how do we fix our politics let’s start
by taking a look back in 1946 29
year-old John F Kennedy ran for his
first public office US Congress anyone
today we think of course he won he was a
Kennedy but in 1946 the Kennedys were
not the political dynasty that they are
now JFK’s primary selling point was not
as family or his pedigree it was his
service in the Navy on the strength of
his service he won a 10-way Democratic
primary and then a general election he
himself would say I was elected to the
House right after the war because I was
the only veteran in the race upon
arriving to Congress in 1947 JFK was not
alone about 60% of the new members were
military veterans and they would join a
congress where over half of its members
had a shared experience of service to
the nation
over the next decade and a half
these servant leaders would find common
ground and work together to move this
country forward
they passed the first Clean Air Act
created an interstate highway system and
pass a Marshall Plan which rebuilt a
post-war Europe now let’s be clear this
was not some idyllic time that we need
to longingly look back at we know things
were not perfect but despite our
challenges and shortcomings as a country
our political leaders work together they
understood that there are stewards of a
democracy and a set of values that make
everything in this country possible
after all they had risked life and limb
to protect those before and now they
were doing it again in Washington so
after 15 years since a young Navy
veteran was elected to
Congress he ascended to the presidency
and inserted a new ethic in his
inaugural address a concept that service
a country was not just for wartime but
could be a common Creed among all
citizens in peacetime as well we all
know the line even today ask not what
your country can do for you ask what you
can do for your country so let’s fast
forward a few years to a very different
time that’s me
as a natural blonde no as a young
college graduate I decided that I wanted
to serve my community so I became an
AmeriCorps member and spent my year of
service at an organization called City
Year here in Boston and that year
changed my life I served on a team with
people from all different backgrounds
and despite our differences we worked
together and spent every waking hour
trying to improve public education in
Boston I was so transformed by my
service experience that I spent the next
several years working to grow and build
the service movement in this country and
I honestly thought that’s what I would
do for the rest of my life but then
something happens in 2009
senator Kenney passed away leaving
vacant his Senate seat that he had held
since 1962 his death also left a void in
leadership as he himself had been a
champion of service and of the belief
that you can stand by your values and
work across the political spectrum to
get things done Allen KZ co-founder of
city air and my boss at the time decided
that he wanted to run for the US Senate
seat and to carry on that legacy and
that makes sense right Allen had spent
the prior 20 years promoting the idea of
service and his organization city air
had become the model for AmeriCorps
however that was not the reception that
Allen’s candidacy receives he was
dismissed from the start as an unserious
amateur
and truth be told we didn’t actually
really know how to run a campaign and
Alan not being political didn’t know
everything that it took to be a
candidate so he started out with 2% name
recognition and ended which was 13% of
the vote working on Alan’s campaign was
my first time into politics and it blew
my mind and I learned two very important
but tough lessons about modern politics
first our political system has
significant barriers to entry that
prevent even the most talented and
transformative leaders from successfully
running for office
it is really counterintuitive and
difficult to figure out second our
political culture is toxic and very
cynical and oftentimes it drives away
the service-oriented leaders that we
need the most so it’s no wonder then
that less than 20% of Congress has
service backgrounds the lowest in our
nation’s history we have a congress and
to be honest entire body of politics
that is paralyzed by partisanship and
political norms that push us into our
corners rather than bringing our leaders
together at the negotiating table so I
was so transformed and inspired by this
experience on Alan’s campaign that I
decided to address the servant
leadership deficit in our politics so I
founded an organization called new
politics our vision is to bring a new
generation of leadership into politics
by helping promising service veterans
run for public office we believe that
these leaders can reinvigorate democracy
and we think that recruiting them and
send them up for success is a single
most important thing we can do to
transform our politics we will bring the
talent it’s where it is most needed
because here’s the thing
the lack of political leadership in this
country is not due to a lack of leaders
we know exactly where they are
AmeriCorps Peace Corps in the military
graduates someone most talented and
transformative leaders this country has
ever produced but they are not running
for office and we need to fix that
so I piloted this idea in 2013 by
recruiting a young bright marine named
Seth Moulton to run for Congress in
Massachusetts it took some convincing
because he was not political but he
finally said yes and we helped build
this campaign and supported his race and
guess what he challenged an 18 year
Democratic incumbent anyone and we see
the difference in Congress
seth is a real servant leader and in his
short time in Washington we see the
impact already last year 1,500 bills
were introduced into Congress only 82
were signed into law of the 82 only 11
were authored by Democrats two of those
11 were authored by Seth and he is
ranked at one of the top 10 percent
bipartisan members of Congress however
we don’t think servant leadership is a
partisan issue that’s why we were also
proud to support Wisconsin Republican
Mike Gallagher in his run for Congress
last year Mike is also a marine veteran
as well and he has just been in Congress
since January but due to his independent
voice he has already been talked about
as a national future leader Seth and
Mike and this short time had developed a
friendship and that makes us really
excited for a future where they’re
joined by dozens of other servant
leaders in the years ahead and we’re
working hard to make sure that happens
our roster is growing of experienced
leaders who are committed to working on
problems that are putting the country
first and with the right kind of support
we can see them blossom as candidates
this year we have AmeriCorps alum Juana
Matias in Massachusetts Marine veterans
like Dan McReady for running for
Congress in North Carolina Teach for
America alum Mike Johnston running for
governor in Colorado and former Navy
pilot Mikey Sherrill running for
Congress in New Jersey and they’ll be
joined with more than 40 servant leaders
nationwide running for office this year
we are training them to run from city
council to Congress and in the near
future
when there is a school committee or City
Council election in your town you will
see an AmeriCorps alum stepping forward
and talking about how her experience in
underperforming schools makes her the
best person to improve local education
and when Congress decides whether or not
to send our children into war you will
see this weighty decision debated by
those who have put their own lives on
the line for this country overseas from
Town Hall to the Statehouse to Capitol
Hill they will be servant leaders
answering the call we live in
challenging times in our democracy and
the response on both sides of the aisle
has been to retreat it’s a partisanship
and division and for many of us for the
first time in our lives we can envision
our country giving way to its demons and
sinking into chaos but that’s not how it
has to be we can grow and build a real
political pipeline nationwide a new
movement of Americans who have solved
problems and always put people in
country first and someday soon when
these proven leaders step forward and
raise their hand to serve their country
again in elected office their bold ideas
empathy for others and deep sense of
patriotism will not be seen as political
liabilities but as prerequisites for the
job it’s time for a new generation of
leadership it’s time for a new politics
thank you
[Applause]
by taking a look back in 1946 29
year-old John F Kennedy ran for his
first public office US Congress anyone
today we think of course he won he was a
Kennedy but in 1946 the Kennedys were
not the political dynasty that they are
now JFK’s primary selling point was not
as family or his pedigree it was his
service in the Navy on the strength of
his service he won a 10-way Democratic
primary and then a general election he
himself would say I was elected to the
House right after the war because I was
the only veteran in the race upon
arriving to Congress in 1947 JFK was not
alone about 60% of the new members were
military veterans and they would join a
congress where over half of its members
had a shared experience of service to
the nation
over the next decade and a half
these servant leaders would find common
ground and work together to move this
country forward
they passed the first Clean Air Act
created an interstate highway system and
pass a Marshall Plan which rebuilt a
post-war Europe now let’s be clear this
was not some idyllic time that we need
to longingly look back at we know things
were not perfect but despite our
challenges and shortcomings as a country
our political leaders work together they
understood that there are stewards of a
democracy and a set of values that make
everything in this country possible
after all they had risked life and limb
to protect those before and now they
were doing it again in Washington so
after 15 years since a young Navy
veteran was elected to
Congress he ascended to the presidency
and inserted a new ethic in his
inaugural address a concept that service
a country was not just for wartime but
could be a common Creed among all
citizens in peacetime as well we all
know the line even today ask not what
your country can do for you ask what you
can do for your country so let’s fast
forward a few years to a very different
time that’s me
as a natural blonde no as a young
college graduate I decided that I wanted
to serve my community so I became an
AmeriCorps member and spent my year of
service at an organization called City
Year here in Boston and that year
changed my life I served on a team with
people from all different backgrounds
and despite our differences we worked
together and spent every waking hour
trying to improve public education in
Boston I was so transformed by my
service experience that I spent the next
several years working to grow and build
the service movement in this country and
I honestly thought that’s what I would
do for the rest of my life but then
something happens in 2009
senator Kenney passed away leaving
vacant his Senate seat that he had held
since 1962 his death also left a void in
leadership as he himself had been a
champion of service and of the belief
that you can stand by your values and
work across the political spectrum to
get things done Allen KZ co-founder of
city air and my boss at the time decided
that he wanted to run for the US Senate
seat and to carry on that legacy and
that makes sense right Allen had spent
the prior 20 years promoting the idea of
service and his organization city air
had become the model for AmeriCorps
however that was not the reception that
Allen’s candidacy receives he was
dismissed from the start as an unserious
amateur
and truth be told we didn’t actually
really know how to run a campaign and
Alan not being political didn’t know
everything that it took to be a
candidate so he started out with 2% name
recognition and ended which was 13% of
the vote working on Alan’s campaign was
my first time into politics and it blew
my mind and I learned two very important
but tough lessons about modern politics
first our political system has
significant barriers to entry that
prevent even the most talented and
transformative leaders from successfully
running for office
it is really counterintuitive and
difficult to figure out second our
political culture is toxic and very
cynical and oftentimes it drives away
the service-oriented leaders that we
need the most so it’s no wonder then
that less than 20% of Congress has
service backgrounds the lowest in our
nation’s history we have a congress and
to be honest entire body of politics
that is paralyzed by partisanship and
political norms that push us into our
corners rather than bringing our leaders
together at the negotiating table so I
was so transformed and inspired by this
experience on Alan’s campaign that I
decided to address the servant
leadership deficit in our politics so I
founded an organization called new
politics our vision is to bring a new
generation of leadership into politics
by helping promising service veterans
run for public office we believe that
these leaders can reinvigorate democracy
and we think that recruiting them and
send them up for success is a single
most important thing we can do to
transform our politics we will bring the
talent it’s where it is most needed
because here’s the thing
the lack of political leadership in this
country is not due to a lack of leaders
we know exactly where they are
AmeriCorps Peace Corps in the military
graduates someone most talented and
transformative leaders this country has
ever produced but they are not running
for office and we need to fix that
so I piloted this idea in 2013 by
recruiting a young bright marine named
Seth Moulton to run for Congress in
Massachusetts it took some convincing
because he was not political but he
finally said yes and we helped build
this campaign and supported his race and
guess what he challenged an 18 year
Democratic incumbent anyone and we see
the difference in Congress
seth is a real servant leader and in his
short time in Washington we see the
impact already last year 1,500 bills
were introduced into Congress only 82
were signed into law of the 82 only 11
were authored by Democrats two of those
11 were authored by Seth and he is
ranked at one of the top 10 percent
bipartisan members of Congress however
we don’t think servant leadership is a
partisan issue that’s why we were also
proud to support Wisconsin Republican
Mike Gallagher in his run for Congress
last year Mike is also a marine veteran
as well and he has just been in Congress
since January but due to his independent
voice he has already been talked about
as a national future leader Seth and
Mike and this short time had developed a
friendship and that makes us really
excited for a future where they’re
joined by dozens of other servant
leaders in the years ahead and we’re
working hard to make sure that happens
our roster is growing of experienced
leaders who are committed to working on
problems that are putting the country
first and with the right kind of support
we can see them blossom as candidates
this year we have AmeriCorps alum Juana
Matias in Massachusetts Marine veterans
like Dan McReady for running for
Congress in North Carolina Teach for
America alum Mike Johnston running for
governor in Colorado and former Navy
pilot Mikey Sherrill running for
Congress in New Jersey and they’ll be
joined with more than 40 servant leaders
nationwide running for office this year
we are training them to run from city
council to Congress and in the near
future
when there is a school committee or City
Council election in your town you will
see an AmeriCorps alum stepping forward
and talking about how her experience in
underperforming schools makes her the
best person to improve local education
and when Congress decides whether or not
to send our children into war you will
see this weighty decision debated by
those who have put their own lives on
the line for this country overseas from
Town Hall to the Statehouse to Capitol
Hill they will be servant leaders
answering the call we live in
challenging times in our democracy and
the response on both sides of the aisle
has been to retreat it’s a partisanship
and division and for many of us for the
first time in our lives we can envision
our country giving way to its demons and
sinking into chaos but that’s not how it
has to be we can grow and build a real
political pipeline nationwide a new
movement of Americans who have solved
problems and always put people in
country first and someday soon when
these proven leaders step forward and
raise their hand to serve their country
again in elected office their bold ideas
empathy for others and deep sense of
patriotism will not be seen as political
liabilities but as prerequisites for the
job it’s time for a new generation of
leadership it’s time for a new politics
thank you
[Applause]
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