Introduction

This anthology is a collection of essays written by twenty-one young American women who describe their work, activism, and leadership on social issues, women's policy issues, and women's lives. It responds to critical portrayals of this generation of twenty-somethings as being disengaged and apathetic about politics, social problems, and civic causes.1 Leading the Way is about actual young people leading, living life, and reenvisioning contemporary feminism. It provides a contrasting narrative to assumptions about the current death of feminism, the rise of selfishness and individualism within youthful feminism, and the disaffected millennial generation. Instead it demonstrates the ways that diverse young women in the United States are contributing to the advancement of women and others in multiple spheres and through different avenues at the same time as they themselves are finding their own paths, ways of being, and places in the world. The young women whose voices resonate in these pages are campaign managers, teachers, students, health care professionals, musicians, filmmakers, activists, and employees of nonprofit organizations, corporations, and government. Some of them are new wives in dual-earner households. Others are immigrants or children of immigrants. They are wondering how to prioritize work, family, happiness, social contribution, cultural loyalty, feminism, religious commitment, and activism. They are navigating their own dreams at the same time they are embodying and formulating new models of leadership for the twentyfirst century.