Just over a year ago, they were introduced to society in Barcelona, ??where they were born. Shortly after they made the jump to Madrid. And now they intend to expand throughout Spain. They are Liderem, a youth lobby that aspires to act as a pressure group for the benefit of young people and wants to place on the agenda the issues that concern them -housing, decent wages, mental health…- to become so in its referent. They currently have around 2,500 members and aim to reach 15,000 by the end of 2024. How do they intend to do it? Setting foot, progressively over the next two years, in each of the capitals of the different autonomous communities. “We have members from all over Spain [where they call themselves Lideremos] and they want the platform to reach all corners so that young people, wherever they are born, have the maximum number of opportunities”, explains Tomàs Güell (25 years old), president of the platform.
They are still planning which Spanish city they will land in first. “It could be Sevilla”, says Güell. “And then, Pamplona”, adds Xavier García (27), vice president of strategy.
They know that growing up will be a challenge. To begin with, financial. At the moment, they have been financed, and continue to be, with the contributions of various partners and collaborators (such as the La Caixa Foundation, Engel
The monthly fees (8 euros) paid by its driving members – “people who trust the project and contribute to it every day”, explains Clàudia Tarinas (27), general secretary and spokesperson – is another source of income.
Although they are now focused on expansion, they do not forget their main goal: to act as a pressure group. In this sense, they announce that they will carry out “two important actions” per year, Güell points out. They have already executed the first: a document of proposals that seeks to reduce bureaucracy in the administration and promote entrepreneurship and that they have presented to the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi; to the general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Álvarez, and to the mayor of Barcelona, ??Jaume Collboni.
They claim that they have been tempted to join some political acronyms, but they reject this option. “We are not a political party”, affirms Güell. “We are a completely independent organization and this is what makes us attractive to young people.”
He acknowledges that they make “strategic collaborations”, but claims that they do not undermine his independence. Recently, they have started a collaboration with the Fundació Princesa de Girona. With this they will visit five different cities (Lleida, Salamanca, Cádiz, Santander and Madrid) and they will document “the problems that affect their young people”, reports Xavier García.
They assert that they do not want to benefit in the personal sphere “from the circulation” that, they claim, the platform is having (this year it was chosen among the 100 most creative projects by Forbes magazine. “This project is not about names or of young people in particular. It goes from young people collectively, and we have created it so that it lasts over time”, concludes Güell.
