What Is the Future of Bipartisanship?

Dole Institute director Audrey Coleman moderates a conversation with Future Caucus President & CEO Layla Zaidane, and Indianapolis Future Caucus co-chairs Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn and Rep. Beau Baird about opportunities of bipartisan leadership, and the work Future Caucus is doing to foster bipartisan work in Congress and state legislatures throughout the United States.

This program is presented in partnership with Future Caucus

Layla Zaidane is President & CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers in the United States. A nationally recognized expert on youth engagement, Layla was named to the TIME100 NEXT list, and was a recipient of the McNulty Prize in 2025. Before joining Future Caucus, she served as the Managing Director for Generation Progress, where she led integrated communications, policy, and advocacy efforts around solutions to the challenges facing today’s youth, and spearheaded innovative new global youth engagement efforts. In 2014, she helped launch and manage the It’s On Us campaign in partnership with the White House, and in 2013, launched the Higher Ed, Not Debt campaign – a coalition of dozens of organizations working to make higher education accessible and affordable for all. Layla graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a BSFS in international politics. She’s currently a Fellow of the Civil Society Fellowship, and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

State Representative Beau Baird (R-IN) represents House District 44, serving all of Putnam County and portions of Montgomery County. He is Chair of the Indiana House Environmental Affairs Committee, serves on the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee, and is the Republican Co-Chair of the Indiana Future Caucus. A lifelong resident of Putnam County, Baird also serves as Chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party. Outside the legislature, he owns and operates Baird Ranch, one of Indiana’s largest American Quarter Horse breeding operations, manages his family’s agricultural and commercial real estate interests, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Quarter Horse Association and Independent Colleges of Indiana. Baird earned his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and completed the IMM Global Executive MBA through Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business. His graduate studies have also included advanced work in finance at Harvard University.

State Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D-IN) is a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, and serves as the Democratic co-chair of the Indiana Future Caucus. In the State House of Representatives, she serves as the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, and as a member of the Employment, Labor and Pensions and Public Health committees. Before entering the legislature in 2022, she served as a clinician, health researcher, and public health advocate. She currently serves as an associate professor at Indiana University’s Indianapolis campus. Rep. Garcia Wilburn holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Boston University, and a master’s and a doctorate of health science from the University of Indianapolis.