Building the Next 250: Young Lawmakers Convene for the 10th Annual Future Summit

By Maya Mukherjee

On a Friday night in Washington, D.C., a Democratic state legislator from Vermont climbed onto a mechanical bull in a Western-themed bar while a Republican lawmaker from South Dakota brought down the house with a karaoke rendition of Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman.” Their colleagues from dozens of states cheered them on, putting aside their partisan differences to connect as young people with a shared love of public service and cowboy kitsch. 

Just a few blocks away and a few hours earlier, the same lawmakers gathered in a hotel conference room to listen to a dynamic panel on state AI policy and children’s online safety, before splitting off into breakout rooms to discuss how these policy issues were playing out in their states. 

These scenes capture the essence of Future Summit — the nation’s largest gathering of Gen Z and millennial lawmakers, where young leaders can set partisanship aside, put their heads together to generate effective governance, and focus on generational commonalities rather than political divides. 

Just a few days after celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, nearly 100 lawmakers from 34 states gathered in a Capitol Hill hotel for the 10th annual Future Summit. Some of the lawmakers had been attending since the very first summit in 2017, while for nearly half, it was their first time there. For both the veterans and newcomers, the summit was an invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas on their merit and build camaraderie across party lines. 

The theme of this year’s gathering was ‘Next 250 — The Courage to Build,’ encouraging the young lawmakers to consider their own role in building a better future for the nation. The attendees kicked off the event by standing up in a room full of their peers and finishing the prompt, “America’s next 250 depends on…” 

“The founders who built this thing? Many of them were in their twenties and thirties — young people audacious enough to construct something that had never existed before,” said Future Caucus president and CEO Layla Zaidane in her welcome remarks. “That’s why this year’s theme is ‘Next 250 — The Courage to Build.’ Because the next chapter of this democracy won’t just happen to us. It will be built by us.”

On the first day of programming, a panel of state Future Caucus co-chairs shared what they built this legislative session and how they did it, demonstrating the depth and breadth of the cohort’s accomplishments. Then, lawmakers discussed barriers to remaining in office, structured around Future Caucus’ recent Exit Interview report. Breakout sessions then allowed the attendees to home in on the most pressing concerns of young lawmakers around the country, such as financial barriers and personal safety. To round out the first day, the lawmakers sat down for Toast to 250, a family-style dinner featuring dishes from all around the country on a rooftop overlooking the Capitol. 

Future Caucus rolled out The Well, its brand-new digital leadership development platform for young legislators, featuring on-demand masterclasses, interactive policy exploration, and peer discussion forums to support the needs and ambitions of young lawmakers. After the launch announcement, the legislators in attendance had the chance to test out a demo right then and there. 

On Friday, the summit focused on some of the most pressing emerging issues in the nation — issues acutely impacting younger generations. In a panel on online safety, Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-S.C., Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Ohio, and Project Liberty president Tomicah Tillemann discussed how to build a safer digital environment for children and teens. And in a discussion presented by Future Caucus’ National Task Force on State AI Policy, Rep. Monique Priestley, D-Vt., Rep. Joe Hogan, R-Pa., and Chris McIsaac of R Street examined the role state legislatures can play in shaping the legal architecture of artificial intelligence.

On the final day, attendees stood up once more in front of their peers to tell the stories of laws they have passed — as well as bills that didn’t make it across the finish line this session — and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Several lawmakers said they were inspired by their colleagues’ work and would return home with new ideas for their own states, a now-familiar phenomenon. In 10 years of Future Summit, the event has frequently led to legislators introducing bills directly inspired by their discussions at the event.

Many participants reflected on their experience bonding with other legislators, saying that they had never realized how many similarities there were across state and party lines. Future Summit is a truly unique opportunity for legislators to focus on what ties them together rather than what divides them, prioritizing effective governance over partisanship. 

As the nation embarks on its next 250 years, the lawmakers at Future Summit and the hundreds of other Future Caucus members prove that the next generation is capable of overcoming partisan divides to govern effectively. Future Caucus is proud to host a convening of such courageous and inspired young leaders — the leaders who will guide this nation into a promising future.

By the time the last mechanical bull ride had been weathered, the last karaoke track played, and the final piece of wisdom shared, party lines were the last thing on anyone’s mind.