On January 8, March For Our Lives announced that it hired Alexis Confer, an Everytown for Gun Safety alumnus who has worked with both Obama’s 2012 campaign and within New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio’s office, as its first executive director.

It’s a major step for the student-led gun violence prevention group. March For Our Lives remains a young organization in more ways than one — its founders were students, most members are students, and though the organization has already become a staple of the American gun violence prevention movement, it was founded only two years ago, in the aftermath of the 2018 Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead.

Despite its relatively recent arrival on the American political scene, especially compared to special interest behemoths like the National Rifle Association, March For Our Lives is maturing. It’s grown beyond a few high school kids making phone calls in their friends’ basements; it’s grown beyond its student founders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School; it’s grown beyond a singular event that mobilized hundreds of sister marches across the globe on March 24, 2018.

Today, nearly 300 March For Our Lives chapters work in tandem to bring about change at the local level, as the national branch tackles strategizing, national organizing and, of course, influencing federal lawmakers. Last summer, national organizers unveiled the Peace Plan, which seeks to radically transform gun violence prevention policy in America.

March For Our Lives has also established a formal infrastructure, bringing individuals and statewide factions into the umbrella organization and appointing state boards and regional directors. That’s where people like Alexis Confer come in. By continuing to set up meaningful infrastructure within the group, March For Our Lives hopes to sustain itself and its capacity to enact change through 2020 and beyond — while remaining a youth-powered organization.

Teen Vogue called up Confer to discuss what she brings to the table — and what her role means for the future of March For Our Lives.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Teen Vogue: What experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you for this job?

Alexis Confer: I was actively involved in [public service at] my own high school, and then going off to college I was doing protests for the anti-war movement, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights. It’s very much in my DNA.

Moving more toward my actual career — I knew I wanted to focus on a career in public service. I’ve worked on a variety of issue-based and electoral-based campaigns. I ran the largest city-based field operation for the 2012 Obama campaign, out of Philadelphia. I also was fortunate enough to be the first national field director for Everytown for Gun Safety. With the New York City mayor’s office, I’ve been heavily involved with the progressive policies Mayor De Blasio has put forth, such as getting free, full-day pre-K for kids all over the city.

For all of these types of jobs, there is coalition building. For me, working with young activists has always been the most fulfilling. Young activists have such a powerful voice in pinpointing the focus that all generations should look at.

TV: For those outside the world of activism and nonprofit work, what does the role of executive director entail?

AC: We have seen this incredible momentum student activists have in March For Our Lives, and there’s still this hunger and this drive for more. People are excited for 2020, and they feel like there’s something beyond 2020 we need to mobilize [toward].