Next Generation's Next Steps

Five years ago, Tom Steyer, Jim Steyer and I joined together to found Next Generation, a California-based nonprofit heavy on policy and communications, and focused on two of the most important issues of our time: the lack of investment in America’s kids and families and the danger we face from climate change.

Over the past five years we have accomplished a lot. In California, we helped drive issues like predictable work schedules, early childhood investment, the first state regulations on fracking, and clean energy improvements to California’s vehicle fleet. Nationally we helped develop an innovative campaign to close the “word gap” through our Too Small to Fail initiative and helped bring the business community into the climate change discussions through our Risky Business Project.

We built an impressive staff, board and group of major partners – and gathered more than $35 million in support of fighting climate change and helping America’s kids.

But times change – and the Next Generation board decided that our work could best continue on through organization’s singularly focused on climate change and kids and families issues – so over the course of 2015, we spun off our existing programs and projects and began planning a new life for Next Generation.

That process is now complete – Next Generation will continue on in 2016 and beyond as a nonprofit incubator, developing projects and programs that may have homes in other organizations or be time limited.  We will keep our remarkable board together and will continue to work on climate change and kids and families issues, as well as other areas of interest, like democracy and civic engagement.  This new, innovative model will be board-driven and staff up as needed.

We think this new model will provide us with greater flexibility, allow us to be entrepreneurial and take advantage of new opportunities and, hopefully, have a major impact on the issues of concern to the Next Generation board.  We look forward to updating you on our progress.