MYD Top 5 Under 35 Honoree Making National News Again

On September 30th of 2009 the Manhattan Young Democrats honored our top 5 leaders under 35 at our “Young Gets it Done” event at the nightclub Griffin. With over 250 people packing the room, and many elected officials in attendance, the Manhattan Young Democrats honored State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblyman Micah Kellner, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, LT. Daniel Choi, and the progressive grassroots organization Living Liberally. Although all of our top 5 under 35 honorees continue to have incredible accomplishments, LT. Daniel Choi has been making headlines lately for his fight against the US Army’s antiquated and nonsensical Dont Ask Dont Tell policies. MYD honored LT. Choi for his incredible courage and honor, and today his fight against Dont Ask Dont Tell has taken a major victory. LT. Choi has been reassigned to serve our country and will continue to fight for America with courage without trying to hide his sexual preferences. MYD would like to once again congratulate LT. Choi for this major victory and we are all hopeful that it is one of many to come.

Young Getting It Done: The Bruno Gap

I live in Carroll Gardens, and I’m lucky enough to have Dan Squadron as my State Senator. A couple months ago, I bumped into him talking to constituents outside of the entrance to the Bergen Street subway stop on the F line. (He’s now put together a town hall with actual MTA reps for people who use the F — I should go and give them a piece of my mind…) MYD also honored him with a “Young Gets It Done” award at our party at the Griffin.

He’s not even 30, but he arrived at the State Senate in 2008 and has been introducing legislation many of his fellow Senators have nightmares about.

Exhibit A: Ethics overhaul, which is gaining steam in light of the conviction of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R) on corruption charges.

“I call it the Bruno gap, and it needs to be filled,” Squadron said.

The draft bill would abolish the much-criticized Public Integrity Commission and replace it with two different bodies – one to oversee the executive branch and another the lobbying industry.

A third commission, with an independent investigatory arm, would be created to police the Legislature.

That commission also would have the power to randomly review lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms.

Any recommendations investigators made would be public, a change from current law.

Lawmakers would also be subject to more stringent public disclosure laws.

For the first time, they would be required to publicly report the range of their outside income.

Lawmakers with consulting businesses, like Bruno, would be required to list all clients, their compensation level and what services they did for them.

The bill would not require legislators who are lawyers, like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to list their clients. Schneiderman, a lawyer, said that’s because of lawyer-client issues.

The bill has an anti-nepotism provision that would bar the hiring of relatives of elected officials to high-level positions in the same house or for state jobs with salaries over $84,000.

The bill would also revamp the toothless Board of Elections and make it easier for investigations to move forward.

Young Gets It Done: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Trite but true: Youth is humanities best renewable resource:

If our Young Gets It Done series is about anything, it’s about serving up proof that you don’t need to have experience to save somebody’s life, change an entire community or inspire thousands. You can be 14 and develop cutting-edge surgery techniques. You can be in high school and capture images from space using a $200 hot air balloon.

If you can get to this blog, you can change the world.

Show your support for YDA’s DNC Committee Woman Stephanie Hauser & NYC Council Candidate Kevin Kim

From time to time, we at MYD like to share events put on by other organizations throughout the city. We know we aren’t the only ones who can throw a huge party.

Youth involvement in politics doesn’t just mean lobbying our elected officials and starting grassroots movements. It means becoming elected officials! Town Council may not seem like the biggest most important race to some of you, but future leaders like Stephanie need to start local and grow from there. We started local with the Open Seat Project, putting about 80 MYDers on the ballot.

Joint Fundraiser for Stephanie Hausner and Kevin Kim

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
7:30pm to 9:00pm
Arctica Bar and Grill, Top Bar (384 3rd Avenue)

Host Committee: Dr. Fergus Ambe, Al Benninghoff, Evan Berger, Jennie Berger, Marvin Bing Jr., Matthew Bishop, Julie Blitzer, Costa Constantinides, Keith Dumanski, Daniel Getman, Jake Honigman, Erica Kagan, Dan Kasell, Ksenia Koban, Jamaal Mobley, Jen Nedeau, Thaler Pekar, Alfred Rutherford, Jonathan Stone, Josh Warren

Tickets will be $40, $20 for students, and each candidate takes home half. If you are contributing by check, please bring 2 checks. If you are contributing by cash, please bring two $20 bills.

More information on the event’s Facebook page

Learn about Kevin and Stephanie (and their Twitter accounts!) after the jump. Read more

Young Gets It Done. Amen.

Pictures speak louder than words. See the full set from MYD photog extraordinaire Juan Carlos here.

Thank you to every member of the Host Committee for making this amazing event possible. Special thanks to Academy Engraving for donating the awards we gave to our honorees. And most of all, to the amazing young leaders who are working hard every day to make the world a better place (cheesy, but true): Dan Squadron, Jessica Lappin, Justin Krebs, Living Liberally, Lt. Dan Choi, and Micah Kellner.

Young Gets It Done Has 131 RSVPs on Facebook. Are You One Of Them?

Young Gets It Done.

This Wednesday.

Be there.

Locale: The Griffin.
Price: $10 for MYD members, $15 for non-members
Addy: 50 Gansevoort Street
Date: Wednesday, September 30th  – 7PM to 10PM

Pay your dues to become a member right now at this link!

RSVP via the Facebook event here. And remember: invite your friends!

Young Gets It Done: A Solar Panel Made With Hair

‘First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world.”

So says Milan Karki, an 18 year old who grew up in rural Nepal, who believes he has found the solution to the developing world’s energy needs: hair. The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained.

He idolizes Thomas Edison, and learned about the static charge held by hair by reading a book by physicist Stephen Hawking.

What Do Dan Squadron, Micah Kellner, Jessica Lappin, Lt. Dan Choi, and Living Liberally Have In Common?

Why, they’re all being honored at the MYD “Young Gets It Done” event coming up on September 30th, of course! All of these people are shining examples of what it means to be a young leader making a difference in the world. (We’re honoring Living Liberally and founder Justin Krebs together, btw.) Details for this cocktail reception right here:

Locale: The Griffin. For those not in the know–like me–apparently this is a “hot” club in that bastion of overpriced coolness, the Meatpacking District. In a city where such labels can change as frequently as Pedro Espada Jr gives excuses for thwarting campaign finance law, you should definitely take advantage of the opportunity to get in at the bargain rate of…
Price: $10 for MYD members, $15 for non-members
Addy: 50 Gansevoort Street
Date: Wednesday, September 30th  – 7PM to 10PM

The event is chaired by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Assemblyman Jonathan Bing. We’re in the midst of putting together a host committee, so if you’re interested in helping/organizing, get in touch with Alex, our Finance Director: finance [at] goMYD [dot] com.

This is a swanky affair, but as usual, MYD has you covered with the affordable tix. So pay your dues to become a member right now at this link!

RSVP via the Facebook event here. And remember: invite your friends!

Young Gets It Done: Shin Fujiyama

Shin Fujiyama was born in Japan and came to the United States for college, but ultimately found his passion in Honduras:

During his sophomore year at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, he volunteered in Honduras with a campus group and was struck by the extreme poverty he saw — barefoot children collecting cans and sleeping in the streets. Fujiyama says he realized he could help give other children their own second chance.

Today, his organization, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need through student service trips and fundraisers.

“Seeing the country and being able to make a difference really opened my eyes to a lot of things,” he says. “I saw such a great need. I wanted to keep helping.”

Shin now spends his summers in Honduras while his sister lives there full-time to oversee the organization’s efforts.  Their mission emphasizes grassroots outreach and understands the mentality of many young people that you do not need to be a wealthy professional to effect meaningful change–and they’ve raised over $750K to prove it!  To learn more about the organization check out their website.

Young Gets It Done: El Sistema

Placido Domingo cried when he saw the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra perform. The world-renowned opera singer confessed that the concert evoked the strongest emotions he had ever felt.

Sir Simon Rattle, director of the Berlin Philharmonic, swore that the country’s youth orchestras were doing the most important work in classical music anywhere in the world.

The Venezuela Youth Symphony program celebrates its thirty year anniversary this year. It has turned 500,000 underprivileged and at-risk youths into musicians, with the most successful now taking placements in internationally-renowned symphonies across the world. The program’s founder Jose Antonio Abreu describes the social mission of El Sistemo as helping “the fight of a poor and abandoned child against everything that opposes his full realization as a human being”.

“I wish players in the US were here to hear the conviction with which you play… Noone [in this symphony] is just walking through it, watching the clock… When they play, they really mean it.”

Our very own West Side Story, brought to life by Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (oh, and awesome Star Wars theme track here):

Venezuela Youth Transformed By Music

Hat Tip: Shiz

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