Chelsea Clinton gets asked when she’ll run for political office on a nearly daily basis.
“Very few days go by when people don’t ask me that question,” the former First Daughter recently told late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon.
The very reason for her appearance on the show demonstrates why the question gets asked so often. Clinton was promoting the Clinton Global Initiative University 2014 which took place March 21-23 at Arizona State University.
“I find CGI U every year to be the most potent antidote to any cynicism about the world because of the work students are doing to tackle challenges big and small, to make a difference today and create a different world for tomorrow,” Clinton recently told The WorldPost.
These amazing students brought the Ghanaian spirt to the #dayofaction! #CGIU pic.twitter.com/rf8dEwsd0p
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 23, 2014
Besides working with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI,) Chelsea Clinton is Vice Chair of The Clinton Foundation, having formally joined the its board in 2011. Clinton was instrumental in the organization’s decision to get its first external review as well as the selection of a new chief executive officer.
It seems that political activism is in Chelsea Clinton’s blood, whether or not it results in her running for office in the future.
During an interview last September at CGI’s annual conference in New York City, Clinton admitted that she hasn’t ruled out running for public office and she hopes many young people feel the same.
“I do find it pretty discouraging that almost none of my friends think about running for public office as an option in their lives … I find it very troubling that so many of my friends who are doing important and often disruptive work, whether it’s in technology startups or the social sector or beyond, aren’t thinking about how to translate those experiences — and their desire to see our country be stronger and healthier than ever before — into possibly entering into the political arena.”
However, she pointed out that platforms such as Americorps, Change.org, IndieGoGo, Teach for America, even Twitter and Facebook offer an opportunity to effect change outside political office.
As for Clinton, she says she’s focusing on being a more purposeful public person.
“You don’t need to be elected to political office to change the world,” Clinton said.
Image via YouTube