# Future Caucus **Future Caucus** is a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit that organizes millennial and Gen Z lawmakers into **bipartisan** caucuses in [[Congress]] and in state legislatures. It was founded in 2013 by Steven Olikara as the **Millennial Action Project (MAP)** and took the name of its flagship program in a **November 2023 rebrand**. Its legal name is still "Millennial Action Project d.b.a. Future Caucus." Its stated mission is to "activate young leaders to bridge the partisan divide and transform American politics." It is **not** a resistance organization, and it is not part of the anti-Trump coalition mapped in [[Resistance Hub]]. It belongs in this vault for a different reason: it is an organized bet that **generational identity can cut across party identity**, made just as party identity was hardening into the dominant identity in American politics (see [[Affective Polarization]]). Don't confuse it with [[Future Forum]], which is the *Democrats-only* House caucus of young members. ## Origins: the Congressional Future Caucus - **September 2013.** The **Congressional Future Caucus** launched with MAP's help, led by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Rep. [[Tulsi Gabbard]] (D-HI). BuzzFeed's launch story said MAP had conceived the caucus and approached the two members. Gabbard described the aim as finding "solutions for the next generation," not "just for the next six months or the next year." Schock argued that "the long-term strategy has suffered as a result of the age of Congress." - **March 2015.** Schock resigned from Congress amid scrutiny of his office and campaign spending. - **November 2015.** Gabbard and Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) announced the caucus again, with Hurd as the Republican co-lead. KITV described it as made up "primarily" of members under 45 and organized to "come together across party lines to find common ground on issues facing America's next generation." Coverage from 2015 presents this as a new founding. The 2013 launch shows it was really a **relaunch** after the original Republican co-founder left. - **Today.** The caucus says it is "the nation's first and only bipartisan caucus for young members of Congress." Its emeritus co-chairs include Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Blake Moore (R-UT). Its partial 119th-Congress roster names five Democrats, including [[Sarah McBride]], and two Republicans, with more members "joining in 2025." ## The state network MAP's larger footprint is in the states. Its model, as MultiState described it in February 2024, is to recruit **one Republican and one Democrat** in a legislature to own a chapter. The national office then helps them write bylaws, set a meeting schedule, and hold a launch event. MultiState counted chapters in **34 states** in February 2024. When South Carolina launched in February 2025, Spectrum News called it the **35th state**, with membership open to legislators **45 and under**. Programs named in 2024 coverage include the **Innovation Agenda** (a 2023 survey of network lawmakers across six issue areas, starting with "strengthening democracy"), the **Innovation Lab** (policy education and bridge-building), and an annual **Future Summit** in Washington each July. ## Leadership - **Steven Olikara** founded MAP and was its CEO until spring 2021. He stepped down while looking at a 2022 U.S. Senate run in Wisconsin, and he stayed on as founder and senior advisor. - **Layla Zaidane**, previously executive director and COO, became **President & CEO** in April 2021. GuideStar still lists her in that role. Her announcement framed the mission as moving "beyond the partisan framework that's defined our politics for far too long." ## Why it matters for the KB 1. **It is the counter-hypothesis to polarization.** Most of this vault documents what happens when partisan identity wins: veto factions like the [[House Freedom Caucus]], loyalty purges, and parties sorted by geography and culture. Future Caucus bets that age is the one shared identity left that runs across the aisle, and that lawmakers who come up together will legislate together. The vault's [[Polarization]] and [[Affective Polarization]] pages describe the force this bet is up against. 2. **A generational frame doesn't prevent partisan sorting.** Both of the caucus's original 2013 co-founders left the bipartisan project behind. Schock was out of Congress within 18 months. [[Tulsi Gabbard]] moved from Democratic National Committee vice chair to the [[Republican Party]] and then to Trump's Director of National Intelligence. Her page covers that arc. Being under 45 together did not stop either of them from sorting by party. 3. **It is a policy answer to [[Gerontocracy]].** The age critique of Congress usually ends at "the leaders are too old." On Capitol Hill the age critique has produced at least two standing institutions, Future Caucus and [[Future Forum]], and the difference between them is the point: Future Caucus organizes young members *across* parties, while Future Forum organizes them *inside* one. ## Future Caucus vs. Future Forum | | Future Caucus | Future Forum | |---|---|---| | Who | Bipartisan, Congress plus state legislatures | House Democrats only | | Type | Outside nonprofit (MAP) that runs caucuses | Congressional member caucus | | Founded | 2013 (MAP and the Congressional Future Caucus) | 2015, by [[Eric Swalwell]] | | Age line | 45 and under (state chapters) | 50 and under | | Frame | Depolarization, "post-partisan" | Young voters and Democratic messaging | ## Related - [[Future Forum]] — the Democrats-only counterpart in the House - [[Run for Something]] — the progressive pipeline for young *candidates*, which is partisan by design - [[Gerontocracy]] · [[Polarization]] · [[Affective Polarization]] - [[United States House of Representatives]]