Our Theory of Change

student at whiteboard during training

From the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the antiwar movement,from the March for Our Lives to the 2020 Uprisings, youth have long been at the forefront of change in our country. Young people are the largest voting bloc in our state, provide boots on the ground for many local organizing efforts, and demonstrate remarkable ways of caring for each other while we work to change the world. Young people are the future of Minnesota, and the future is now!

MNYC staff registering student to vote - standing at cocktail table

Yet too often, young Minnesotans are reduced to a campaign talking point, or disregarded by the wealthy few who prioritize profit over people and corporations over our climate.

Our charge? To build power that no one can ignore.

By organizing a base of young people in Minnesota, especially queer people and people of color, we can improve the material conditions of our communities and alter the systems that perpetuate oppression. We work year-round to recruit,develop, and align everyday people so we can advance a shared political agenda in Minnesota for racial, economic, and gender justice.

We are increasing the governing power of young people, which requires not just electoral or legislative power, but also public administration and policy-making,ability to shape the narrative, and increased movement infrastructure to coalesce around change. We achieve this by…

Developing the leadership and skills of young Minnesotans, who with resources, support, and investment will grow our movements and return the favor for those who come after. We identify and empower new leaders on college campuses, through our Organizing Fellowship, and in the neighborhoods they call home to impact change in their communities.

Advancing issue advocacy campaigns designed to put more power in the hands of young people and realize a future where we and all our relatives can thrive. We provide a space for young people to turn their concerns and visions for the future into effective change, and we play to win on structural reforms that shift the balance of power toward working people and make our governing institutions more democratic.

Building large-scale electoral power to forward our vision. We engage young people around the power of their vote — as part of the long-term work of electing candidates who believe in co-governance and true accountability to our communities.