What if We?

Everyone has an opinion about Gen Z and politics. They're disengaged. They're disillusioned. They don't show up to vote. But how much of that conventional wisdom is actually true?

We’re less than two weeks away from the 2026 midterm elections and young people are organizing, advocating, and finding their own ways to make their voices heard. But does that energy translate into youth voter turnout? And are political campaigns missing the bigger picture when it comes to engaging the next generation of voters?

In this episode, Kaitlin Funaro sits down with Bailey Medilo of The Washington Bus, which builds youth political power and leadership, and 18-year-old Elijah Lee of Voters of Tomorrow, a national Gen Z-led organization with members and chapters across the country. Together, they explore what’s motivating young people today, what might be keeping them from the polls, and what Gen Z’s approach to politics can tell us about the future of civic life.

Resources:

The Washington Bus

Voters of Tomorrow

Vote.org polling place locator

In This Episode:

• What’s motivating young people to vote, and how engaged are they heading into the midterms?
• How does youth political engagement vary across geography, backgrounds, and political experience?
• What are adults and political institutions getting wrong about why young people do—or don’t—vote?
• What issues are young people organizing around that political institutions may be overlooking?
• Beyond voting, how are young people finding ways to participate in civic life?
• Why does peer-to-peer organizing matter, and are young people more likely to listen to other young people?
• What makes an election feel relevant to an 18- or 19-year-old voting for the first time?
• What should political campaigns and advocacy organizations start or stop doing to better reach young people?

We know we need to move beyond resistance and burnout toward a more inclusive vision of the future that people can see themselves in.

In this episode, Kaitlin Funaro sits down with Shanelle Mathews, founder of the Radical Communicators Network, to dig into their new report, Rising Narratives for a Radical Future: Talking Across Difference for a Multiracial Democracy, and what its research can teach us about communicating with different audiences while working toward a shared goal.

They discuss how social movements can reach people who see the world differently, why shared values matter, and how trusted messengers and positive visions of the future can help bring people together.

In This Episode:

• What makes a future “radical”?
• How do you tailor messages for someone who is experiencing a very different media ecosystem?
• When does political language bring people together, and when can it push people away?
• How do we communicate with people who think the whole system is rigged against them? Which, in today’s climate, could be any of the audience personas.
• How do we acknowledge people's real pain, like soul-crushing jobs and debt, without making them feel even more hopeless?
• Who are the trusted messengers today?
• How do we define a positive vision for the future?

Resources:

Listen to "Main Character Energy", with RALLY Principal Hillary Moglen and Riki Conrey, Principal Scientist at Harmony Labs to learn more about audience identity and the personas discussed in this episode.

Learn more about RadComms: Radical Communicators Network (RadComms)

Read the report: Rising Narratives for a Radical Future

Social movements are only as strong as their ability to adapt. But what happens when older and younger generations clash over how to build the future?

In this episode, Kaitlin Funaro, sits down with Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed, and Sean Anderson, Director at RALLY, to explore the complicated dynamics of intergenerational movements. They discuss how Gen Z and Gen Alpha are rewriting the rules of organizing, why they fundamentally distrust legacy institutions, and how online interests are shaping their real-world identities.

We explore how organizations can stop clinging to old strategies and start building meaningful, youth-led progress, and why true progress means bridging the gap between the two groups.

In This Episode:

• Why do intergenerational movements actually matter, and what do we gain by bridging the age gap?
• What unique advantages do young people bring to the table beyond fresh energy and impatience?
• Is Gen Z's organizing style just typical youthful rebellion, or is it a fundamental shift in how identities are formed?
• If intergenerational organizing is so beneficial to progress, why is it still so hard to pull off?
• How youth rely heavily on AI and social media while deeply distrusting the institutions that run them
• What can legacy organizations, nonprofits, and foundations do right now to create truly welcoming environments for young builders?

Fourth of July is a time to celebrate freedom and independence. Right? But what if you’re not feeling particularly patriotic these days?

In this episode of What If We?, host Kaitlin Funaro sits down with Theodore R. Johnson, columnist at The Washington Post and Senior Advisor at New America, and Sheri Klein, Senior Director of Research and Strategy at RALLY, to explore what America’s 250th anniversary means for those of us who hold complicated feelings about where this country has been and where it’s headed.

Drawing on Theodore’s work on civic belonging and Sheri’s expertise in public opinion research, the conversation explores how we can talk about democracy in ways that feel meaningful and inspiring. They also examine the role of trusted messengers, the power of hopeful stories, and why national milestones like America’s 250th anniversary can be an opportunity to bring people together.

In This Episode:

• How patriotism and honest criticism can exist at the same time
• How do we talk about democracy when it means different things to different people?
• How can we use shared values like fairness, freedom, and autonomy to engage people who feel disconnected from democracy?
• How patriotic symbols like the American flag can shape the way people see the country and its leaders
• The role of trusted messengers in building civic participation
• How hope and shared purpose can inspire people to engage in democracy
• What gives us hope for America’s next 250 years

As America approaches its 250th anniversary next month, one question looms large: what does the future look like for the generation that will inherit it? Young Americans are living through rising costs, political polarization, and growing skepticism about institutions—but they haven’t checked out.

In this episode of What If We?, Kaitlin Funaro talks with Benjamin Oh, Senior Data Director at the Alliance for Youth Action, about what young people actually think about democracy, opportunity, and civic engagement. Drawing on new research, Benjamin shares what’s driving young people’s hopes, frustrations, and priorities—and why many remain determined to help shape the future.

It’s a conversation about the next 250 years, and the generation already working to define them.

In This Episode:

• How young people see America at its 250th anniversary and the tensions shaping their outlook
• Whether the American Dream means the same thing today as it did for previous generations
• What research reveals about youth participation in voting, civic engagement, and political action
• How economic concerns influence the way young people think about politics and democracy
• What messages are most effective at motivating young people to participate in civic life
• What advocates, organizers, and institutions can learn from youth attitudes toward leadership and change
• Why authenticity, accountability, and bold ideas resonate with younger generations
• What gives us hope for the role young people will play in America's future

Episode Description:

In this episode of What If We?, host Kaitlin Funaro sits down with internet culture writer and editor Aja Romano to explore how memes shape the way we communicate, organize, and understand the world around us.

What may appear trivial or disposable on the surface often carries deep cultural meaning. From catchphrases and reaction images to political symbols and online movements, memes function as shared cultural language that evolves as people remix, reinterpret, and redistribute them across communities. Together, Kaitlin and Aja unpack how memes gain traction, why authenticity matters, and what happens when ideas lose their original context as they spread online.

Drawing on examples ranging from Pepe the Frog and “Dark Brandon” to the evolution of terms like “woke” and “cancel culture,” the conversation explores how memes can both build connection and distort meaning. Aja explains why memes are difficult to engineer intentionally, why brands and institutions often struggle to participate authentically, and how marginalized communities frequently shape internet culture before their contributions are absorbed into the mainstream.

In This Episode:

• What gives memes their staying power while so many internet trends quickly disappear
• How memes evolve as they move between communities and platforms
• Examples of memes shaping political movements, public discourse, and collective identity
• Why authenticity and spontaneity are essential to successful memes
• How organizations and advocacy campaigns can participate in meme culture and the risks it involves
• How memes change meaning as they move across different online communities and audiences
• Whether memes can engage serious issues without trivializing them

Tap into more online culture via fansplaining.com.

How does a simple color become a national symbol for change? In this episode of What If We?, host Kaitlin sits down with Nza-Ari, Founder of Project Orange Tree, and RALLY Senior Director Jason Rzepka to unpack the origins and evolution of the Wear Orange campaign.

What began as a grassroots response to tragedy, honoring the life of Hadiya Pendleton, a victim of gun violence, grew into a powerful cultural movement rooted in visibility, shared humanity, and belonging. Drawing inspiration from hunting culture, where orange signals “don’t shoot,” the campaign reframed the color as a symbol for the value of human life.

Together, Jason and Nza-Ari explore how Wear Orange moved beyond policy into culture and community, creating accessible ways for people to participate, connect, and take ownership of change. From local beginnings in Chicago to a decentralized national movement, this episode reveals how identity, storytelling, and collective action can shift norms over time.

In This Episode:

• The origin story behind the Wear Orange campaign
• The goals of the campaign and the audience it set out to reach
• The role of culture alongside policy in addressing gun violence
• Whether the campaign was designed to shift cultural norms and perceptions
• How the strategy evolved as the movement grew beyond Project Orange Tree
• The signs that the campaign was gaining traction and shifting norms
• Why belonging is essential to building and sustaining a movement
• How people can get involved and participate today

Learn More:

Check out Project Orange at wearorange.org

The 12th National Gun Violence Awareness Day will be June 5, 2026.

For a lot of Gen Z and Gen Alpha, faith isn’t a political signal—it’s a core part of their identity. That deep connection between spirituality and values is a major, often overlooked, opportunity for advocacy communications.

In this episode, host Kaitlin Funaro sits down with Derwin Aikens to unpack how younger audiences are thinking about religious identity and the power of faith as a values framework that shapes how people see the world and their role in it.

For younger audiences, spirituality can be a compelling entry point to conversations from immigration to climate justice and racial equity because it connects directly to their moral lens.

This conversation is a part of our series on Youth Research: Identity, Culture & Issue Advocacy RALLY produced with Rachel Janfaza of The Up & Up. You can check out all of our insights on our website.

In this episode:

• How young people connect with faith and spirituality
• How faith + identity are interconnected
• Why religion isn’t a partisan signifier for young people
• Why the rise of the “religiously unaffiliated” (now about 29% of Americans) doesn’t necessarily mean younger generations are less spiritual.
• How organizations can explore using faith-based messaging to reach younger audiences

In this episode of What If We?, Kaitlin Funaro sits down with researcher and Gen Z expert Rachel Janfaza, author of the popular Substack The Up & Up to unpack what young people are actually feeling right now, and why so many institutions are getting it wrong.

Drawing from a series of listening sessions with 11–22-year-olds across the country, Rachel explains why Gen Z’s political identity is fluid, why “identity politics” feels outdated to many young people, and how COVID fundamentally reshaped their trust in authority.

They explore the generational “bullsh*t meter,” why authenticity beats jargon every time, and what adults, educators, and institutions can do to create meaningful political dialogue instead of shutting it down.

If you work in advocacy, education, communications, or simply care about the future of civic engagement, this conversation offers a reality check, and a hopeful one.

In This Episode:

• Why Gen Z’s political views are fluid not fixed
• How COVID reshaped Gen Z’s trust in authority
• Gen Z evaluates leaders based on results, not political parties.
• Gen Z can quickly spot inauthentic or top-down messaging (“the sniff test”).
• They prefer open debate and honest conversation over silence or rigid rules.
• Frustration with politics does not mean disengagement for GenZ.

Learn more:

Read RALLY’s insights report Youth Research: Identity, Culture, & Issue Advocacy

Check out Rachel Janfaza’s work at The Up & Up

About RALLY:

RALLY is an advocacy communications firm that works with foundations, nonprofits, businesses, and campaigns to change the way people think and act around today’s biggest social and political challenges.

Where you can find us:

• wearerally.com
• Follow us on LinkedIn
• Follow us on Instagram

Do you have an idea for an episode or want to connect with us? Say hello at [email protected].

What if getting press meant more than just a headline in the New York Times? In this episode of What If We?, host Kaitlin sits down with earned media experts Sara Lueders and Alexis Gosselin to demystify the insider world of earned media. From the shifting landscape of traditional newsrooms to the rise of Substack communities, they explore how to reach audiences in today's media landscape.

Sara and Alexis break down why audience identity, not just outlet size, should dictate your strategy and how being scrappy is the new standard for communication professionals. Whether you're pitching a national reporter or sliding into the DMs of a niche content creator, this episode reveals the art of the hustle and the science of storytelling in the current media ecosystem.

In This Episode:

• What do we actually mean by earned media?
• When starting an earned media strategy, what information do you need to gather and what is the first question to ask?
• Navigating the world of podcasts, substacks, and social media clips that are fed to audiences by algorithms.
• How to pitch to content creators and podcasts who don't have traditional newsroom email addresses and can be harder to reach.
• How to evaluate a spokesperson’s ability to deliver engaging audio and video performances.

About RALLY:

RALLY is an advocacy communications firm that works with foundations, nonprofits, businesses, and campaigns to change the way people think and act around today’s biggest social and political challenges.

Where you can find us:

• wearerally.com
• Follow us on LinkedIn
• Follow us on Instagram

Do you have an idea for an episode or want to connect with us? Say hello at [email protected].