NextGen Detroit's 2026 policy forum

Back to our next interview here. So there is a next-gen policy coming up. We want to bring in Amelin. Amelin, can you hear me? I'm good. How are you? So you can hear me. I can see you talking or you hearing me. But thumbs up if you can hear what I'm saying. Okay. Uh, how are you? I'm doing very well. Hey, doing well. Hey, look. So we have the next-gen policy coming up. This event is coming up. So give us an idea of how this idea came about and how this event came about. No, absolutely. Well, my name is Bowen Rossmann. I'm the executive director of NextGen Detroit. And about two years ago, our organization thought about the role of young people in policy and how we could be part of it. And so that birthed our annual policy forum. This is our second year, and it's tomorrow from 12 to 4 p.m. at TechTown. It's an opportunity for young people to get invested in both civic and policy engagement, while also allowing policy leaders to speak directly to young folks about what's happening both here locally and then also in our state what are you hoping that the the takeaway here is because we're what three weeks a little about a little less than three weeks from the election uh we know that tech and younger voters are starting to become the majority and if it may not be this election it may not be in two years but in two or three election cycles uh Many of the younger voters are going to become the prime target here. So what's the biggest takeaway you hope that people get from this forum this year? Our goal is that we need to have these conversations. This year, we just announced that U.S. Senator Elissa Slotnick will be joining us tomorrow, in addition to a slate of local leaders, including John Howard, city of Detroit, Hillary Doe, that moved Detroit, and others. And the whole goal of this is we need to have these conversations, right? whether it's affordable housing, public safety, or how we as a city can both retain and attract young people. These conversations are critical. And the audience that we target, 18 and 30-year-olds, right, this next generation, is critical to all of that. And we believe that the earlier we get involved, the better we can be in helping not only, I think, enact change, but also supporting a lot of the work that is happening both here in the city and statewide. The talk around politics has been ramping up over the past three weeks, about two, three months, especially. It is centered around data centers or data centers, however you want to say it. It's talked about affordability. So what are the conversations that you have been hearing in your circle that might be discussed tomorrow? Absolutely. Affordability is a big one. You know, our young people, whether they're graduating out of college or trying to find a job, you know, trying to stay here in Detroit. And in Michigan, it can be a challenge. And a lot of them choose to go to other cities and states. But we also see that there is momentum based off both the resurgence of the city and a lot of the positive momentum happening statewide to want to stay here, who want to build something, whether that's a startup or that's launching off their careers. And so, you know, it's talking about what do we need, you know, whether it's more public transportation, is it building more affordable housing? What are these topics? Right. And so that's the goal of the policy forum. It's to have these conversations. And we invite anybody to come and join us tomorrow at TechTown from 12 to 4 p.m. to engage this. It's free, open to everybody. And our goal is that you leave, you know, better informed about what's happening locally. And then also feel motivated and excited to, of course, not only vote this November, but also to engage local locally here throughout the year where Paul is actually you know done look Detroit's on the up and up we've got a lot more younger people moving in here we've had a lot of families moving here which is what we love and this is what we want uh how does Detroit keep them here how does Michigan keep those people here especially the ones that are going to be graduating uh by the end of uh or mid-2027 the city and the state you know keeps them here by making sure there's opportunity right so that's having jobs in fields whether it's tech right whether it's it's it's the arts um you know ensuring that there are jobs able to stay here and then once they are here you know let them know that they are part of our economy part of our fabric right so that's that civic engagement right you know inviting young people take part um it's happening and continue to invest i think in a lot of things that are around lifestyle so that you know sport entertainment etc you know the things that you know keep people um in our cities and in our state uh just from what you've been able to do with putting together this this forum here what is i mean how to put this what is what are the two things that you would like to say to our candidates who are running for Michigan governor and the candidates who are running for U.S. Senate absolutely i think the first thing is it's incredibly important that you know all these candidates come and engage with young people right whether it's with us at NextGen in this forum but others too i think it's incredibly important to enable you know get to know who their candidates are and current officials and then also get to have frank conversations i think our generation is really, you know, looking for people who can, you know, not just offer sound fits, but actually, you know, engage in substantive talks about, you know, things and nuances, you know, how do we get streets to work better for everybody, right? How do we actually, you know, get economic policy that creates jobs? And how do we do this in a way where everybody can take part of it? I think then the other part of it is, you know, we are excited for new leadership. And we want to be part of that too. So it's this, you know, dual part of we want you to show up to us. And we also want to be able to, you know, discuss with you and help be part, right, of, you know, many of the solutions that are needed, both here locally and statewide. Elin, it's been a pleasure to talk to you, man. We look forward to seeing more on that NextGen Policy Conference Forum tomorrow. Best of luck. And we need to have you back on after you kind of get some results and see what comes out of it. Absolutely. Thank you. We're actually planning to release a report afterwards because we have a policy workshop tomorrow, and we'd love to share what we're finding. We're partnering with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, and so we'd love to be back on here and to talk about those. Let's continue that conversation soon. Thank you so much.