Hi John. Let’s clear up a common misconception about Leaders We Deserve:
Our mission is not “young people vs. old people.” It’s about fighters vs. folders — and that cuts across every generation.
We focus so much on opening the door for young leaders because it’s been bolted shut for decades. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Wealthy donor networks, corporate PACs, and party machines have designed a system that makes it nearly impossible for younger candidates — and working-class people of any age — to run for office and win.
At the end of the day, this work isn’t about age. It’s about electing leaders who will actually fight for us — not ones who fold the moment their donors get uncomfortable or drag their feet while our planet burns.
And here’s the truth: we should never discount older generations, because real change only happens when all of us stand together, regardless of our age.
Leaders We Deserve would not exist without older Americans who want to see the status quo change and are fed up with watching the rights they spent their youth fighting for be ripped away. Many of our strongest grassroots supporters remember being young and feeling unseen by power, so now they’re determined to help pass the torch to a new generation of leaders. (Side note — not only did they fight for their generation, they literally opened the door for the next by lowering the voting age to 18!) We should all be extremely grateful for their support.
It’s far from just financial support that they bring, though. We rely on older people as mentors and examples. They marched for civil rights, protested wars, fought for reproductive rights, and defended democracy long before many of us were even born — laying the groundwork for our generation to lead youth-led movements on gun violence, climate action, racial justice, and more. We may be different ages, but we share a common belief: too many people in power simply are out of touch with our daily lives and struggles.
That’s why we built LWD: to finally open the door for community-rooted leaders of all ages who reflect our lived experiences. But it only works when we do it together.
Look at Akbar Ali. He’s on the brink of becoming the youngest legislator in Georgia state history if he wins his runoff, made possible because Rep. Shelly Hutchinson, a longtime community leader, chose to step aside and lift up the next generation. That’s the model.
We see it in Speaker Pelosi passing leadership to the next generation. We see it at the No Kings protests, led in large part by older Americans. Some of them literally fought fascism and are showing up again to defend our democracy, while I’m sorry to say, too many Gen-Z and millennials stay at home. If we feel fed up and pissed off by the status quo in our 20s and 30s, imagine how frustrated the generations before us feel. And yet, they still show up in overwhelming numbers every day to fight for a better future, our future. Leaders We Deserve is here to empower young people to have a voice in power and to encourage older generations to pass the torch so new leaders can learn from them and be as effective as possible.
That is what an intergenerational coalition looks like. And we need more of it.
We endorse young candidates not because they’re young, but because they’re the long-term investment our country desperately needs. And we need your help to keep building this bench.
Will you chip in today to help grow our movement and elect the next generation of leaders?
Thank you for helping build a future worthy of every generation, present and future.
— Leaders We Deserve
