YEO Frontline News 3rd Quarter, 2015 - 10th National Convening Recap | Page 2

COVER Letter from the YEO Team w w w .YEON e t w o r k . o r g KIN OR TW NE POLICY MEMBERSHIP Ryan Hurst w w w .YEON e t w o r k . o r g I often talk about how we at the YEO Network stand on the shoulders of the progressive giants who came before us. We carry on the work of our forefathers and mothers – and so we will carry on Julian’s work. Yours in service, Andrew YEO F r o n t l i n e N e w s • Q3 2015 • PG 3 MEMBERSHIP YEO F r o n t l i n e N e w s • Q3 2015 • PG 2 With much love and respect, I will always remember Julian Bond’s support of PFAW Foundation’s youth leadership programs and his presence in my own state as he stood in solidarity with the thennascent Dream Defenders movement. At the end of the Dream Defenders’ 31 day sit-in at the state Capitol, Julian joined them and walked out with them when the protest had ended. This passing of the torch is especially poignant now after his passing, as we grapple with our own generation’s battles for racial and social justice. POLICY CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE I look forward to seeing how you expand your impact in the years to come. Though I may not be there to support you in the same capacity, please know that I will be there as your friend and that you can always “lean on me.” Please feel free to contact me at [email protected], add me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or add me on LinkedIn. G The YEO Network Team Supporting you all as you build a more just and equitable society has been an amazing experience. I will never forget sharing the story of state Sen. Chris Larson and the Wisconsin 14 as they left the state in protest to protect the rights of Wisconsin workers. I will never forget reading the social media updates from Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and St. Louis Alderman Antonio French as they stood with members of their community and the movement to declare that Black Lives Matter. I Julian Bond dedicated his life to social justice. He was a student of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Morehouse College, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, chairman of the NAACP, and co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was a young elected himself – first serving in the Georgia House of Representatives at the age of 25, having been refused initial seating in the Georgia House Chamber twice, before finally being sat by order of the Courts. He later served in the state Senate and in 1986 ran for the US Congress, a race he lost to friend John Lewis. His name was briefly placed in nomination for the vice presidency at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, before he was old enough to assume the office. Julian was an activist, a writer, a poet, and a professor. KIN Onward. I had the good fortune of encountering my first YEO, City Commissioner Andrew Gillum, seven years ago when I was a student at Florida State University. Since then, I’ve gotten to know hundreds of amazing, young, unapologetically progressive elected officials from all across the country. I have had the privilege of coming to the office every day with a sense of purpose and pride in my work. This summer, we lost a champion for civil rights and a beloved member of the People For family. Julian Bond was a long-time board member of affiliate People For the American Way and a courageous but humble voice for change. PFAW President Michael Keegan shared, “Julian will be remembered as someone for whom intersectionality was not a buzzword, but a principle he felt at the core of his being. He saw all the issues we work on as connected by a broad commitment to human dignity and equality.” OR In the face of such losses and such challenges, we recommit ourselves to this Network and to what we can accomplish together. We are grateful for the leadership of our members – for the courage and passion our Barbara Jordan Leadership Award winner, Missouri state Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, has shown. We are grateful for so many of our members in Missouri and across the country doing the hard work of making progress and breaking barriers. It was only fitting that we closed our convening with Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who offered many of us a sense of hope: a sense that change is possible, that we can step into deeply flawed systems and effect that change, that being young and being progressive matters, that our voices and our service matters. To my friends at the YEO Network, will never forget California state Assemblyman Evan Low standing in line at Campbell City Hall to donate life-saving blood at a blood drive he was asked to host as mayor even though he knew he’d be turned away because he is gay; and instead of being defeated by that moment, he successfully challenged the Food and Drug Administration to review their discriminatory policy on banning gay men from donating blood. These are just a few of the memories I will treasure forever. Remembering Julian Bond TW And we’ve also grieved. This year we’ve seen the loss of two transformational figures in the greater People For family. Rev. and state Sen. Clementa Pinckney was a member of both the YEO Network and the African American Ministers Leadership Council at People For the American Way Foundation. Civil rights icon Julian Bond was a longtime board member of affiliate People For the American Way, and a friend and hero to many of us. Two leaders of different generations, but both with inspiring passion, both dedicated to the same cause of justice, both fighting the kind of hate and violence that took Clementa’s life. We also grieve the many lives lost, the young people of color killed, the Black churches burned, the communities hurting. Ryan’s Transition Continued from Previous Page CONTINUED NE G This year marks the 10th anniversary of the YEO Network and our 10th National Convening. We celebrated with our largest convening to date, a record number of new attendees, and plans for an anniversary gala and new policy academies to come. We have had important conversations about how this Network can and should continue to grow and thrive. We’ve recognized and applauded the good and groundbreaking work so many of you have done over the years, as a collective and in your individual capacities. YEO Network Announcement NETWORKING COVER NETWORKING