With the 2014 midterm elections less than six months away, national party leaders and advocates in the private sector have been working fervently to get their messaging out the issues and make sure that, arguably, the most important voting bloc, young people, are energized enough to actually cast a ballot.
Max Burns is one of these local operatives, straddling the line the public and private sector to make a difference in how the Democratic party communicates their message. “The trick is always this,” the 27-year old said in an interview with InTheCapital. “You have to be able to break down a complex issue in a way voters can understand and relate to.”
Like many politically active young people, Burns came to Capitol Hill after graduating from George Mason University to cut his teeth on policy. While bouncing from legislative offices to think tanks, he started his own tech policy blog called Pixels and Policy. “I wanted to get paid to write about video games,” he said with a laugh. “But then I got interested in the trend of using social media for legitimate political and policy outreach. It was changing the way people talked to their government.”
This realization brought Burns to the doorstep of Facebook, where he landed a position in the company’s first Washington intern class, and was later hired as part of the public policy outreach team. “It was a really exciting time to be working for Facebook, during the ramp up to their IPO release,” Burns said. “We were introducing the platform to Congress, the White House, federal agencies, and showing them how to use it as part of their public outreach.”
“Companies are realizing that if they want to play, they have to acknowledge the role of government,” Burns continued, discussing the trends he sees in the rise of tech companies working with law makers and lobbyists in Washington. “Silicon Valley is, in many ways, improving government. But this comes with a condemnation of government at the same time,” as the private sector seems to always think they can do it better.
Currently Burns works on strategic communications at the Glover Park Group. “Very early on you learn you are working for a well established firm, that’s focused on upholding certain values,” Burns said of his shift to consulting. “It’s an incredibly entrepreneurial environment.” In recent years the Glove Park Group has been ramping up their investment in digital services as part of their larger client offerings. “You can’t just build it,” Burns said of the larger trend towards a digital focus among PR agencies. “You have to show clients best practices, and you have to fully embrace digital in every aspect of the services offered.”
Like many ambitious young people here in Washington, Burns is actively involved in community politics beyond just his day job. He has been involved in various local leadership committees for local branches of the Democratic Party, currently serving as president of the Arlington Young Democrats as well as Northern Region Chairman for Virginia Young Democrats.
“I want to lend my services as someone who both cares about issues and has a certain set of technical skills to help communicate the message,” Burns said of his active life as a volunteer. “Over 36 percent of the Arlington population is under the age of 35. Young people have to get over this stigma that they just don’t care. My goal as president of AYD is to bring enough people in so that we have a voice equal to the national party, with an advocacy platform that speaks to young voters.”
And so far, Burns has had astounding success. The AYD date auction, which is their largest annual fundraiser brought in over $12,000 this year to help local Democratic candidates. He is also working with other local Democratic chapters to galvanize young voters to become advocates on issues such as immigration reform and affordable housing.
If all this isn’t enough to leave you impressed with Max Burns, in his spare time he also enjoys book collecting and baking bread.
