Young Leaders Network

Founded in 2014 by the John Brademas Center of New York University and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the Young Leaders Network aims to promote in the next generation the spirit of public service as embodied for decades on Capitol Hill by John Brademas and Ted Kennedy.

By developing the Young Leaders Network (YLN), the NYU Brademas Center seeks to create programs that enrich the student experience while interning in Washington, DC. Students who participate in YLN programming build a network of peers and mentors while they begin laying the groundwork for a career in public service.

Each year, hundreds of students from across the country descend on Washington, DC for internships with Members of Congress and the Federal Government. Building on a program which for 12 years has successfully placed NYU student interns in the office of Senators and Representatives, the Brademas Center, partnering with other Centers for the Study of Congress, developed this program to enrich the Congressional internship experience for students from NYU and other schools. Over the course of the semester interns in the Young Leaders Network join in conversations with Members of Congress, House and Senate staffers, Executive Branch officials, journalists, and scholars. At these and other YLN events interns also get an opportunity to meet their peers and begin developing a professional network which they can tap for support and advice after they graduate and consider careers in public service.