Young people need our community’s support today more than ever.
You may be surprised to read that your mayor was not exactly a model student. When I was in high school, I was not particularly focused. I didn’t have much direction, and community involvement wasn’t on my mind. I often say that I had a lot of energy and very few productive places to put it, which led to me getting into trouble and making my fair share of mistakes.
And yet, here I am, the youngest mayor in Los Gatos history. I share that not to brag, but because I often see young people being dismissed for the same behavior I exhibited at their age. This matters for how we understand the potential of our youth and how the Los Gatos community should support the next generation.
As a 28-year-old today, high school was only about ten years ago for me. During my youth, I enjoyed a relatively large amount of freedom, as did many of my peers. I could make mistakes without everything being recorded and explore ideas without worrying they might follow me for the rest of my life. At 16, I didn’t worry that AI would displace my career, wonder if I could afford the lifestyle my parents built—or fear the world I grew up loving would be unrecognizable by the time I had kids of my own.
Some of that was privilege of course, and some was the blissful ignorance of being a teenager. But I believe a meaningful part of the difference is simply that the world has changed. The pressures young people carry today are real and in many cases new: record levels of mental health challenges, relentless comparison on social media, economic uncertainty and systemic problems like climate change and our housing crisis. Youth must grapple with these issues despite having played no role in their creation.
And yet these same young people are not sitting still. Many are organizing walkouts, launching climate campaigns, advocating for mental health resources and pushing for change in our community.
When I look at the students I work with, I do not see future leaders. I see current ones.
Accordingly, I believe those of us who have enjoyed the richness of this community owe it to the next generation to ensure they can enjoy that same richness. That means showing up in the lives of young people as mentors, coaches, advocates, and neighbors.
What I’ve been doing about it
This belief led me to start the Young Leaders Group (YLG). Every other week during the school year, I sit down with several dozen high schoolers and guest speakers to talk about the issues they care about most. The topics we discuss are selected by the student participants, and range widely from leadership and tech to politics and healthcare. The goal of YLG is to create a space for young people to engage in meaningful discussions and learn from each other and local experts.
The enthusiasm I witnessed during YLG meetings convinced me that something bigger was possible, and this led to co-creating the Youth Town Hall earlier this year.
The Youth Town Hall was built on the premise that young people, when given the responsibility and the tools to address challenges, will readily take charge. This came to fruition when about 200 local students gathered at West Valley College for a day of panels, breakout sessions, and a resource fair. The panel featured Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, El Camino Health Executive Bido Baines, Stanford democracy scholar Dr. Karina Kloos, and Los Gatos High School student and advocate Nova Jayaraj.
What inspired me most about the Town Hall was that the ideas, the topics and the outreach were all conceived and built by students. Frankly, the Los Gatos and Leigh High School students did not just assist with planning this event: they led it. I was the one who found myself trying to keep up with them. I am also deeply grateful to El Camino Health, West Valley College and SASCC for their immense support of this day.
