The Hill's Changemakers: Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.)

Congress is an institution that is constantly criticized for being too old. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) is trying to change that. 

The 26-year-old community organizer became the first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress last year, ascending to the People’s House at 25 and without any prior experience in elected office. 

The Florida native served as the national organizing director for March for Our Lives, was at the American Civil Liberties Union and worked on campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) before launching his own bid for office. 

“I think I’m one of the people who’s helping to break the mold,” Frost told The Hill in an interview. “Obviously there’s a whole cadre of people who have come in over the last several terms who have a little bit of a different resume and come from a different place that have kind of started that. So I’m honored to play a small part in it.” 

And since his election, he has brought a new perspective to Congress, speaking out about climate change, economic affordability and gun violence prevention from the standpoint of Gen Z. 

“I don’t like to claim I represent the generation, but what I do think I represent is, like, the motivation, and, like, the ambition and passion of a lot of the generation we see on the streets, you know, all the time with different issues,” he said. 

Frost, who cites music as one of his passions, is a drummer by trade, typically finding himself at the back of the stage, while the frontman is on the mic. 

That changed over the summer, when Frost traded his drumsticks for a microphone and joined Paramore on stage in D.C. to sing, fulfilling a long-held fantasy. 

And he has made the jump to center stage professionally, too, being elected to Congress after years of working behind-the-scenes for candidates. 

“Now being the principal myself is interesting,” he said, “and it’s a similar thing to then, you know, being on stage rather than being on the drum set.”