WASHINGTON — Matthew Segal is one tough boss — he plans to fire himself.
Our Time, an organization that advocates up for young people under 30, launched its Buy Young event this summer, inviting young entrepreneurs from across the country to gather in Washington. Co-Founder and President Matthew Segal said Our Time needs to be run by young people in order to stay relevant to the under 30 generation. Photo credit: Kelly F. Zimmerman
While some say that 30 is the new 20, the 25-year-old co-founder and president of Our Time—an organization founded by young adults for young adults —says when he turns 30, he’ll be too old to stay on as staff.
“How am I going to be relevant to a bunch of 18-year-olds five years from now?” said Segal, who plans to hand over the reins of his position in five years.
The Washington- based organization pushes issues, like jobs, that are important to the under-30 crowd, and its campaign to encourage consumers to “buy young” has been spotlighted in the media since its July launch and resulted in about 2,100 sales for companies founded by young entrepreneurs, Segal said.
Our Time is not the only organization to pop up in Washington on behalf of young entrepreneurs during President Barack Obama’s tenure. Young Invincibles, an organization that sprouted in 2009 to give young adults a voice in the health care debate, continues to advocate on Capitol Hill and over the social media waves on a variety of topics in support of 18 to 34-year-olds, from unemployment to consumer debt to funding for higher education.
These advocacy groups for the under-30 generation generally have young leaders who reflect the demographic they serve. But what happens when they age out of their organization’s target demographic?
“If I’m smart enough about one thing, it’s to keep this thing young and fresh,” said Segal, whose hires are all younger than him. “I know the older I grow, the less of ability I have to earn trust and communicate with the younger constituency group.”
Aaron Smith, Young Invincibles co-founder and executive director, said his staff is all under the age of 30. While having young people on board is a valuable trait for the organization, Smith said age isn’t everything.
“I think it’s too simplistic to say that someone understands the challenges of young people because they are young…I think it certainly helps,” Smith said. “I don’t think just because you’re a senior that you understand all the range of issues that a senior faces.”
For an organization such as YouthBuild USA, which provides educational opportunities and hands-on job skills training for low-income 16- to 24-year-olds, it is important to ensure participants be given a voice and have staff with whom they can identify, said founder and president Dorothy Stoneman.
However, like Smith, Stoneman said it’s important to have staff who are close in age to the participants, but leaders don’t necessarily have to be in that demographic.
“It’s important to have people who are different from them, because you get something different from someone who is like you, who has overcome the obstacles you are facing, and is a role model,” said Stoneman, “and from somebody who is unlike you, who didn’t face that …”
Mobilize.org, one of many groups founded to get young people engaged in politics and voting, has been around for about a decade. It has taken a different approach to staying relevant to the current generation of young adults. The plan: sticking with the Millennial generation as it ages. In other words, growing old along with its following.
“The idea that our leadership is going to age out of a generation is not something that we have to deal with in this new construct,” said Mobilize.org Chief Executive Officer Maya Enista Smith.
Mobilize.org seeks to address problems relevant to Millennials, which it defines as youth born between 1976 and 1996. However, according to Smith, she doesn’t expect nor want Mobilize.org to exist forever.
“If you call me in 20 years and I’m still beating the drum about leadership development and the need for engaging Millennials authentically…and why it’s important to have Millennials on your board of directors, then in some ways I’ve failed,” Smith said.
Unlike Mobilize.org’s cohort, Segal said he expects Our Time’s current generation to “graduate” from the group as a new one comes in, although he acknowledges the need for “friends and allies in every generation to make sure that this current generation has the representation and the sense of empowerment that it needs to succeed.”
Segal said he plans to move on to another full-time profession after giving himself a pink slip, but as a founder of Our Time, he hopes to stay tied to the group as a more mature voice on its board of directors.