Layla Zaidane

President & CEO, Future Caucus

Layla Zaidane is President & CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers in the United States, and is a nationally recognized expert on youth engagement. Layla joined Future Caucus (then Millennial Action Project) as chief operating officer. Prior to this, she was managing director of Generation Progress at the Center for American Progress. She helped launch and manage the “It’s On Us” campaign in partnership with the White House in 2014, and launched the “Higher Ed, Not Debt” campaign in 2013, a coalition working to make higher education accessible and affordable. She serves on the advisory board of American Promise, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, and Partnership for American Democracy. Layla is a Fellow of the Civil Society Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a BSFS in international politics. In 2025, she was named to the TIME100 Next List for her leadership of Future Caucus.

Organization vision: A diverse democracy where the political culture is grounded in empathy, and leaders pursue innovative policy solutions.

Future Caucus addresses polarization and capacity gaps by cultivating a cross-partisan network of Gen Z and millennial state and local lawmakers, equipping them with the relationships, skills, and tools to lead effectively. Their model blends: 

  • Cross-partisan community: state caucuses and national fellowships create trusted networks where collaboration feels not only safe, but desirable.  
  • Practical skill-building: training in bipartisan negotiation, strategic foresight, and public communication equips leaders to move solutions from concept to law.  
  • Leadership development: through an Innovation Fellowship, policy task forces, and online policy resources, they help lawmakers build bipartisan coalitions, apply futures thinking to pressing policy challenges, and learn about new solutions to tackle critical problems.  
  • Convenings: their flagship Future Summit, state caucus meetings, and thematic forums create structured environments for relationship-building and policy co-creation.  
  • Narrative change: they elevate credible stories of collaboration and tangible policy outcomes through events, media, and partnerships, shifting public expectations toward valuing problem-solving over partisanship.  

 

Day-to-day, Future Caucus convenes lawmakers across state and party lines, facilitate policy labs and peer coaching, and provide nonpartisan resources to support effective governance. This integrated approach ensures young leaders have not just a desire to collaborate, but the capacity and support to do so effectively.