Chuck Schumer

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, accompanied by the Senate Democrats, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, after being chosen Senate Minority Leader for the 115th Congress. From left are, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen, Mark Warner, D-Va., Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., Schumer, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

(Andrew Harnik)

Reeling from a disappointing 2016 campaign cycle, Senate Democrats appealed to the more progressive wing of their party Wednesday by naming Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren and Vermont's Bernie Sanders -- an independent -- to its expanded chamber leadership structure.

Newly elected Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, picked Warren and Sanders to serve on a diverse 10-member team, which he said will aim to unite the caucus and speak to those across America.

"Our whole leadership team is emblematic of that," he told reporters Wednesday's leadership meeting. "Our team is ideologically and geographically diverse, it mixes the wisdom of experience with the vigor of youth -- at least in Senate years."

Schumer stressed that although all senators represent diverse factions, they have all devoted their lives to fighting for the middle class and those struggling to get there.

Pointing to the results of the 2016 elections, Schumer said he heard "loud and clear" the concerns of the American people and plans to address them with his leadership team.

"We need to be the party that speaks to and works on behalf of all Americans and a bigger, bolder, sharper edged economic message that talks about how people in the middle class and those struggling to make it there can do better," he said.

Warren, who previously held a leadership position under retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, will serve as vice chair of the conference.

Sanders, who amassed millions of young supporters as a Democratic presidential candidate, meanwhile, was named chair of outreach.

Schumer said that adding the Vermont senator and others to the leadership team "shows we can unite the disparate factions of our party and our country."

Sanders, who did not switch to the Democratic Party despite running in it's primary, called for "real change" in response to joining the leadership team.

"Real change doesn't take place on Capitol Hill. It takes place in grassroots America. It takes place when millions of working people, young people and senior citizens come together to demand that our government works for all of us and not just the 1 percent," he said in a statement. "When the people lead, the leaders follow."