Program areas at Future Caucus
MAP currently operates bipartisan, Millennial-led chapters called Future Caucuses in 33 state legislatures. The State Future Caucus Network is dedicated to fostering a space to cultivate connection, dialogue, and fertile ground for collaborative policymaking. Each caucus pursues a bipartisan policy agenda that proposes solutions to the problems that will impact future generations. MAP also helps connect state lawmakers in the Future Caucus network to peers across state lines through virtual and in-person programming.
MAP initiated a 12-month process to create the underlying curriculum for a cohort-based leadership development program for young elected officials. This program will codify the skills legislators require to be bridge-builders, while providing the capacity-building resources they require to be deliberate and compassionate civic leaders. By partnering with experts in neuroscience, mindfulness, legislative negotiations, storytelling, and more, MAP's training modules will enable young lawmakers to become better leaders and more effective stewards of our political institutions.
MAP leads efforts to organize the Congressional Future Caucus, our nation's first and only bipartisan caucus for young members of Congress, and its Hill staff counterpart, the 270+ member Millennial Action Staff Association. Representatives Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Blake Moore (R-UT), who co-chair the 117th Congress' Future Caucus, garnered attention as some of the most effective freshman members in 2021. These legislators are breaking the status quo of hyper-partisanship and proving that America's next generation leads differently.
The Policy & Outreach initiative involves a carefully-selected group of driven leaders and young professionals who are dedicated to helping usher in a new post-partisan era. This group serves as MAP's "inner-circle" of Millennial advisors who embody our mission, while offering various resources, access to networks and strategic counsel supporting the growth and reach of the organization.
MAP has invested significant resources into building an inspiring narrative of a positive vision for young leaders changing the way we govern. This program includes PR strategy and support, leveraging national conferences for visibility, thought-leadership content, modeling a constructive civil dialogue, all complemented by a robust and growing social media strategy.
We held the 2022 Future Summit, MAP's sixth-annual national gathering of current and prospective Future Caucus members across state lines. MAP convened a bipartisan group of 32 state legislators, hailing from 16 states, to gather with leading policy experts for a day of connection, innovation, and collaboration. The diverse group of participants shared their governing best practices and ideas on next-generation policies affecting young people across the country.
The 5th Annual Rising Star Awards ceremony was held in December and recognized Alabama State Representative Jeremy Gray (D) and Arkansas State Representative Aaron Pilkington (R), along with members of the Oklahoma State Future Caucus. The Rising Star Awards is an annual event highlighting young leaders - one Republican and one Democrat - who embody MAP's vision of transcending toxic polarization, along with one outstanding state Future Caucus for their future-focused leadership and political bridge-building.
MAP's DEI initiative was created to support the leadership of two key women of color at the organization, the President & CEO and the head of MAP's DEI Committee, in order to advance their ability to succeed and steward inclusive principles in the workplace. The initiative also includes a series of learning activities with MAP staff during staff retreats to democratize the responsibility of prioritizing DEI, as well as work collectively to identify opportunities to better recruit and engage legislators from diverse backgrounds in our programming.
On the Rise Tour: The Millennial Action Project spent time planning and preparing for our first "On the Rise Tour," which will focus on preparing our state-based Future Caucuses to transcend toxic polarization and bridge the partisan divide. The tour, which will kick off in early 2023, will include in-person visits to Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Vermont, and Oklahoma to meet with Future Caucus legislators in those states.