns came to be, how we can ensure technological innovations live on in future elections, why we need to focus on the state level, and how Democrats need to take a page out of the Chicago Cubs' playbook.

In just a few short years, Eric Lesser went from organizing students at Harvard to having a desk 50 feet away from the Oval Office which was a political education he is now putting to good use in the Massachusetts State Legislature, where he serves as a state Senator representing nine municipalities in the Springfield area.

On episode 12 of Next Gen Dem, Eric and I discuss his first foray into politics in high school, his proudest White House achievement (which also may have been his most embarrassing moment), and how you need to create your own destiny if you want to run for office.

Prior to becoming a state Senator, Eric worked in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to Senior Adviser David Axelrod and as Director of Strategic Planning for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Eric got his start on President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, where he traveled to 47 states and six countries with then-Senator Obama and his senior team.

If anyone can rise to the challenge of running for Congress for the first time in a deep-red Ohio district, it’s former Navy pilot Ken Harbaugh. Despite the fact that most of Ken’s neighbors voted for Trump, and even his own parents did as well, he is confident he has a message that will resonate – his commitment to putting service above self.

On Episode 11 of Next Gen Dem, Ken and I discuss how his military service has made him uniquely qualified to bridge the divide in politics, the perception of Trump among veterans, and how he balances being a parent with his pursuit of elected office. Ken even has a very novel suggestion for how to bring Congress together and get people working across party lines again.

After serving as a pilot in the Navy for close to a decade, where he flew reconnaissance missions in the Middle East and North Korea, Ken left the military to pursue a law degree at Yale. Most recently Ken served as President and COO of Team Rubicon Global, an organization providing veterans around the world with opportunities to serve others in the wake of disasters.

Most people are still in their first job at the age of 25, figuring out what they want to do with their lives. P.G. Sittenfeld, however, decided that was the perfect age to begin running for elected office, and he has become a rising Democratic star in the years that have followed, eventually becoming the youngest person ever elected to the Cincinnati City Council and a candidate for Ohio’s U.S. Senate Seat.

In episode 10 of Next Gen Dem, P.G. and I cover a wide range of topics, including when he came to the realization that politics was the best way for him to make a difference, whether his young age has ever been a hindrance for him politically, and what kind of message Democrats need to win back Ohio.