Longer ago than I’d like to admit, I was once a young member of the IBEW. I was full of ideas and energy and ready to take on the world. But I didn’t really know where or how to start.

It’s something I see in so many of our newer members today. These young leaders, brimming with fresh ideas and eager to put them into action, fill me with hope for the future of our great union.

For well over a decade, the RENEW and NextGen initiatives have been vital in engaging our members 35 and under. When they were formed, we talked about them as training grounds for the IBEW’s leaders of the future.

But the truth is that members of RENEW and NextGen are leading right now, and more than ever we need that leadership.

No matter how long you’ve been an IBEW member, we all have a role building a bigger, stronger union. As I told our members attending the RENEW/NextGen conference in October, they are not the future.

They are very much the present.

If we’re going to maintain our position as a leader in the electrical industry, our younger members are going to lead the way.

In organizing. In building alliances. In doing good work in the communities we serve.

I was happy to share with conference attendees that we added 24,000 members during the previous year, a 50-year high. That’s something to celebrate.

But it barely begins to scratch the surface in meeting the shortage of skilled construction workers in the U.S. and Canada. So, I left them with a challenge:

Use this golden opportunity to grow and make our Brotherhood stronger than ever.

If you’re a young member, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting involved in your local union’s RENEW or NextGen committee. You’ll be doing your part in building a stronger union.

And our more seasoned members have things they can do to support our younger ones. In the same way we train apprentices on the tools, we need to make sure we’re including them in the vital work of union-building.

Make sure you include them in your organizing activities. They understand the concerns of young workers in the United States and Canada better than most of us.

Make sure they have a prominent role at job fairs. Incorporate some of their ideas on social media. Listen to their suggestions on getting the word out to young people on the value of IBEW membership.

Things like working and getting paid while going through their apprenticeship. The ability to earn family-supporting wages without taking on the massive student loan debt of some of their peers.

As Stephanie LaPrairie, lead inside organizer at Shreveport, La., Local 995, said in the cover story of this month’s Electrical Worker: “It gives them a better idea of what is going to happen after you graduate than from a journeyman who has been in the trades for 40 years.”

RENEW and NextGen members play a crucial role in building a strong IBEW for generations to come. Not in the future, but now.

Thank you for all you do for the IBEW, and happy holidays to you and your families. Together, we’ll continue building a bigger, better IBEW for all the generations to come.