City of Albany and New York state officials have announced a new initiative aimed at getting young people in the city civically engaged.
The Cap City Collective will be a community advisory board made up of city residents between the ages of 20 and 35.
New York State Assemblywoman Gabriella Romero, D-Albany, who secured $20,000 in state funding for the collective, said it's an opportunity to give young people a voice.
"Too often, young people are told that they're the future, but the truth is — and we know this — that young people are making a difference," Romero said at a press conference outside the Washington Park Lake House on Thursday.
Mayor Dorcey Applyrs, a fellow Democrat, hopes the effort will encourage more students graduating from Albany-area colleges to stay in the area.
"But we don't want this to be a transient city," she said. "We want it to be a city people can stay and call home, not just for a time being, but we want them to put down roots here."
Applications for the 18-member collective are open until Aug. 14.