GYSD is a great time to
connect youth directly with policymakers
. This can be done by encouraging individual communication with their elected officials, facilitating in-person meetings, participating in public meetings/events, or connecting with (or creating) youth councils/boards in your area.
Did you know that there are over 500,000 elected officials in the United States - and that less than 1% of them are at the federal level?
- Only 537 (President, Vice President, Congress) are federal.
- There are around 7,000 state legislators nationwide + 50 governors.
- The other 493,000+ are local elected officials!
There are over 3,000 counties, 13,500 school districts, and more than 19,000 cities and towns in the United States... and almost every one of those has some form of elected government, including county executives, county councils, school board members, mayors, city councils, and township officials. These local officials aren’t often featured in national media, but they make most of the decisions that affect our daily lives.
- Attend (or organize) a day at your state capitol or city hall. You can also request a meeting with any elected official any time. Remember, they’re there to serve you! Just make sure to request meetings at least a few weeks in advance.
- There are many local government meetings (like city council or school board meetings) that are open to the public and include time for public comments. You can find this information via their website, local newspaper, or public access channel.
- Host a Service Stop site visit.
Connect youth with their peers who hold formal leadership positions like on youth boards or youth councils. If your city, county, school district, state legislators, or governor don’t have a youth leadership group like this, encourage them to start one.
