( – promoted by Jack McCullough)
It was so exciting to attend the organizing meeting of the Young Democrats of Vermont the Sunday after Thanksgiving. About 35 Democrats under age 40 met at the State House in Montpelier, voting on by-laws and electing officers. How cool is it that Kate Lapp is our YDV President at 17? Having young Reps in the legislature like Sarah Buxton and Kesha Ram has been an inspiration!
At this first meeting it was clear that the YDV will be promoting legislation that helps young Vermonters with issues like debt, helping young candidates with campaigns, and acting as a voice for young Vermonters.
So what’s next for this organization? I have made it one of my missions as chair of the Franklin County Democrats to make sure our county has a YDV chapter up and running by Spring 2012. By working with Republicans and Progressives in the county I’m hoping to get in front of students to talk about service and civic involvement in an exciting way and hopefully help a core of new young leaders develop. I’d like to provide campaign training to young volunteers for the 2012 season and encourage young candidates to get their names out.
If you’re under 40 and a Democrat in Vermont, talk to your county chair about starting a YDV chapter. Check out this vt.buzz article about the convention
http://blogs.burlingtonfreepre…
Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/group…
I think this is a really exciting time to be a young Democrat in Vermont, and I’m really looking forward to working with everyone involved with YDV over these coming months – the convention itself was a great gathering of people who are already doing really exciting things, and I can’t wait to get started working together on shaping policy for the next generation of Vermonters.
We’ve got a lot of opportunity to engage the young folk (I sadly no longer qualify, so get offa my lawn), and this is a great start!