How Future Caucus Gets Republicans and Democrats to Work Together
There’s something quietly powerful about hearing someone talk about politics like it’s still a place where people can build things together. That was the tone from the very beginning with Layla Zaidane, the president and CEO of Future Caucus. Her whole world is built around a simple idea: if you can get young leaders across party lines to know each other as people first, the work changes. The temperature drops. The incentives shift. And suddenly, progress doesn’t feel like a miracle.
Layla’s story is part of why she’s so good at it. Her parents came to the US from Morocco on separate paths, chasing the same promise a lot of immigrant families chase. Safety, opportunity, a future that feels bigger than the one you were handed. Layla grew up with that background humming in the walls, and then she watched 9/11 unfold as a kid, which is the kind of moment that stamps itself onto your nervous system. She talked about the identity confusion that followed, the way the world suddenly felt more suspicious and more divided, and how that pushed her toward diplomacy and politics.
Future Caucus is built on a pretty simple idea, which is probably why it works. Young lawmakers across party lines are not doomed to hate each other. They can build relationships, learn how each other thinks, and work on policy without treating every disagreement like a moral failing. Layla kept coming back to this “human first” mindset, and it shouldn’t sound radical. But in a political culture that rewards dehumanizing your opponent, it kind of is.
One of the things we loved hearing about was their Future Summit, which is basically a mid-year reset for state legislators. Halfway through the year, when everyone is tired and cynical and running on fumes, they bring these young elected officials together to reconnect and swap notes on what’s working. There are policy wins and serious conversations, but there’s also axe throwing and karaoke where grown adults are apparently belting out Alanis Morissette like it’s 1997. It’s clear that joy is part of the point here. If you can’t laugh together, you’re not going to legislate together. If you can’t be in the same room without performing, you’re not going to build trust.
And trust is the whole game.
Because the barriers for young people getting into politics are not small. Layla was blunt about that too. Running for office costs money most people do not have. Serving in office often pays poorly, which quietly filters out anyone without a financial cushion. The hours are brutal. The scrutiny is relentless. And then there’s the part that is genuinely terrifying: the rise in political violence and threats. It’s hard to tell a smart, capable 28-year-old to put their hand up for public service when the reward is a smaller pay check and the risk is someone showing up at your house.
What Future Caucus seems to understand is that you can’t just tell young leaders to be brave and then leave them hanging. If you want good people to run, and if you want them to stay, you need structural support. Better compensation. Better staffing. Better technology. Better systems that make the job doable for someone who isn’t independently wealthy or willing to burn out by 35. Layla talked about the energy young leaders bring, the impatience, the willingness to try things differently, and how that can be channelled into real governance instead of just frustration. But it only works if the system stops treating public service like a hobby you do on the side.
The other thing that stuck with us was how these young officials respond when things get ugly. Layla described lawmakers across states standing together against violence and misinformation, even when they disagree on policy. That kind of solidarity feels rare right now, and it matters. It’s a reminder that democracy doesn’t survive on winning arguments. It survives on shared rules, mutual respect, and the basic agreement that your opponent is not your enemy.
If nothing else, let this be a small nudge. If you’ve been avoiding political conversations because they feel toxic, maybe the answer isn’t to opt out forever. Maybe it’s to find better models. Better people. Better rooms. The kind where you can disagree, stay in relationship, and still get something done.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Future Caucus: https://futurecaucus.org/
Future Caucus Exit Interview: https://futurecaucus.org/the-exit-interview/
Layla’s Podcast, Terms of Service: https://youtu.be/Nkbhx-o4FY0?si=fLud5hpQ4jlohHxj
Layla’s Good for the Soul: The Little Prince: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/157993.The_Little_Prince
Jolene’s Dible Dough:https://dibledough.com/
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[00:00:00] nicole: She's conservative and I'm liberal, and yet we've been friends for almost 40 years. Everyone says you shouldn't discuss politics, religion, or money, and we say that's exactly what friends should be talking about. join us as we tackle the conversations you're having in your head but are too scared to say out loud. Welcome to We've Got to Talk. Welcome, Jolene, and welcome, Layla Zaidane.
[00:00:26] Jolene: We are so excited to have Layla joining us today. Layla Zaidan is the president and CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers in the United States. Caucus works with over 2,000 Millennial and Gen Z elected leaders in Congress and state legislatures to bridge divides, collaborate on future-oriented policy, and scale a healthy culture of democracy. is a lot of stuff. Thank you, Layla, for being here.
[00:00:56] Layla Zaidane: Thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this conversation
[00:00:59] nicole: We [00:01:00] have two. We, we absolutely have two. I mean, there's so much to get into, but before we get into the nitty-gritty of Future Caucus, let's talk about Layla Where do you come from, Layla Zaidan? What's your background? I saw s- from some interviews I've listened to that your parents, uh, immigrated from Morocco.
[00:01:20] Layla Zaidane: both of my parents immigrated, uh, to New York from Morocco. They actually didn't know each other, so they came alone because
[00:01:27] nicole: Wow
[00:01:28] Layla Zaidane: American dream, the promise for a better life, economic opportunity.
[00:01:32] And so they met in New York, fell in love, uh, had a family, me and my sister, and we grow, we grew up in, um, in Westchester, New York. I moved to DC in, uh... Well, I came to college here, and so the reason was to study international politics. I was
[00:01:50] nicole: Oh
[00:01:51] Layla Zaidane: in diplomacy, uh, building bridges across countries.
[00:01:56] nicole: So from the beginning
[00:01:57] Layla Zaidane: From the beginning ...From the beginning ...
[00:01:58] yeah. And I mean, kind of a, a [00:02:00] sad reason. Um, because my family is Arab and we lived in New York, I was in eighth grade when 9/11
[00:02:08] Jolene: happened I live in, I was lower in Manhattan, so I saw the first plane hit Tower One.
[00:02:14] Layla Zaidane: My God,
[00:02:15] nicole: And I think about how awful it was as a 30 year old 30-year-old, but I was thinking about, like, I had a feeling that you were gonna say this, and I was like,
[00:02:24] Layla Zaidane: Yeah
[00:02:25] nicole: what's it like as a kid to experience this?
[00:02:28] Layla Zaidane: I mean, it's so confusing on so many levels. Obviously this sense of, safety being
[00:02:35] nicole: lost the sense of, your childhood is a before and after certainly for, everyone. And I think for me specifically, I had always been really proud to be the American cousin with all my Moroccan cousins back in Casablanca. And after 9/11 happened, obviously, horrible moment for our country, but also really confusing for [00:03:00] me to be told I had to choose between being American or being Arab. And like that was also really difficult to work through. And so that's actually what made me wanna work in diplomacy and wanna figure out how do we help countries collaborate more easily, connect more
[00:03:17] easily feel a sense of belonging.
[00:03:19] Layla Zaidane: I don't know that I could have articulated that in the eighth grade, but that's what drove me, here to, DC. And, ended up working in US politics. Like a lot of millennials, I graduated into the Great Recession, lucky me.
[00:03:33] Jolene: and the
[00:03:33] Layla Zaidane: jobs that, were available here in DC for somebody like me ended up being in US politics.
[00:03:39] So that's where I really learned how, like, things work in this country, not at a sort of macro international scale. I think it's just really cool to think back on the studies that I had in diplomacy and international relations now actually being applied domestically. Uh, a lot of bridges that need to be built right here at home [00:04:00] before we even think about, uh, some of the international bridges that I thought I wanted to be working on.
[00:04:05] nicole: you studied international relations, and then how did you get... You didn't immediately create Future Caucus. Like, what happened to get you to where you are now?
[00:04:15] Layla Zaidane: so a whole bunch of accidents which
[00:04:18] nicole: life is
[00:04:19] Layla Zaidane: as life is And, and it totally makes sense in the rear view mirror now. I was just talking to somebody about this yesterday. But, um, while I was going through it, it felt super random. the first thing that I actually did after graduating is I worked at this basically online coupon company called LivingSocial.
[00:04:38] Uh, I don't know if people remember Groupon, LivingSocial. There were these, like, you could pay $25 and get $50 to a restaurant or something like that. And so I worked there in sales, um, because that literally was the only kind of
[00:04:52] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:52] Layla Zaidane: could get in, uh, the height of the Great Recession in, you know, 2009, and, I loved it.
[00:04:59] I [00:05:00] was, you know, really surprised that, you know, somebody, um, who had gone to college and studied all this like, you know, fancy stuff. I went to school where like Madeleine Albright was teaching, and I was calling people on the phone asking them like, "Do you wanna like sell a Brazilian bikini wax for 50% off on our website?" but I think what it taught me a lot was like how to talk to people, how to, how to hear no, how to keep going, how, uh, to persuade. And, um, it was also at like the very forefront of how we were really, I think using social media and digital communications
[00:05:40] Jolene: 嗯。
[00:05:41] Layla Zaidane: way to, um, move people to, to action.
[00:05:44] And so, um, I did that for a while, again like really loved it, and then the job that I got working at a think tank here in DC, so this like the US politics part, was doing digital communications for them.
[00:05:58] nicole: Ah
[00:05:59] Layla Zaidane: [00:06:00] totally makes sense now,
[00:06:01] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:06:02] Layla Zaidane: like I
[00:06:03] nicole: what am I doing?
[00:06:04] Layla Zaidane: shoehorn my way in. and the part of the think tank that I was working for worked with young people.
[00:06:10] Uh, it's called Generation Progress, and
[00:06:12] nicole: Ah.
[00:06:13] Layla Zaidane: young people and, you know, on college campuses, um, just across the country to try to get them involved in politics. so here's the thing is I started doing that, and this might resonate with the two of you. it felt like we were making arbitrary barriers between like who's in this group and who's in that group and who should be a
[00:06:34] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:35] Layla Zaidane: of talking about this solution or that solution. and that the way we were organizing it party-wise was not actually the way that the problems were impacting the young people that I was seeing. Like a- affordability of higher education was hitting people whether you were a Democrat
[00:06:51] nicole: Right.
[00:06:52] Jolene: Yeah
[00:06:52] Layla Zaidane: we ought to be talking to Democrats and Republicans. Um, and yet the think tank I was working at really was sort of [00:07:00] primarily concerned with one side of the aisle. And so, think that was my first thought of like there should be a better way to create infrastructure around how do you just get people, not party labels, together
[00:07:12] nicole: Exactly
[00:07:13] Layla Zaidane: things?
[00:07:14] Jolene: Yeah
[00:07:14] Layla Zaidane: so this is around, let's see, like 20, um, 15 now.
[00:07:19] I've, you know, I've been doing Living Social, then I was at the think tank for a while, Center for American Progress, what it was called. and the organization existed before me, so I didn't found it. Uh, it was called Millennial Action Project, and it was just getting going. And the person, uh, who started it was trying to like make it be a thing.
[00:07:40] Like they wanted it to be, not just in Congress, but in all 50 states, and they needed somebody who knew what it was like to work in a big organization, to have like HR policies and budgets and, um, it was a startup. And I had worked at a startup, and I had worked in politics and policy [00:08:00] with young people.
[00:08:01] And so those two things combined made me really excited to go work, at something new that was thinking about like, how do we create new infrastructure for the rising young leaders in our country
[00:08:11] Jolene: Hmm
[00:08:11] Layla Zaidane: feel like they can build relationships along a generational identity, not along a party identity? And how can I actually help build the organization around this idea, this mission and vision? and it felt like the, the job was like totally invented for me. So I'd started a COO, and then when the founder left, um, I've been running it since. Uh, so I've been there since 2016. I've been the CEO since 2021.
[00:08:36] nicole: is that when it changed to Future Caucus?
[00:08:38] Layla Zaidane: yes. And so, um, this is so sad for me as a millennial, but our focus at Future Caucus is working with young elected officials. And when we started in 20- you
[00:08:51] know, 2016, young and millennial were synonyms. Today,
[00:08:55] nicole: Well, welcome to aging. It's really fun.
[00:08:58] Layla Zaidane: it's brutal. [00:09:00] It's brutal. And so, uh, you know, we had to kinda get ahead of that and, um, we had, uh, some Gen Z-ers who were getting elected who were joining our network.
[00:09:10] It was getting really confusing. And so, yeah, uh, once I took over, we did a whole rebrand. We called it Future Caucus. Um, and now really the focus is we wanna keep millennials involved. Like, as long as I'm here, millennial will be, uh, synonymous with young in my heart, but we also wanna make sure that Gen Z and soon Gen Alpha, and ev- you know, whoever comes behind them, feel like this is a place where they can come build relationships across lines and actually do something productive inside our democratic institutions to solve problems for people.
[00:09:41] Because that's why you run for office in the first place, is you wanna be a leader and you wanna help your community, get better and thrive
[00:09:47] Jolene: tell me how many people that you're working with that are state, on the state level, state legislatures Congress?
[00:09:55] Layla Zaidane: Yeah, so Future Caucus, uh, started in Congress actually. So the [00:10:00] very first thing we ever did was launch a caucus in Congress. We had, uh, maybe about 20 members of Congress join. Um, maybe it was less than that, uh, for the very first year, maybe it was closer to 10, 'cause you have to think like in 2016 there really weren't a lot of young legislators, uh, in office. But the idea really grew so quickly. So in Congress?
[00:10:24] we still have the only, I believe, bipartisan caucus exclusively for younger members of the legislature, so that's like 45 years old and younger is really what the, the general cutoff is. Although, I always say we don't check IDs, so if you wanna come and, uh, you have a, a youthful spirit and a s- you know, a desire to collaborate, you're in. but really quickly we started getting phone calls from people in state legislatures saying, "Hey, I want a young person
[00:10:52] nicole: Oh
[00:10:53] Layla Zaidane: in my legislature too. Will you come and help us?" honestly, like we're based in DC, we [00:11:00] had been really focused at the federal level. The state strategy hadn't been something, um, we were really proactively building out, but the first state to call us was Hawaii. so when Hawaii calls you and says, "Will you come here
[00:11:15] Jolene: Um, okay.
[00:11:17] Layla Zaidane: something?" You kind of have to say yes. And, uh,
[00:11:22] nicole: Let me get my sunscreen and my bikini.
[00:11:25] Layla Zaidane: we'll be right there. and so we helped them launch a caucus. Today we're in 36 state legislatures. Um, since we started about 2,000 elected officials have been a part of, uh, one of our programs or one of our local caucus chapters.
[00:11:43] And so because there's so many states relative to Congress, like the lion's share of our work really is at the state level, which I think is really hopeful in this
[00:11:55] Jolene: Yeah
[00:11:56] Layla Zaidane: um, you know, we see what's happening at the national level. It feels a lot [00:12:00] more unproductive than, than it once did. There's a lot of really amazing stuff happening at the state level, and a lot of them, uh, people who end up statewide or national get their start in the state legislature.
[00:12:12] So we're really trying to cultivate from the ground up.
[00:12:15] Jolene: is there an analysis that you've done between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents that are involved in Future Caucus?
[00:12:20] Layla Zaidane: So the way we set it up is actually every caucus has to have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans at the leadership level. So every single co- caucus has co-chairs, and it'll be one Democrat, one Republican, sometimes it's two and two. But we won't help you start a caucus unless there's an exactly equal number, who are the leaders.
[00:12:42] Now, in a state like Vermont, there's a lot more Democrats in the state, so
[00:12:49] Jolene: Yeah
[00:12:49] Layla Zaidane: more Democrats in the Vermont Future Caucus compared to a state like Arkansas, right? And so, um, nationally, I would say, uh, we're at [00:13:00] roughly, like, a 60/40, 60% Democrats, 40% Republicans, like, of the membership broadly just based on, like, the demographics of who is in elected office,
[00:13:12] Jolene: Yeah. Yeah
[00:13:13] Layla Zaidane: um, among 45-year-olds and younger. But
[00:13:16] Jolene: Right, I was gonna say, and young too, right? So then you, y- y- y- so then there's that. Yeah. Okay
[00:13:21] Layla Zaidane: yeah, we're super intentional about, the leadership level needing to be exactly 50/50, and then the pr- the national programming that we do. So, like, we just recently had a big event called Future Summit, and making sure that the people who are in the room there that we're cultivating, like, as close to 50/50 partisan balance as possible.
[00:13:39] Because listen, that's why are coming to Future Caucus. Like, they actually really want to learn from and engage with people who are different from them or across the aisle. So it's really important to the culture, um, and impact of the work to, like, really create that mix
[00:13:55] nicole: Okay, we do. wanna talk about the summit, but I, we wanna go back just to, [00:14:00] so that our f- listeners and viewers understand what Future Caucus is. what is the mission? What is, like, the number one priority? What do you want to tell our listeners about Future Caucus?
[00:14:10] Layla Zaidane: So we really believe that good public leadership is contagious, and we see young lawmakers, young leaders, young people today as the highest leverage opportunity to really create that change across systems, across our country, across our politics. And so what Future Caucus does is we help them build relationships across the aisle and work on policy solutions together so that political polarization is not an obstacle to solving problems. that's it. It's such a simple notion of how can we help you see each other as humans, come to the table with empathy, see each other as part of the same team and not as my enemy who I have to defeat? And that, um, [00:15:00] mindset shift, right, it just offers people a way to get off of this doom loop that we see in our politics where, you know, it's like the, uh, you know, from like Romeo and, and Juliet where you just like hate the other family, but you can't actually like remember why you hate them, but you
[00:15:15] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:15:15] Layla Zaidane: we wanna offer people a place where they can go to sort of unlearn that, unwind that, find, um, people who they share a lot in common with actually once they get to know them. And then we have infrastructure both nationally and, as I mentioned, in states to actually then help them do whatever it is that they wanna do together, and some people it's, you know, a specific kind of policy.
[00:15:39] Some people it's they wanna do more public engagement with like younger constituents across the state. Some of them just need their own leadership development training, and we offer a lot of that professional development. There's actually like not a lot of professional development that gets offered to, to state lawmakers. So we wanna just help them be successful, and we have created this [00:16:00] network of lawmakers who, um, are Democrats, Republicans, and where there are independents, you know, in like Maine and Alaska, they're part, you know, part of the, the work as well. Um, but where they see each other not as like a party label, but just another young person getting their start in politics who wants to help other people
[00:16:18] Jolene: your focus is more on the generational identity than the partisan identity. and you think that the younger generation has that ability to, to reach across the aisle or you're giving them the, the help with doing that. Are us older people, like, are we a lost cause?
[00:16:36] Layla Zaidane: No
[00:16:37] Jolene: is there, like, is there any thought of, okay, maybe integrating the younger folks with the older folks?
[00:16:44] Or, I mean,
[00:16:44] Layla Zaidane: Totally.
[00:16:45] Jolene: What's that mind shift?
[00:16:46] Layla Zaidane: Totally. Well, I think there's, I think there's two things, and I, like, I would hate for people to take away that there's any kind of generational warfare. That's not at all... Um, there was a period of time where, I don't know if you remember this, but "Okay, boomer" [00:17:00] was, like, a thing people said, and I got asked
[00:17:02] nicole: Oh, right
[00:17:04] Layla Zaidane: if we were, like, hating on boomers.
[00:17:07] So that was sort of a cultural moment I'm glad has, has sort of passed, because I think it's really important to have, the wisdom and experience of all generations. And the problem today is, have you heard the word gerontocracy?
[00:17:22] nicole: I, I can understand what it means
[00:17:24] Layla Zaidane: Okay. I, I feel like I keep reading articles about the gerontocracy, which is that there are a lot of older leaders, they are the ones making all of the decisions rather than, Jolene, what you just said, how do we, like, integrate all of the generations together? And so you start to have decisions or even priorities that reflect maybe what one specific generation cares about, but not, like, a fully inclusive, um, set of, like, [00:18:00] issues or solutions that are things that maybe, like, you know, more m- middle age or younger people care about.
[00:18:06] And so we think it's really important to,
[00:18:08] Jolene: Hmm
[00:18:09] Layla Zaidane: people be able to work together, and that's something that we do, we do a lot of. Also just pragmatically, like, a lot of the older generations are your committee chairs or your party leadership, and so it's important to build good
[00:18:21] Jolene: Sure
[00:18:22] Layla Zaidane: uh, with them.
[00:18:23] But I also think that younger people do bring some unique skills that we ought to be cult- like nurturing and growing. They bring a sense of open-mindedness because they haven't been doing the job
[00:18:38] Jolene: Hmm
[00:18:38] Layla Zaidane: long, and sometimes that's, you know, a negative because you're still so green, but in a lot of op- like a lot of times, it's a real positive because it means that you're not inside the box every time or trying the same thing that's been tried 100 times before.
[00:18:54] You're
[00:18:55] Jolene: Yeah
[00:18:55] Layla Zaidane: sort of more entrepreneurial thinking or more, know, creative thinking. [00:19:00] I think there's also, um for better or worse, a little bit of a, and I say this kindly, a sense of impatience among, uh, sort of younger generations. And I think how we see that translated often in politics is that they don't want to wait for, you know, one party to finally be in control in order to do XYZ policy.
[00:19:26] They'll work with anybody to do the thing that they believe needs to get done, and so that's actually a huge opportunity, sort of channeling this impatience into an open-mindedness of who do I get to work with? And
[00:19:38] Jolene: Right
[00:19:38] Layla Zaidane: thing that's often missing is how do you channel that in a productive way? We come in with that civic infrastructure to give them, uh, the permission structure, honestly, in a lot of ways to
[00:19:49] Jolene: Hmm
[00:19:50] Layla Zaidane: before you see that person as a D or an R, just see them as a fellow 30-year-old who also has, you know, a two-year-old at home, who's also trying to figure [00:20:00] out how to, you know, um,
[00:20:02] Jolene: Yeah
[00:20:02] Layla Zaidane: this bill through their committee."
[00:20:04] And that just sorta shifts their mindset and then offers them additional governing partners to, to get things done.
[00:20:10] nicole: it's also interesting, Layla, as you're speaking about it, 'cause I'm thinking about how, so Jolene and I are Gen X-ers, and we are young-spirited and wanna be part of your crew, by the way. But that being said, like, we came up and w- you could still be friends.
[00:20:25] Like, there was, there wasn't this toxic culture that there is now. So I'm thinking about this generation that you're working with that has had no modeling. but they have a desire, and probably a frustration, and a, an over-it-ness. Like, "Hey, We need to make this work. We need to figure out a way, a different way."
[00:20:46] And number one, I completely love it. I, this is so why We've Got to Talk exists. In my other life, uh, as an actor, I had a thing where I worked with, I created this program as [00:21:00] infrastructure. It's kinda, I'm wondering if it's similar, where I use, like, acting techniques to help social workers, lawyers.
[00:21:07] Where you'd go in and, like, cut the hierarchy out and like, "Let's play together, see each other as humans." And you would shift the dynamic so that when someone was maybe having a hard time, the boss brain stopped and went, "Oh, I remember you. Like, I see you as a human, and let's work together." And so, that's to me, kind of what is super exciting to me f- for, like, I'm thrilled you exist.
[00:21:30] I'm th- thrilled that Future Caucus exists, because Jolene and I are sick of this shit. We are sick of it. Like, enough. And there are times that whe- whatever it is, that you'll... We're, we're gonna work on the Social Security monster. That's one of our topics coming up. we're looking at all these hearings, and there's this feeling that keeps happening where you like, an R comes up, and I get my haunches up, and then I go, "Wait a second.
[00:21:55] No. Take that away, take a deep breath, and just start [00:22:00] listening to this person." And you find that when you let that go, you're like, "Wait, I kind of agree with this," or, "That's a good point. I'm not just gonna be mad to be mad." But we're so trained to, you know, get our haunches up, and I feel like it's really exciting work what you're doing.
[00:22:20] I know this isn't really a question, but it's more of an affirmation of what you're talking about. one thing I wanted to say was that what Jolene was expressing, that I'm impatient and frustrated because I want... Listen, I, I think some of the experience is great, but we've said this a billion times, I think a lot of the boomers need to get out.
[00:22:42] Like, enough. You did your job. You did great. Even the Gen Xers were like, "Can we be grownups now? Like, are we allowed? Like, it's our time," right? But all to say that I also think it's really, it could be really cool, since you already have this structure, this infrastructure, to maybe [00:23:00] do workshops with these, these boomers, and like, get them in the room have the kids, like, teach them some things
[00:23:08] Layla Zaidane: Yeah. Okay, so what I was gonna say is I love that you built, sort of programming around play and around bringing people together to unwire our little, like, animal
[00:23:20] nicole: Exactly
[00:23:22] Layla Zaidane: sort of, like, scarcity mindset often or, like, conflict-driven. Because when you play, there's so much psychology around what that does for your ability to, like, connect with other
[00:23:32] Jolene: Hmm
[00:23:32] Layla Zaidane: and then to
[00:23:33] nicole: Exactly
[00:23:34] Layla Zaidane: move forward through whatever issue arises. And that's actually one of our bedrock principles is we're not actually coming in and bringing a Democrat and a Republican together and saying, "Sit down. You're gonna talk about Social Security right now." The first thing that we do is some version of play. We'll have
[00:23:55] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:55] Layla Zaidane: fun dinner. In Kansas, the Kansas Future Caucus did [00:24:00] as one of their first activities an ax throwing night where people from the Future...
[00:24:05] Yeah,
[00:24:06] nicole: Not at each other.
[00:24:07] Layla Zaidane: not at each
[00:24:08] Jolene: Yeah
[00:24:09] Layla Zaidane: And, and they had the drinks after the ax throwing, I think, so no, uh, legislators were, were harmed. And
[00:24:16] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:16] Layla Zaidane: actually one where, um, older members of the Kansas State Legislature came and joined them because there's, like, an aura, there's a vibe that people want to be a part of.
[00:24:28] nicole: Yeah
[00:24:28] Layla Zaidane: you're totally right,
[00:24:29] like, people are sick of it. People are hungry for things that feel positive, that feel constructive, and at its best offer them a feeling of belonging. And you actually don't get that by saying, "Let's just, like, get straight to the policy products that we wanna create." You actually have to have a really human experience first, and you have to do it more than one time.
[00:24:51] It can't be just like you, you go ax throwing once, and then you never actually, like, return to that feeling of connection or that [00:25:00] feeling of play or that feeling of like,
[00:25:01] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:25:01] Layla Zaidane: m- we're
[00:25:02] nicole: Yes.
[00:25:02] Layla Zaidane: this issue." Because here's the thing, in politics you are gonna disagree, and you should disagree. Like, that's how we've designed this country of 340 million people who all have different life experiences and different perspectives. A democracy is supposed to take those different ideas and, points of view and, like, allow them to be in conflict with one another so that we might sort of, like, emerge with, whatever the path forward is. It's, it's, like, on our money, right? Like, e pluribus unum, out of many, one. It's, like, one of the most important things that we should do.
[00:25:37] And so you are gonna have conflict, but if you've had this more human connection first, if you have a sense of respect and trust in the person across the table from you, you can argue and you can disagree, and you cannot hate them.
[00:25:52] nicole: Hmm.
[00:25:52] Jolene: Yeah
[00:25:53] Layla Zaidane: that rot your heart and inform your brain the next time you're trying to work with them on [00:26:00] something that holds you back from, like, showing up fully or from actually, like, giving them the benefit of the doubt or actually hearing what it is they're saying. It'll allow you, having that human connection, it'll allow you to, like, disagree, go apart, and then come back on the next issue and, like, work through that with, like, full positive intention and full productivity. And so I, Yeah I think the, way that most of our politics is organized is to get to that, like, end goal of, like, what is the legislation?
[00:26:29] Who is, like, winning this election? Like, all of these, like, i- really important things, but it misses that super f- important first step of, like,
[00:26:38] Jolene: Hmm. '
[00:26:39] Layla Zaidane: build a base of trust, respect, and joy, honestly, in what it is that we're all doing here together in the first place?
[00:26:47] Jolene: what are the things that are holding back younger people from, from running for office? So, and whether that's in the state legislature, whether That's Congress, you know, we, we read your, the exit interview, [00:27:00] um, piece that I thought that was really good.
[00:27:02] We'll put that, uh, we'll put that in the show notes so that everybody can, can read that. Tell us some of the... So what would be some of the things that, what are the barriers to entry?
[00:27:12] Layla Zaidane: Yeah. Oh man, Jolene, you just opened such a big topic. Okay. But before, before I tell you what makes it hard, can I just say that we're seeing more and more young people decide to run for office despite...
[00:27:23] nicole: That's awesome.
[00:27:25] Layla Zaidane: they don't know how hard it's gonna be.
[00:27:28] Jolene: Oh, okay. Yeah.
[00:27:29] Layla Zaidane: but we're, we are seeing more people decide that they have a sense of agency, and that they want to lead in their community.
[00:27:35] People, um... We saw a lot of this in COVID where, nurses or scientists who noticed that the decisions being made were having these impacts without necessarily people with their background, like medical or scientific background, at the table. And so they were like, "Great, I should run for office. The solution is me."
[00:27:53] So we're seeing people, like, really have these great intentions in why they decide to run in the [00:28:00] first place, and I think that's just important to say, 'cause most people, um, maybe not your listeners, but a lot of people think about a politician as somebody who's in it for power, and somebody who's in
[00:28:11] nicole: Absolutely
[00:28:12] Layla Zaidane: money.
[00:28:12] And I just wanna say that that is not the experience that we have had, and that is by and large not the lawmakers that we have met, and we have met legislators in every single state and Congress, thousands of them over the years. Basically all of them run because they want to make things better, and they see public policy as a way that they can do that. we'll have a report come out in, uh, September called On the Rise that'll share a little bit more data. But, over the past few election cycles, we've seen a steady increase in the number of millennials, and a giant jump in the number of Gen Z-ers, for, for office.
[00:28:51] So that's super encouraging. Okay, now the bad
[00:28:55] nicole: Wait, can we, before we get to the bad part, 'cause maybe this is part... Is the future summit that you just [00:29:00] did in July, Is that where the exit interviews came from? Are those the people that are already in office? I didn't understand what... I've been following you on Instagram, but I, and I love it, but I was like, "I'm not sure who these people are."
[00:29:12] Layla Zaidane: Yeah, great que- great question, and we, we really work with people who are."
[00:29:17] already in elected
[00:29:18] nicole: Okay
[00:29:19] Layla Zaidane: in an election year, a lot of them are both in office and running for
[00:29:24] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:29:25] Layla Zaidane: But, we work with people after Election Day. I like to say, you know, people tend to get really fixated on who gets into office, who gets elected, and, like, basically nobody except for weirdos like us at Future Caucus think about what happens after Election Day. And so everyone who comes to Future Summit, everyone who's in a Future Caucus, anyone who's part of any of our national programming, those are all current sitting
[00:29:54] nicole: Okay
[00:29:55] Layla Zaidane: officials. but we do hope that their positive [00:30:00] leadership, their example, them as role models, like that that inspires a broader set of candidates in the future, although that's not really the primary goal.
[00:30:10] The primary goal is, like, let's help you be successful. Let's help you build those relationships so that we can have more bipartisan collaboration. and then let's sort of show to the public what democracy delivering results looks like to
[00:30:26] Jolene: Hmm
[00:30:26] Layla Zaidane: inspire more faith, I think, in our, in our institutions.
[00:30:30] nicole: Is the Future Summit and the Future Innovation Lab, are they different?
[00:30:36] Layla Zaidane: So the Future Summit, you can think of, it happens every July, so it's like halfway through the year. okay, think about yourself when it's New Year's Eve, and you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna make these, like, five New Year's resolutions for the next year. I'm gonna, like, keep my house really clean, I'm gonna cook every night, I'm gonna, you know, lose five pounds.
[00:30:58] I'm gonna do all these things." And then you [00:31:00] get to, like, and you're like, "Man, the first few months of the year really kicked my butt. Like, I'm feeling kind of demotivated. This is hard." So you can think of Future Summit as this, like, midpoint where mo- It's for state legislators, so all of their state sessions
[00:31:19] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:19] Layla Zaidane: of happened.
[00:31:20] Most of them are done by then. Um, and a lot of them had losses. A lot of them had, like, bills that they really cared about that didn't go through, or a lot of them had, um, know, just challenging experiences. And so Future Summit at its core is to create a meeting point of all of our
[00:31:40] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:31:41] Layla Zaidane: to connect, reconnect with each other, and to say, like, "We got this."
[00:31:45] It, you know, more than anything, we do policy sessions, we do leadership development sessions, we have great speakers, um, we j- you know, we do social events, all of that. So we do all the things that you do at a conference, but really, the purpose is you are not alone. and [00:32:00] there are so many people who have your back and are cheering for your success.
[00:32:04] It might not feel like that when you're sitting across the table from somebody
[00:32:07] Jolene: Right
[00:32:08] Layla Zaidane: you tooth and nail on the thing that you're trying to get done. but there is a network of individuals who, just like you, are doing the same thing in Georgia, in Alaska, in Maine, you know, all over the country. And if you need something, they're just a phone call, a phone call
[00:32:26] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:32:27] Layla Zaidane: one of
[00:32:27] Jolene: And what a great resource for them. You know, once they leave that, I mean, to be able to
[00:32:31] nicole: Ugh
[00:32:31] Jolene: somebody and go, "Okay, I- you were talking about this, I remember this. I mean, how did you get through this?" I mean, what... Now they just have a network
[00:32:38] Layla Zaidane: Yeah,
[00:32:38] Jolene: wouldn't have had
[00:32:40] Layla Zaidane: And so, like, this year's Future Summit was so cool. On the last day, we had
[00:32:44] a bill share where you could just, we just left the mic on, on the stage, and you could just walk up, you didn't have to tell us ahead of time, and say, "Here's something I'm really proud of that I did this year." Right?
[00:32:53] 'Cause I
[00:32:54] nicole: Oh, that's so nice
[00:32:55] Layla Zaidane: friends bond by venting, so we wanna create, like, plenty of time for venting, and [00:33:00] I'll get back to the exit interview because a lot of these, themes did come out of, like, the venting. But also, like, they had a lot of wins. Like, actually a lot of great things happened this year. And so we create a moment for them to get up and talk about legislation or a coalition they built.
[00:33:18] and like, you know, I'm just thinking of there's a woman in Colorado who got up there, and she's like, "Yeah, I was just talking to this person from the other party in Utah, and he told me about a bill that he got passed around privacy, data privacy. And I had just tried something similar, and it didn't pass, but he told me about how he got it done, and now I know how I'm gonna get the
[00:33:39] Jolene: Ah.
[00:33:40] Layla Zaidane: party on board based on what he shared.
[00:33:42] So I'm gonna take that back to Colorado
[00:33:46] nicole: It's great. It's great
[00:33:48] Layla Zaidane: same thing, you know, with a woman in Rhode Island who talked about, uh, coverage that she now offers in Rhode Island. She had learned about that [00:34:00] from, uh, what got passed in a much more conservative state, in Georgia.
[00:34:03] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:34:04] Layla Zaidane: And somebody in Georgia who had, who was a progressive per- uh, lawmaker in Georgia who had learned about expansions to maternal health that she borrowed from a super conservative lawmaker in Arkansas.
[00:34:16] So it's just really cool to have this, like,
[00:34:18] Jolene: Wow
[00:34:19] Layla Zaidane: for people to see each other, again, first as people, and then they start to, like, really listen to and, like, actually hear what
[00:34:29] Jolene: Mm-hmm
[00:34:29] Layla Zaidane: they're getting done for their constituents. Um, it's really fun. And we take them to do karaoke, which is, like, always a very bonding moment.
[00:34:40] Jolene: Okay
[00:34:40] Layla Zaidane: once you've, like, s- been singing Alanis Morissette
[00:34:43] nicole: Yep
[00:34:43] Layla Zaidane: of your lungs in front of people, like, there is a level of trust that, you know, is, is really important.
[00:34:51] Jolene: That is awesome. so go back then to give me the bad
[00:34:55] nicole: Yeah, Jolene wants the bad news.
[00:34:57] Layla Zaidane: know, I know
[00:34:58] Jolene: I, no, I just, because
[00:34:59] nicole: No, it's [00:35:00] important. I, it was,
[00:35:01] Jolene: part.
[00:35:01] nicole: it, the, we... I mean, it blew our minds what was going on in this
[00:35:05] Jolene: and if we want more young people, because I think we all... And even as a conservative, know, that was one of the reasons that we voted for Trump in the first time, was we wanted a business person.
[00:35:16] We wanted somebody to come in here and look at things differently and have a different perspective, and not the same old, same old.
[00:35:21] Layla Zaidane: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:22] Jolene: And so I think this is so important because now we're seeing this not from either a Republican and, Democrat perspective, but let's get fresh blood. Let's get new people.
[00:35:33] So what would be, what are some of the downsides? What's preventing people from being successful as legis- either, either legislators or,
[00:35:43] Layla Zaidane: congress
[00:35:43] Jolene: people
[00:35:44] Layla Zaidane: So, and like certainly as a candidate, I do think that the money in politics is tough, and the
[00:35:51] nicole: amount
[00:35:51] Layla Zaidane: that a legis- or a candidate would need to fundraise, and oftentimes especially younger people are not as connected to networks of [00:36:00] wealth as some of their older opponents. And so that, that is a huge barrier.
[00:36:04] I'll say on the flip side, I think, the playing field is leveling a little bit now, but younger people as digital natives do have a
[00:36:13] nicole: really
[00:36:14] Layla Zaidane: important advantage in how they may be able to use social media
[00:36:19] nicole: to get their message out there without needing as many, dollars to throw towards like traditional advertising.
[00:36:25] Layla Zaidane: And so,
[00:36:26] Jolene: Yeah
[00:36:26] Layla Zaidane: know, y- and you see sometimes, actually even this election cycle, people who, outspent like three to one still actually eke out a win in the primary because they've been so effective at getting their message out there in, other ways
[00:36:40] nicole: and ways,
[00:36:40] Layla Zaidane: that are like authentically resonating with the voters. and so that's what I'll say on the candidate side. I do think sort of money and fundraising is, um, probably one of the biggest barriers. And then, you know, our perspective is maybe a little unique at Future Caucus because people think a lot, like I said, [00:37:00] about who gets elected and how to recruit the right people to run. think a lot about retention. Once that person wins,
[00:37:10] Jolene: Hmm
[00:37:10] Layla Zaidane: sure that they're not just serving one term where
[00:37:14] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:37:15] Layla Zaidane: learning the ropes really, and then burning out or deciding not to run
[00:37:19] Jolene: Yeah
[00:37:20] Layla Zaidane: it was too hard or, um,
[00:37:22] Jolene: Yeah
[00:37:22] Layla Zaidane: know, for any number of reasons. And so, you know, I don't think we, you know, we were talking about this before, I don't think people need to serve, uh, in office for like 60 years.
[00:37:31] I think there's lots of ways to help your community. m- you know, more than one, one term is, is, uh, helpful for your community to see you sort of rise into positions of leadership that can really make a difference. So couple of the things that we've seen be difficult, uh, especially for state legislators is, uh, will you...
[00:37:53] Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question, but if you know the answer off the top of your head, then I'm just, I'm gonna say it in a more dramatic way so that it's more fun for the [00:38:00] listeners.
[00:38:02] Jolene: Okay.
[00:38:03] nicole: do it
[00:38:03] Layla Zaidane: much, how much do you think a state legislator makes per year?
[00:38:07] Jolene: 43,000?
[00:38:08] Layla Zaidane: But ooh, Jolene did her homework
[00:38:10] nicole: my God, Jolene is obsessed with the numbers. I'm telling you
[00:38:14] Layla Zaidane: the average American makes $20,000 more than that. So the average state legislator is earning $20,000 less than the average American, means that as the cost of living goes up in different states, as, um, housing gets more expensive, if you're a state legislator, you
[00:38:37] probably have at least a second job, if not a third job, or you happen to come from a lot of money where your salary actually doesn't really matter to you that much.
[00:38:48] nicole: isn't that also a little tricky in terms of the numbers because a lot of state legisla-ter... I can't say that word, legislators are part-time, part-time, [00:39:00] like, but not
[00:39:01] Layla Zaidane: I love that you just did air quotes around part-time because things like answering constituent phone calls or, um, helping people when, like, a traffic light is broken, like, that's not
[00:39:14] just during the 30 or 60 days of session. That really is full year. And so I do think you're right, Nicole, like, there's a variation between people who are, like, formally in session for the whole year versus, um, just part-time, you know, quote-unquote part-time legislatures. but I, I think that there's probably a minimum amount that some states have done a good job making sure that if you're gonna be able... Like, let's say you're a teacher. I think it's really valuable to have teachers,
[00:39:46] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:39:46] Layla Zaidane: serve in the legislature. of difficult to step away from your teaching job for, like, three months out of the year and say, "I'll be back the rest of the...
[00:39:55] You know, I know it's just a
[00:39:56] Jolene: Right
[00:39:56] Layla Zaidane: like, I'll be teaching the rest of the year." Y- your principal [00:40:00] would say, "No. You're, you're just not
[00:40:02] nicole: Right
[00:40:02] Right. R- right
[00:40:04] Layla Zaidane: so how do you, you know, how do you make it possible for them to sort of do that, and for us as, you know, Americans and voters to have people
[00:40:13] nicole: do you do it? 'Cause Jolene and I were talking about this a lot. Like, how does that even work? Like, how do you make a living? How do you
[00:40:23] Layla Zaidane: I think there's... So one of the recommendations that we make in the exit interview is to, is to look at establishing independent pay commissions in different states to evaluate this question. And, you know, what is affordable in one state is different in another state, so there's not really, like, a blanket
[00:40:41] nicole: Right. Right
[00:40:43] Layla Zaidane: I think makes sense.
[00:40:45] Jolene: Yeah
[00:40:45] Layla Zaidane: um, in states, uh, like Oregon and Kansas and, you know, all across the country, they have set up independent pay commissions that look at both legislator salaries as well as all public employees to think about, like, what are some [00:41:00] of the automatic, like, inflationary growth numbers that we should be baking into this, and what is, uh, what is right for, you know, us to be able to have a diversity of perspectives serve in office without, you know, creating, like, a permanent political class where I think for
[00:41:16] Jolene: Yeah
[00:41:16] Layla Zaidane: um, you know, a lot of legislatures, like New Hampshire is a great example.
[00:41:21] New Hampshire has a very proud history of citizen legislature. they each make $100 a year.
[00:41:30] Jolene: Oh gosh
[00:41:32] Layla Zaidane: and I don't think we're gonna change that to be like, you know, you're making $60,000 a year. And so, like, what New Hampshire would recommend is probably different from what, um, you know, another state. But pay is actually just one part of the problem. we see that state legislatures across the board are, um, not investing in, like, things that you might assume are just a part of the job, like staff. Most state legislators [00:42:00] don't actually have staff. They don't have policy staff. They don't have comms staff. Any bill that needs to be, you know, voted on or, debated is being literally read by the legislator themselves. Any phone call that comes in with a problem is being handled by the legislator themselves. Any, like, proactive idea that they wanna come up with to have on their policy platform has been come up with the legislator themselves.
[00:42:27] They're alone.
[00:42:28] And so-
[00:42:29] Jolene: How, how many states do you think that is?
[00:42:31] Layla Zaidane: Uh, probably about, like, 28
[00:42:34] Jolene: Half, over half don't have any staff
[00:42:36] nicole: I mean, no wonder they feel alone. Seriously.
[00:42:40] Layla Zaidane: I should say that's not fair. They don't have zero staff. In most of these states, there is a shared staffer that, helps several lawmakers. So in, like, Georgia, for example, there is one staffer that helps eight legislators. So you do have one-eighth of one admin's time. [00:43:00]
[00:43:02] nicole: but, why is that? I mean, as, states we don't wanna spend money on that? I don't understand why that is
[00:43:09] Layla Zaidane: Yeah, I think there's a lot of reasons for that and probably one of the biggest is
[00:43:13] um, investment. It c- yeah, it costs money to, to have people and, um, it's just hasn't been a part of what
[00:43:21] nicole: Wow
[00:43:22] Layla Zaidane: have done. And so we do think that that is something that would, you know, especially if we wanna keep it so that people, I, well, I'll just say, I think that investing in, in staff, investing in technology actually to make the job more efficient, especially today, right, where there's, like, lots of ways where you don't have to be doing so many manual things, that could be a really good solution to help,
[00:43:43] legislators do more of the, like, brain work and less of the, like, more
[00:43:49] Jolene: Yeah,
[00:43:50] Layla Zaidane: stuff, make things a little bit easier. then two, two other things that, that I wanna share in terms of, like, barriers to, to retention, things that are hard that, that emerged out of the exit [00:44:00] interview findings. of the, like, cultural norms around what happens when you get elected and when you're in the legislature need to be updated.
[00:44:10] So for example, and this is true in Congress, when you get elected and you go to your onboarding, which is really more about, like, here's where the bathrooms are and not, like, this is your job description as a member of Congress, which would be nice. But then they send you to this retreat, and they have two different buses, one for the Democrats and one for the Republicans, that just sets such a bad tone from day
[00:44:34] Jolene: Yeah
[00:44:35] Layla Zaidane: And so there are, there are things, from the get-go that could create more of a sense of, like, we are a team together, and then continued infrastructure, and this is, you know, some of where Future Caucus tries to plug the gap, but I think there are lots of other things that we could do to strengthen the institutional capacity, uh, to create a better, a better culture. know, we were talking before the podcast started, I'm a [00:45:00] new mom. One of the things that we heard from a lot of parents, like lawmakers who are parents, was that there's unpredictable scheduling often that makes it really tough for them to, like, figure out if they actually can go to daycare to pick up their kid or to plan family life around,
[00:45:17] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:18] Layla Zaidane: gonna be happening in the legislature.
[00:45:20] Which, listen, is true in a lot of jobs, but I think those are not policy changes. Those could be rules changes, things that offer a little bit more predictability, that allow people like parents or caregivers who have, you know, aging, uh, family members or responsibilities to more fully participate. So sort of a set of institutional reforms.
[00:45:39] Okay, and then the last thing, so we did this report thinking that we were gonna hear complaints from people about we don't get paid enough, which honestly was a big part of what we heard, but the single biggest thing that is a barrier to lawmaker retention is political violence
[00:45:58] nicole: Yeah, when you, we read that, [00:46:00] that was horrifying. It's horrifying.
[00:46:03] Layla Zaidane: It's horrifying
[00:46:03] Some of the quotes, uh, that we heard, somebody told us a story about a man who was threatening her online, and often these are really difficult cases to bring to trial, but she actually did successfully, um, get a trial with this man who had been, like, l- you know, leveraging death threats to her. And in the courtroom, he stood up and he admitted it. He said, "Yeah, of course I threatened to kill her, but who hasn't wanted to kill a politician?"
[00:46:36] Jolene: Oh.
[00:46:37] Layla Zaidane: And he was acquitted. got off.
[00:46:42] Jolene: Okay, there's no way. Like, I, uh, uh, on what grounds? Like, what, wh- uh, uh, there had to, he had to have had, somebody had, the state had a horrible lawyer or something on that. I mean, how in the heck does that happen?
[00:46:54] Layla Zaidane: mean, the impact of that is if you're the legislator who not only has the trauma of feeling like, "Oh [00:47:00] my God, I could die. I could get killed," and then you try to go through the system to do something about it, and you feel like the system doesn't have your back, like, that changes your calculus about do I even wanna run next year? Uh, again, especially if you have family or other people you
[00:47:16] Jolene: right?
[00:47:16] Layla Zaidane: that you're like, "I'll put myself in danger, but you know
[00:47:20] Jolene: My kid's out there playing T-ball. I mean, do I want them to be a target? Yeah, Right
[00:47:26] Layla Zaidane: know where you live, people know where your kids go to
[00:47:28] Jolene: Right.
[00:47:29] Layla Zaidane: In a lot of legislatures, there's, like, a million doors and no security, so anybody can come in with, you know, any kind of weapon.
[00:47:36] And, the culture, the heat keeps rising. The
[00:47:40] nicole: Right
[00:47:41] Layla Zaidane: this
[00:47:41] Jolene: Yeah
[00:47:42] Layla Zaidane: and the, the vitriol, um, is getting worse and worse.
[00:47:46] nicole: Yes
[00:47:47] Layla Zaidane: people are running for office because they want to solve a problem. They feel a sense of responsibility and agency, um, and they know that they can make a difference, and we are on the verge, I think, of a [00:48:00] massive retention crisis of the very lawmakers who are best positioned to actually make our democracy work better
[00:48:09] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:48:10] Layla Zaidane: of violence and some of these, I think, very solvable issues.
[00:48:15] But the
[00:48:16] Jolene: Yeah
[00:48:17] Layla Zaidane: piece is really driving a lot of great leaders out of service
[00:48:20] Jolene: But I think we, we see this just, uh, you know, i- in a society as a whole. I mean, you know, I think we are, we... As you talk about making changes in the infrastructure and technology and all that, I mean, we're, we're doing that r- on a business sense. You know, how many of us work from home now and we're able to run organizations from our, you know, office at home? we're making enough, technological advances that we could extend that into our political structures and infrastructures to be able to make things, you know, w- more equitable for a young person versus an older person and their needs and, and all that. But I would say that, too, [00:49:00] from a, from the political violence standpoint. It-- We gotta start somewhere, right? So I think the work that you're doing is so important because we're starting about, uh, starting, you know, at the, at the very foundational level of, okay, let's, let's quit this, you know, R versus D, um, mentality, and hopefully that will extend to, to quiet some of the, you know, the political rhetoric that we see online and, and leads to violence.
[00:49:28] Layla Zaidane: so, and we saw some really amazing moments of solidarity and, and real leadership after, um... Well, last year, you know, uh, Speaker Melissa Hortman
[00:49:38] nicole: Yes
[00:49:39] Layla Zaidane: assassinated along with her, her husband and, and their dog. And, in the moments right after that, you know, we have a, we have a Signal group chat with all of our legislators,
[00:49:49] nicole: I wondered about that, if you had a group chat.
[00:49:52] Layla Zaidane: It's, it's amazing. It's a fantastic group chat. can neither confirm nor deny anything else that happens in the group chat, but, [00:50:00] I will, you know, I will say, like, right after that happened, there was a lot of misinformation and chaos and fear, and that group chat was a sense of, like, real support.
[00:50:11] People who were in that group chat. were on the list that the assassin was later found with. There are people from Minnesota. There are people in other states. There were, you know, all sorts of crazy things being said online, but I think in that moment, lawmakers feeling a sense of, like, connectedness to each other, a sense of we can share factual information, and then how that informs how we then go back to our districts or our communities to help, like, create calm, was so, so valuable.
[00:50:41] And I, you know, we saw the same thing later that year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
[00:50:47] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:50:47] Layla Zaidane: not only do I think the sense of, like, how do we sort of, like, come together and, you know, there's a, an effort Spencer Cox in, in Utah called Disagree Better. Like, how do we come together and dis- you know, disagree better? But then the [00:51:00] legislators themselves actually releasing statements, like, calling for a reduction in
[00:51:05] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:51:05] Layla Zaidane: and, you know, we had in Indiana, like, a Democrat and a Republican stand up and, like, say together, like, "This is not okay." And I think a sense of, when you say political violence, it feels so big
[00:51:18] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:51:18] Layla Zaidane: unsolvable, and we really believe that part of the solution is good leadership.
[00:51:25] And the more that we can model what is okay and what is not okay and, like, hold each other accountable to that, and
[00:51:32] nicole: Yes. Yes. Yes
[00:51:35] Layla Zaidane: from lots of different people, I think that is one of the ways out of this situation, and it's been really inspiring, to see these leaders, these young leaders stand up and, you know, be those leaders that I think America's really hungry for.
[00:51:50] Jolene: I would agree. I would agree. I mean, you know, we've talked about so many different topics on this, on our show about, you know, what, how, what we can do to make the, [00:52:00] the whole political scene better, and I just think this is a, this is a fundamental way to start. So, um,
[00:52:06] nicole: and yes,
[00:52:07] Jolene: really
[00:52:07] nicole: Layla, and thank you for cre- or thank you for blossoming future caucus. How about? and, you know, I'm really loving the... I mean, I'm also horrified by your telling me that there are two buses. I w- like, I'm like, that, I'm like, "There's the problem. There it is right there." It should just be one big bus, one big bus of Amer- of Americans just hanging out and then playing together, and then we get to,
[00:52:32] Jolene: about the,
[00:52:32] nicole: and then we get to work
[00:52:34] Jolene: baseball game is Republicans versus Democrats? I mean, here we have got a game and it's,
[00:52:40] Layla Zaidane: Yeah
[00:52:41] nicole: But, but I'm really, like, the fact that you are trying to heal this is really inspiring to, to me and to Jolene, and I'm sure to our listeners and viewers. before we get into the good for the soul, I think there are a couple things. Number one, to find out more, sh- [00:53:00] it's futurecaucus.org. Is that correct?
[00:53:02] Layla Zaidane: That's
[00:53:03] nicole: That's
[00:53:03] correct. Is there any... And then I hear on the grapevine that you guys have a podcast coming out. Is this also correct?
[00:53:12] Layla Zaidane: We do have a podcast coming out. So we have partnered with Talking Politics and Religion Without Killing Each Other with Corey Nathan, and he has handed over the steering wheel to us for the next few months.
[00:53:27] nicole: Oh, fun
[00:53:29] Layla Zaidane: I'll
[00:53:29] Jolene: wow
[00:53:31] Layla Zaidane: a little mini podcast to anyone who, um, you know, listens to that podcast as well, called Terms of Service. And I interview bipartisan members of state legislatures who jumped into public service, some of them without reading the terms and conditions about what goes into it, but all about what keeps them there, where they see [00:54:00] opportunities for change, and why they think that doing it across party lines is the way forward.
[00:54:05] And so our,
[00:54:06] Jolene: That's great
[00:54:07] Layla Zaidane: By the time this episode comes out, uh, we should have our first episode out. I interview two members, uh, from Minnesota actually, and I talk about sort of that really difficult moment that they went through together, and sort of what that has looked like, in the months since. You know, a lot of, uh, a lot of stuff has happened in, in Minnesota, so they're
[00:54:26] nicole: Yes
[00:54:27] Jolene: 那老爷啊。
[00:54:28] Layla Zaidane: But, uh, we'll have more episodes dropping, monthly, so
[00:54:32] nicole: Okay. So yes, so I will get the information and put it in the show notes so that everyone can start listening to... Yeah, of course, to Terms of Service. That's awesome. Since we ended more on a high note maybe, how about a good for the soul?
[00:54:51] Layla Zaidane: So I recently reread The Little Prince. Have you read The, The Little Prince?
[00:54:59] Jolene: Now [00:55:00]
[00:55:00] Layla Zaidane: is about a, little prince, shocking, who crash lands, uh, in the desert and tells this story about his travels to many different planets, meeting many different kings of those planets, and, uh, his own journey to get back home. And I read it in... I, you know, I grew up speaking French. I read it originally, it's called Le Petit
[00:55:29] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:55:29] Layla Zaidane: Prince in French. So I read it when I was a kid, and I, I just reread it a, you know, a few months ago as an adult, and it really struck me that it's a story for kids, but it's a story for grownups too, because it's about what we lose sight of as we get older and become leaders ourselves.
[00:55:50] He visits, uh, a planet with a king that's, you know, very obsessed with power. He visits a planet with a king, uh, you know, a businessman who's just [00:56:00] obsessed with, like, counting things and having things.
[00:56:02] it's all of these sort of, like, absurd people who are in charge, quote unquote, but who have lost sight of the real things that matter.
[00:56:12] And, the story really, I think for me, reminds me that, relationships are, are what give meaning to, to life, and, it, there's a connection between love and responsibility, and he talks about this rose on his home planet that he, like, takes care of. And, um, it just is,
[00:56:29] Jolene: Oh,
[00:56:30] Layla Zaidane: moving book that ha- it's like, there's like a picture on every page, so it's very easy to read. Um, but it has this really, really beautiful and, I think, enduring message for, for all of us grownups who maybe need to reconnect with our sense of
[00:56:47] nicole: that's so good. We will put that in the show notes for sure. All right, Jolene's gonna hit you with a would you rather
[00:57:00] Jolene: Layla: Would you rather pay state legislators more and risk creating career politicians or pay them less risk making public office accessible only to the wealthy? Yeah
[00:57:22] Layla Zaidane: hard Well, I think that the situation that we are in now pretty similar to option two,
[00:57:33] Jolene: Mm-hmm. To the latter, yes.
[00:57:35] Layla Zaidane: um, the, the option to serve being closed off to people who are either lucky enough to come from a lot of wealth or, or be married into it. and so I think I would definitely go with increase the salaries for state legislators, partially because I think, like from my [00:58:00] experience running an organization and seeing sort of young, young people in the workforce, like young people don't wanna stay in a job that long anyway. So I think we're
[00:58:08] Jolene: It's a great
[00:58:10] nicole: that is really true
[00:58:12] Layla Zaidane: I don't, I think that people are gonna, you know, be happy to move on to the next thing. Um, especially if, you know, we're not making the salaries be like absolutely like lucrative
[00:58:25] Jolene: Or, uh, as we're seeing in Congress right now, they go in, you know, having a, you know, $200,000 net worth, but they come out being a multimillionaire. And you're like, "Hmm,
[00:58:36] Layla Zaidane: right
[00:58:36] Jolene: did that happen at $173,000 a year?" Hmm.
[00:58:40] Layla Zaidane: I was just, I was just thinking about that yesterday. I think there's like a website that tells you what, like Nancy Pelosi has invested in, and you can like
[00:58:48] nicole: Oh, Jolene, Jolene knows that site. She is into that site. She's like, "They traded Cisco today."
[00:58:57] Layla Zaidane: Totally. Totally. I
[00:58:58] Jolene: mean, it's every- they're like, [00:59:00] "Uh, no, I didn't do it, but my, you know, my daughter did, and that's okay." What? How did that happen?
[00:59:09] Layla Zaidane: yeah, yeah. No, that's not okay
[00:59:11] Jolene: It is not okay.
[00:59:12] Layla Zaidane: Mine's gonna be weird.
[00:59:14] nicole: We love weird
[00:59:15] Layla Zaidane: it's
[00:59:15] Jolene: we're good with weird
[00:59:16] Layla Zaidane: but it is one that I do j- like, literally ask my friends sometimes. Um,
[00:59:21] nicole: Does that mean we've crossed over?
[00:59:23] Layla Zaidane: I think we're friends. Okay.
[00:59:24] nicole: I think we're friends too. I do too. I'm totally into it.
[00:59:28] Layla Zaidane: Okay, and because you're my friend, I would love to know, would you rather every you see looks like a muffin, or every muffin you see looks like a baby?
[00:59:49] nicole: Oh, okay. This is so weird. I love it. And so tw- it's kinda twisted, Layla
[00:59:55] Layla Zaidane: It is, do you have any follow-up questions I can answer? [01:00:00]
[01:00:01] nicole: If the baby l- okay, go ahead, Joe.
[01:00:04] Jolene: No, go ahead.
[01:00:05] nicole: I was gonna say, if the baby looks like a muffin, is there, like, a pull that I wanna eat the muffin? Or is it just like, "This is so weird, the babies look like muffins, and then the muffins look like babies
[01:00:16] Layla Zaidane: You would have the same relationship to muffins that you have now. So if you love muffins, you might see it and say, "Oh man, I wanna eat it."
[01:00:27] Jolene: Okay. No, that I love it. I want all bab- I want all muffins to look like babies
[01:00:31] Layla Zaidane: Mm.
[01:00:31] Jolene: because I just wanna see more babies because then I just wanna eat them anyway.
[01:00:35] nicole: I wanna eat the babies too.
[01:00:37] Jolene: yes.
[01:00:38] nicole: Mm-hmm
[01:00:39] Jolene: I'm like, "Oh, that muffin was delicious 'cause it was fat and it had fat little on its legs and
[01:00:47] Layla Zaidane: So you feel confident that you'll not accidentally bite into a real baby?
[01:00:54] Jolene: Oh
[01:00:55] Layla Zaidane: there are still babies, but just the muffins also look like babies
[01:00:59] nicole: Okay, wait a [01:01:00] minute. The babies, the, the babies look like muffins and the muffins look like babies. So basically you're eating a baby or you're eating a muffin and they're switched
[01:01:11] Layla Zaidane: Yeah
[01:01:14] Jolene: Uh,
[01:01:14] Layla Zaidane: Or
[01:01:14] Jolene: oops
[01:01:14] Layla Zaidane: a baby and it's a muffin. Or you're
[01:01:19] Jolene: So
[01:01:19] nicole: I don't, I don't, I don't have big, I don't have big muffin dreams. Like, I don't have that pull. I like a good corn muffin, but otherwise I don't really care about muffins. So if the babies, if the muffins are the babies, it's just more babies, right?
[01:01:35] Layla Zaidane: Yeah.
[01:01:36] Yes
[01:01:38] nicole: Okay. I have, I have one more question though. Do the babies that are the muffins, do they cry?
[01:01:43] I'm really not into the crying
[01:01:46] Layla Zaidane: Hmm. You
[01:01:49] Jolene: woman who's never given
[01:01:50] nicole: That's right. Listen, I ra- I was a stepmama, that I raised that child, and so, and that is not easy
[01:01:58] Layla Zaidane: Yeah. No. [01:02:00] If the baby was a muffin, it wouldn't make any sounds. You wouldn't have to change any diapers.
[01:02:05] nicole: I'm, that's it.
[01:02:06] Layla Zaidane: be a muffin
[01:02:07] nicole: I want, I want the muffin to be a baby. Is that right?
[01:02:11] Jolene: Yeah
[01:02:12] nicole: All muffins to look like babies.
[01:02:14] Layla Zaidane: Okay. '
[01:02:15] nicole: Cause it'd be kinda cute
[01:02:16] Jolene: I'm with her.
[01:02:16] Layla Zaidane: Yeah. And
[01:02:17] Jolene: Yeah
[01:02:17] Layla Zaidane: think the risk is too high that you
[01:02:20] nicole: Yeah
[01:02:20] I don't... Yeah. That's a,
[01:02:22] Layla Zaidane: a baby
[01:02:22] nicole: that's, that gets, that gets real dark. That gets just like politics. It's just, well, it's just like politics.
[01:02:30] Layla Zaidane: It was delicious. That's right, just like
[01:02:32] nicole: Just like politics
[01:02:34] Layla Zaidane: dark, and potentially, like,
[01:02:36] nicole: Eating the baby by accident.
[01:02:38] Layla Zaidane: into something beautiful.
[01:02:43] Jolene: Wow. Wow.
[01:02:44] nicole: Layla, thank you new friend. We- we've got to talk is so psyched to know you, and thank you so much for coming on. We are thrilled.
[01:02:52] Jolene: for your
[01:02:52] nicole: Yeah
[01:02:53] Jolene: think you're doing great work, and we are, um, we're excited to talk to you about it, and hopefully we'll talk again in the [01:03:00] future as this grows and get a whole new generation of young people that, um, can help us out.
[01:03:08] Layla Zaidane: I hope so. Well, thank
[01:03:09] Jolene: It's good stuff
[01:03:09] Layla Zaidane: having me, and you're both honorary Future Caucus members, so welcome.
[01:03:13] nicole: Yay. All right, futurecaucus.org, right?
[01:03:19] Layla Zaidane: and we're on Instagram and, uh, s- you know, social media, LinkedIn, everywhere as
[01:03:25] nicole: Perfect. Perfect. We will put that all in the show notes. Layla, thank you. We will see you, we will see you next time
[01:03:33] Jolene: for listening and joining us, and please subscribe and like us and send your comments in. We love to read
[01:03:39] nicole: Yes. Thank you. Bye
[01:03:41]
