When Lauren Sermersheim first joined the Youth250 Bureau in early 2025, she was a first-year Clinton School student eager to use her education and skills to make a difference. One year later, the Asheville, North Carolina native has finished her term as a seasoned consultant for some of the nation’s most storied institutions.
The Youth250 Bureau, a groundbreaking initiative by the organization Made By Us in partnership with the Smithsonian, tasked 100 Gen Z leaders around the country with advising national organizations on how to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 with youth programming.
For Sermersheim, the experience was a masterclass in applying her Master of Public Service (MPS) education to a national stage. She said that her transition into national advocacy was complimented by her coursework in Little Rock. Specifically, she points to Dr. Robert Richards’ Communication Processes course as a key tool in her consulting toolkit.
“Dr. Richards’ course is a lot about facilitating dialogue, and those skills were incredibly helpful when I was providing feedback to national organizations,” Sermersheim said. “Sometimes, their programming wasn’t quite geared toward the Gen Z population. My Clinton School education gave me a solid foundation to stand on, and the Bureau gave me the opportunity to apply that learning to real-world projects.”
Throughout her term, Sermersheim served as a consultant for a variety of organizations across the country, including the National Archives, the Illinois State Museum Society, her home state’s North Carolina 250 Commission, and multiple Arkansas projects.
One of her favorite projects involved beta testing a March Madness-style bracket for the National Archives titled “America’s 100 Docs,” which helped to make the interactive history tool more accessible for students and teachers across the country.
A National Voice
Beyond consulting, the Bureau challenged its members to amplify the youth perspective through national media. Sermersheim rose to the occasion, publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post that explored her views on patriotism as a young adult.
“I’ve written a lot of items, but I’ve never been published in a national publication before,” Sermersheim said. “My mom even bought a physical newspaper. She was very proud of me.”
While her work was national in scope, which often involved 5-10 hours of remote work per week alongside her graduate studies, Sermersheim said the experience deepened her appreciation for her local work in Arkansas.
“It helped me keep a national perspective on my education while I was very focused on my work here in the state,” she said.
While her time with the Youth250 Bureau has ended, Sermersheim is continuing that work by consulting with organizations in Arkansas to ensure that great youth programming continues through the Semiquincentennial.
“Being a part of the Youth250 Bureau made me feel hopeful and more patriotic,” she said. “I felt inspired by the fact that there are other people my age who are working deeply to ensure that America’s next 250 years are impactful. There are people just like me who are working to support their country, and I can be proud of that work.”