HSDA History

Founding & Development

The High School Caucus of the Young Democrats of America (YDAHSC) was founded on December 2nd, 2005 in Phoenix, Arizona following the 2005 YDA National Convention in San Francisco. Prior to the founding of YDAHSC, various state-level high school and teenage Democratic organizations existed but never before had there been a centralized national umbrella for high school Democrats. Jonathan Padilla of California and Ahmed Kokon of New York dreamed up the idea of YDAHSC and, after its founding in 2005, Padilla was elected the first National Chair in February 2006. At the same February 2006 meeting, YDAHSC was fully recognized as a voting caucus by the Young Democrats of America. By August 2007, there were 37 state organizations in YDAHSC.

The first National Summit debuted as the “High School Leadership Academy” in 2012. 48 students represented 27 states at the four-day Washington, D.C. event.

In June 2014, the YDAHSC broke off from YDA and re-founded as the High School Democrats of America (HSDA). Today, YDA and HSDA still enjoy a close partnership. A year later, in July 2015, the newly-independent HSDA held the “HSDA Strategic Summit” in Washington, D.C.

The last Summit before the COVID-19 pandemic was the 2019 Summit which included speakers like Nancy Pelosi, Sanford Bishop, Donald Payne Jr, Jahana Hayes, Mark Takano, Lizzie Fletcher, Paul Tonko, Conor Lamb, John Yarmuth, Mark Pocan, Deb Haaland, Jon Tester, and Doug Jones.

In a monumental vote, the 2019 summer session of the Democratic National Committee granted HSDA two voting seats, giving youth a strengthened voice and cementing HSDA as the official organization for high school Democrats.

When COVID shut down in-person organizing, HSDA’s leadership quickly acted and, in 2020 and 2021, virtual Summits were hosted to unite our membership and strengthen our communities. In 2024, the Executive Board made a bold move to return to an in-person format and will host the next Summit in Washington, D.C. in August 2024.

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