We sat down with Kiersten Iwai to discuss building political power among youth leaders. 

Could you share with us a little bit about your work in youth civic engagement? What is something that excites you about the work you do? 

Kiersten: I run Forward Montana, a multi-entity, civic engagement organization that is building the civic and political power of young people across the state. We empower young leaders, not just of tomorrow, but also of today. I’m really excited that young Montanans are pushing the boundaries for what is possible in a rural, conservative leaning state. Young people have a vision for the world that is so much more expansive than what we have now. That’s beautiful. They’re always pushing me to strive for that better vision. Every single day when the world seems hard, I know these incredible young leaders are organizing and fighting for a better future. That gives me a lot of hope.

What are some ways that you have grown from the youth that you interact with? 

Kiersten: We are young person-led, and that is reflective in our team and our board. It’s our own lived experiences and what we want to see. Increasingly, young people see the problems of the world as very interconnected, and therefore the solutions as intertwined. I have been pushed to ensure our work is reflective of this.

Policy wins aren’t the only thing. While they lead to tangible outcomes that we want to see, the political realities of our state means they can be hard to achieve. Young people push us to think about how we can redefine success. How can we think about winning in other ways? It’s about the local wins, the relationships that are formed, the lessons learned, and empowering more people speaking out on an issue. One of our former staff just got appointed to the city commission, a really huge win for young people! 

What are some strategies you would like to lift up about rural organizing and bridging the gap between geographic locations? 

Kiersten: I’m heartened to hear that rural organizing is being talked about more. When it’s left out of the conversation, it makes people invisible, people who have an outsized impact on our elections. Rural people often get lumped into one type of person, white and conservative. That perception is not the reality. Rural people are also people of color. They are queer, trans, nonbinary, young, and old. I see the truth every day from my own team and our communities. 

Rural organizing does look different. I often receive requests from national organizations who ask us to try a different platform, tool, or strategy. It doesn’t work for us, because of distance or lack of internet or cell phone service. Mail is still a very important tool for us, but it’s slower. If I mail something in the town that I live in, one of the larger cities in Montana, my mail goes to another town 140 miles away, and then it comes back to the same city. 

Rural organizing is really personal. We have a lot of land and not a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t connected to each other. It’s quite the opposite; people know each other, even if they live two hours away. We call Montana one small town with really long roads. That means you have to have really relational conversations.

You have to talk to people who do not always align with your beliefs. Through those conversations, you learn there are core common values – like a deep sense of place and love for our state. But it takes time to get there. There’s a strong, healthy skepticism for ideas that are not necessarily from the state.

What does it look like to be really relational with people? Sometimes politics can be so impersonal.

Kiersten: Always showing up, being in those spaces. People notice. Being really empathetic. The world is really hard, and leaders, whether elected or not, dismiss the concerns of young people, or tokenize them. That has made politics really uninviting. We lean into empathy: I understand, I am also frustrated, and we can have a conversation around it. When we share a little bit of ourselves, show vulnerability, then we can connect with that person.

Politics is not known for being fun, but we make it fun! I personally love knocking on doors, but it can be intimidating. When we’re phone banking, canvassing, tabling, we have scavenger hunts, bingo, fun games to make it not so serious. We make fun of the things that normal people would make fun of. We create a fun environment that you can be a part of.

You mentioned politicians and communities often dismiss the voices of young people. How can we make sure that youth voices are heard and have a political home?

Kiersten: We try to create that political home here at Forward Montana. We know that when people feel connected to each other, they feel connected to their community and are inspired to get involved and take action. We host events that are unrelated to voting or civic engagement, just to bring people together. We had an event about mending clothes, a watercolor paint night, and made bee boxes. From this we hope to identify people to become members or volunteers. Who is the next leader of that community? When we can create that for ourselves, we can model what that can look like elsewhere.

We also provide political education and opportunities for young people to engage. We offer trainings on telling your story and giving compelling testimony, so that a young person feels more empowered and confident to do so. One of the biggest compliments that I’ve ever received was from this mayor who told me, I have noticed a significant shift in the testimony that young renters have been telling us, and it compelled myself and the city council to pause and listen more. That was because we had worked on public comment training with these young renters.

Kiersten Iwai (she/her) has spent her career advocating for the environment and young people’s access to civic education in the mountain west. Today you’ll find her leading and growing Forward Montana, a statewide organization that makes civic engagement and voting more accessible to young Montanans through education, grassroots organizing, and leadership development.