About Future Majority

Future Majority is a blog dedicated to covering the involvement of young voters in progressive politics. The site was founded in August of 2006 by Michael Connery, Alex Urevick-Acklesberg, and Josh Koenig.

The site features original reporting on progressive youth organizing, polling analysis, opinion pieces, and guest blogs by leaders in the progressive youth movement.

The site is built on the Drupal open source platform and is hosted by Chapter Three LLC. The site design is by Nica Lorber and the implementation was done by ZivTech.

Our Team

Michael Connery is the author of Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority, a book about the role of the Millennial Generation in progressive politics. In addition to blogging at Future Majority, Michael is an occasional contributor to MyDD, TechPresident, and the Huffington Post's "Off the Bus" blog.

Michael is a Board Member of the Young Voter PAC, an At-Large member of the DNC Youth Council, and sits on the Advisory Board of HeadCount, a non profit that registers young voters at live music events. In 2003, he was the cofounder of a similar organization called Music for America, and served as its Communications Director and Web Editor in 2003 and 2004. In 2008, he was a National New Media Fellow with the Center for Independent Media.

Michael has a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College and an MA in English from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Sarah Burris has worked with numerous campaigns from presidential to city council races. She says she likes the smaller campaigns the best and prefers the Red-States. Recently, she worked for Skyline Public Works where she helped state based youth organizations connect with major funders across the country and develop better networking opportunities. In 2008 Sarah was named one of the five Rock the Vote Rock the Trail Reporters and traveled the country during the 2008 Elections covering the campaign from the youth perspective. She's reported from both conventions and debates and followed candidates on youth tours through their states. Sarah was also a recipient of the Democracy for America Netroots Nation scholarship and was named by the New Leader's Council as one of the 40 Emerging Leaders Under 40. She is a founding blogger at Everyday Citizen, a long time writer and researcher for Wiretap Magazine, and a new partner at Mixed Media. Sarah's writing focus has been faith based politics, rural youth, young progressive democracy, and youth specific legislation. You may contact her at sarahkatheryn at gmail dot com.

Kevin Bondelli has been working in youth activism and Democratic politics for over 8 years. He serves as the YDA Southwest Region Director from Arizona and as a member of the DNC Youth Council. He has previously served as YDA Convention Credentials Chair, YDA Parliamentarian, YDA Judicial Council Member, YDAZ National Committeeman, and YDAZ Vice-President of Finance. Kevin was Undergraduate Student Government Vice-President of Arizona State University in 2003-2004, where he worked heavily on GLBT issues. Professionally Kevin has been Internet Organizer, Non-Traditional Campaigns Director, and Internet and Technology Strategist for the Arizona Democratic Party. He currently freelances as a web/graphic designer, writer, and internet strategist in Arizona. He also writes on his personal blog and the Young Democrats of America blog.

Craig Berger has been interested in the Millennial Generation and its involvement in politics for several years. Craig received his BA in Political Science at Allegheny College in 2006. While there, Craig served as President of the Allegheny College Democrats in 2003 and 2004, organizing Democratic students and liberals on campus in support of John Kerry; Craig also was heavily involved in Allegheny Student Government, serving as a chief of staff to the President and the organization's voice on technological issues on campus. Over the last three years, Craig was employed at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College in Residence Life.

Craig is currently pursuing a masters in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Craig also writes at his personal blog, The Politics of the Common Good.

Karlo Barrios Marcelo is a policy researcher and writer. He got his professional start as Research Associate at The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). While at CIRCLE he published numerous fact sheets and academic articles on youth civic engagement, especially youth volunteering and voting. During the 2008 presidential election, he wrote about young voters and young politics for WireTap Magazine. More recently, he worked at The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program where he supported the advancement of microenterprise development organizations from across the U.S. Along with Mike Connery, Karlo serves on the Advisory Board of HeadCount. He holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland, where he was a CIVICUS Associate and Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow, and a M.P.P. from the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Karlo now lives in Washington, DC.

Mike, Sarah and Kevin at the DNC.

Emeritus

Josh Koenig is an internet technologist, Drupal sensei, outlandish blogger and self-described velvet revolutionary. He helped instigate the DeanSpace project, driving grassroots web technology for Howard Dean's presidential campaign, in mid 2003. He later served as Technical Director for Music For America from its foundation as a 527 through the end of 2004. Josh is currently pioneering the internet-enabled rural lifestyle in the State of Jefferson, spending most days fulfilling his role as a founding partner of Chapter Three LLC, a next-generation internet organizing consultancy (which also hosts Future Majority, natch).

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg has been working in technology since 1999, and with Drupal since he hooked up with Music for America, a voter education and registration initiative, during the U.S. 2004 presidential campaign. He has helped to create numerous blogs and online communities including Young Philly Politics, a local political blog, Blue Force, a progressive national security site, and Future Majority, which looks at the intersections of youth, culture, and politics. Alex worked at The New School for Social Research in New York City for eight years, where he also received his Bachelors and Masters degrees, both of which focused on psychology, politics, and communications. After he left the New School, Alex worked various jobs in politics and communications, including doing Online Marketing/Internet Outreach for the award winning film The War Tapes, working as the Youth and Cultural Field Organizer for Philadelphians Against Santorum, and managing a City Council race in Philadelphia. In early 2007 Alex decided to pursue Drupal Development full time, and he hasn't looked back since. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, dog, cats, and a salt-water reef tank that scares his wife half to death every time he's away on business (which is fairly frequently).