October is homecoming month, and YI has embarked on a campaign to highlight the many alumni who have passed through our programs!
Young Invincibles has empowered young adults for 15 years; our network of youth community and student leaders numbers in the thousands. Young adults have proven time and time again that they will be the change past generations have hoped for. All we need to do is set them up for success.
Some now work as our colleagues and teammates, while others have been trailblazers at other institutions and programs. Some started their own campaigns to empower others. All around the world, YI alumni are doing wonderful work in service of the community.
Check out our next alumni highlight, Colin Seeberger!
This month, we contacted former YI staffer Colin Seeberger to see his progress. We asked him some questions and asked if he had some wisdom to share with other advocates nationwide.
What are you up to now after your time at YI?
I currently serve as Senior Adviser for Communications at the Center for American Progress and Center for American Progress Action Fund. I am currently quarterbacking the institutions’ efforts to push back against Project 2025, the far right’s authoritarian playbook, to gut our system of checks and balances to impose an extreme, unpopular agenda on all Americans. I also lead the organization’s partisan/electoral communications work. In this role, I’ve helped develop message frameworks for Democrats to communicate about Project 2025, their vision for growing the economy by growing the middle class, and MAGA extremism. I also am the co-host of CAP Action’s podcast, The Tent Pod. (Find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.) I have had the privilege of working with pretty much all of CAP’s policy teams and continue to have a particular interest in health care policy, an issue I worked on extensively at YI as part of the organization’s efforts to fend off the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, make the cost of care more affordable, and boost youth enrollment.
What is a skill you learned during your time at YI?
I learned a lot of skills at YI, but a few that have served me best in my current role include training advocates to serve as effective spokespeople, serving as an on-the-record source for reporters myself, distilling complex information into digestible content, and managing staff up and down. Further, having a real appreciation for the lived experiences of young Americans has been incredibly helpful to my work as the nation has grappled with a wave of complex global challenges, like the pandemic and inflation, that have proven to be major disruptive events in American politics.
Do you have any advice for current and future advocates?
My number one piece of advice for anyone who wants to work in policy, advocacy, or politics is to strive to get your feet wet in all competencies of the work. You’ll be a better advocate if you can organize everyday people, understand policy and research, learn how the media works, write, conceive, pitch, and raise money to support new ideas, and more. This interdisciplinary approach will give you more power in your work and open up more professional opportunities in your career.