One of the biggest issues in my life that I see impacting young people is affordable housing. How do we achieve it? What are we going to do about it? It's one of the main reasons I got involved with land use policy work and running for office in my hometown. Most people will often shrug and wait for the problem to be solved, however, that is not something I do often.Whether it be successfully amending our zoning regulations to allow more of a missing middle type of development, or using my experience to help other young people get involved with politics, the impact has made me realize that change happens from the bottom up. If we want to change the way our society will develop over time, it's up to us to change it.When I'm not helping craft zoning policy for our municipality, I help organize campaigns in my region that represent similar ideals compared to myself. I'm not afraid to knock on doors on a Halloween night, because these elections can be won by a handful of votes. I also Chair a nonprofit group to expand the political process to our youth. Our group has hosted debates, held rallies, voter registration drives, and drove canvassing efforts to allow progressive candidates to cross the finish line first.I currently study Political Science and Urban and Community Studies at The University of Connecticut. Many young people I meet in college are worried about finding an affordable home after graduating. They have a right to be, our state lacks nearly 87,000 affordable units. If I can help craft policies to expand affordable housing in any way possible, I'd do it in a heartbeat. My overall goal is to impact change, even if it means working on the outside to push our elected officials to consider progressive measures. I hope to continue my efforts of organizing and policy work through the years. For any questions, please feel free to reach out.