Friend:

When I’m in need of some inspiration and light amid dark times like those we’ve experienced in the past few weeks, I look no further than the young people around me who are committing themselves to ensuring America lives up to its ideals of freedom and equality for all. Thankfully, these days I need to look no further than my Zoom screen at our Tuesday virtual all-staff meeting to find those faces!

This week marked the start of our Summer Intern program at AU and we welcomed several college students who will be working with us this summer, with several more students to come on board in the next few weeks. These interns come from all over the country with diverse backgrounds, skills and perspectives. They bring great ideas along with great energy to the table, and our issue benefits from their input as much as the students benefit from the learning experience.

This year, our legal interns will have the opportunity to participate in the new Legal Academy that AU is piloting in partnership with 11 other leading nonprofit litigation groups this summer. Starting tomorrow, we will bring together about 60 law students who will learn how to use high-impact litigation to protect the rights of marginalized people, including but not limited to religious minorities and the nonreligious, Black and brown people, LGTBQ folks and women. The academy represents our collective commitment to cultivating a new generation of leaders who can shape the law into the future.

Right now we’re also recruiting applicants for our third cohort of Youth Organizing Fellows, a yearlong, paid, leadership-development program that teaches 10 young people about church-state separation and strengthens their organizing skills. We help them plan events and campaigns to mobilize young people in their communities. One example: On Monday, Youth Organizing Fellow and Florida resident Vicki Williams will host the webinar “Education for All: Advocating for Public Education in Florida” (click here to participate). If you know any 18-25-year-olds, urge them to apply for our new class of Youth Fellows at au.org/youthfellows.

As I wrote in a recent column in our Church & State magazine, AU is determined to enlist Generation Z in our cause, both as a matter of strategy and for the pure delight of working with younger people. So many church-state issues affect this new generation, from religion in public schools to reproductive freedom to LGBTQ equality. It makes perfect sense that young people would gravitate to our cause, and AU is investing heavily in welcoming them with open arms to the mission of protecting freedom without favor and equality without exception.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

P.S. Speaking of Monday’s webinar on the state of public education in Florida, we have a calendar full of events that AU, our chapters and our networks are hosting around the country—many of them virtual and accessible to anyone, anywhere. You may have noticed that we’ve been including a list of several upcoming events at the bottom of this weekly email. You can also find those and even more events at au.org/events—please check them out!