Each summer, high school students from across the country travel to Washington, D.C., to see government in action and learn how their voices can shape the communities they call home. For nearly 70 years, the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has given students that opportunity, offering an up-close look at democracy, leadership and the cooperative model.
The annual trip helps students better understand the American government and the role electric cooperatives play in their communities, often inspiring them to become stronger civic and community leaders.
The Start of Youth Tour
The program began with a challenge. In 1957, at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s annual meeting in Chicago, then-Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson encouraged electric cooperatives to send young people to Washington so they could see firsthand what the flag represents.
The next summer, 34 students from Iowa made the first trip. Other states soon followed, including Minnesota in 1966. Today, electric cooperatives in nearly every state send delegations to our nation’s capital each June. Nearly 100,000 high school students have participated over the years, including 35 – 40 from Minnesota each summer.
Minnesota students join roughly 1,800 peers from across the country for the annual Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. Throughout the week, they take part in sessions on the cooperative model, American government and leadership development, while also hearing from inspirational speakers.
A Lasting Impact
Students describe Youth Tour as a memorable and meaningful trip of a lifetime. Some return home inspired to pursue public service, while others apply what they learned by becoming stronger leaders and more engaged community members.
Over time, some Youth Tour alumni even reconnect with their local electric cooperatives as employees, board members or engaged members.
Electric cooperatives took shape in the 1930s because many rural communities had been left without service. When investor-owned utilities chose not to extend power to rural America, farmers and neighbors organized, pooled their resources and built the lines themselves. That same spirit of local action continues to define cooperatives today.
Cooperatives are owned by the members they serve and led by boards elected from within the membership. Programs like Youth Tour reflect the same commitment to local engagement and democratic participation that has kept the cooperative model strong for nearly a century. Each June, the students who travel to the nation’s capital serve as an annual reminder of what sets cooperatives apart.
LCP’s 2026 Delegate: William Maki
Lake Country Power sponsored William Maki from Goodland, Minn., on the 2026 Youth Tour, June 15 – 20, and he had a wonderful experience. Here’s what William had to say.
How did it feel being selected and then going on the Youth Tour?
When I first got the news, I felt mostly relief. Just knowing the decision of LCP made all the stress and worry disappear. Once I finally accepted that I had been chosen to go, the excitement grew. This was going to be the biggest thing I had ever done. I had never been so far from home, and honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to make such a trip any time soon. While in DC it was excitement around every corner. The new experiences and fun adventures made the whole trip a blast.
What are some of the biggest takeaways or highlights you have from the trip?
The number one thing I took away from the trip would have been from the NRECA leadership teachings. These were amazing and gave me a whole new perspective on how people like me can actually make a difference in our country. Next would have been meeting the Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar. This meeting served to show the personal side of these women. Personal highlights would have been the Marine Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. These were all sites and places I wanted to see long before this opportunity and it was simply amazing.
What are a few things you’ll always remember and cherish about your Youth Tour experience?
This would easily be the people I got to know, whether it was the other delegates or the chaperones, I will never forget those amazing people. I learned so much from or with my newfound friends, lessons that have forever changed my life.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about your experience?
Only that I am extremely grateful to those who paid for and orchestrated my trip to DC. It truly was the most amazing week of my life and I am extremely grateful. Thank you all so much for changing my life and giving me a new perspective of the world.