Tony Cani and Jane Fleming Kleeb both Headed to SEIU - Big Thanks for All Your Work

Update: It should also be noted that Jane Fleming Kleeb, one of the leaders in our fight to increase youth engagement in the Democratic Party, has also left Young Voter PAC to take a job with SEIU. It hurts to lose both she and Tony at the same time, but kudos to SEIU for picking up such great talent, and a big thank you to both of them for all of their work. We wouldn't be here without them, and Future Majority owes a great debt to Jane. Without her support, I probably wouldn't be working full time on Future Majority.
------------------------------------

Over the holidays, Tony Cani, the Political Director of the Young Democrats, announced that he is leaving YDA and taking a position with SEIU. I won't say he's moving on up, because we all know that youth organizing is just as important as any other piece of the progressive movement. Instead, I'll congratulate him on an excellent lateral move to another outstanding organization in progressive politics. He will be missed, and whoever takes his place on the YDA staff has big shoes to fill.

I met Tony sometime in 2006 when I was working on my book. Since his days as a Deaniac, Tony has been a relentless advocate for youth outreach and peer to peer organizing, and I'm not exaggerating to say that he's one of the best organizers we've had these past years. I hope that he brings all that he learned at YDA to SEIU, and impresses upon his new colleagues the importance of bringing young people into the labor movement.

As part of his farewell letter, Tony had a few parting words of wisdom about where YDA - and all youth organizations - still need to improve. These are valuable questions to consider as we enter what will be a distinctly different era for those of us who have only organized against President Bush:

• How do we take advantage of this moment and expand our organization by providing a landing place for former Obama activists who want to work to expand our recent victories and serve as the catalyst for the governmental change we all voted for.
• How do we continue to evolve the culture of our organization, nationally and locally, to be focused on results and activism rather than ONLY networking or socializing or being the first steps on someone’s ladder to “power”?
• How do we develop our members and reward success, so those who “do” are able to rise to the top and those who “pose” will work to become doers?
• How do we ensure that members who take on leadership roles at all levels actually perform their responsibilities, do so well, and are held accountable if they don’t?
• And finally – how can we find ways to connect our organizations even closer to maximize efficiency and impact while retaining the power of our uniqueness?