David D. Burstein

David D. Burstein, 23, is a writer, filmmaker, and passionate believer in the millennial generation. His book Fast Future: How the Millennials are Shaping Our World was released in February 2013 from Beacon Press.

David is also the Executive Director of Generation18, which he founded in 2006. Generation18 is the nation’s largest youth run young voter engagement organization. It is nonpartisan and not-for-profit. It started as an outgrowth of the 2007 documentary film, 18 in '08, which David directed and produced. During the 2008 election campaign, Generation18 led a major national campaign to register, engage, and mobilize young voters for the 2008 election. This initiative succeeded in registering over 25,000 new voters, hosting over 1,000 events at high schools, colleges, and in communities in 35 states, holding youth policy forums with Senatorial and Congressional candidates, and a celebrity get-out-the-vote Public Service Announcement series featuring Olivia Wilde and Maggie Gyllenhaal among others stars. For his work he was honored with a 2009 DoSomething Award and his story was featured on millions of Doritos bags.

In high school, David co-founded the Westport Youth Film Festival (WYFF) in Westport, Connecticut. WYFF, now in its ninth year, is the world’s premiere film festival run by high school students for high school students. David is a frequent speaker and commentator on millennials, social innovation, and politics. He has appeared on CNN, FOX News, ABC Evening News, NPR, C-SPAN (He holds the distinction of having been the youngest guest ever to appear on C-SPAN Q&A) and been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Politico. He is a contributor to Fast Company where he has interviewed Rachel Maddow, Danny Meyer, and Wael Ghonim among others. He regularly consults for not-for-profits and companies on how to understand and engage millennials.

David is the founding co-director of the Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellowship @ Chicago Ideas Week. He is a graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.