In December I participated in the annual Victory Institute Leadership Conference. Nearly 500 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender elected officials and leaders from all over the world, including our own Senator Tammy Baldwin, also attended.

Many attendees were young and increasingly diverse. Our future generations are engaging and participating; their experiences are significantly different. If nothing else, technology has fundamentally changed the very foundation about how we connect and engage each other.

Has our community kept up with these changes? Salt Lake City recently elected a new city council — all seven members are under the age of 45, three are gay, as is the mayor. Years ago Madison would have been viewed as a leader. And thankfully we do have diversity on our Common Council, including 10 women.

But can we do more to advance our community? Our Greater Madison area is expected to grow in the future, significant since the rest of Wisconsin experiences stable or declining growth. As a metropolitan area, we need to be able to support this influx of even more diverse individuals. And it’s not just our city councils and county boards. Diversity needs to be engaged anywhere that leadership positions exist. Maybe even your neighborhood association?

Sadly, even in Madison there is much divisiveness among all of us. This ultimately sets us back in many ways — emotionally and financially. There is much more to be gained by working together to resolve our issues and build a stronger community.

I look forward to working with all of you in 2018 on how our Greater Madison area can be a wonderful place for all of our friends and neighbors.