Manhattan Young Democrats is thrilled to be honoring Ravi Gupta as Political Operative of the Year at our Young Gets It Done event on August 22nd. We had the chance to chat with him in more detail about his work, which we are pleased to summarize below.
Ravi Gupta is a Co-Founder & Managing Partner of The Arena. He and fellow co-founders decided to start the Arena after President Trump took office when they saw an opportunity and need to elect better candidates. Just one month after the election, the Arena Summit took place in Nashville where they brought together 450 energized young people from across 32 states. Building on the network of attendees at the original summit, the Arena was created. Today, the organization continues to host regular summits and further works to “convene, train, and support the next generation of candidates and campaign staff.”
During the 2018 election cycle, the Arena helped 35 of the 37 candidates they supported win their primary, of which 21 went on to win their general election. The Arena was nimble in their work. Ravi explained that the organization catered strategies, such as raising as many donations as possible or prioritizing door knocking, to each candidate based on which proved most likely to help them succeed. According to Ravi, when deciding who to endorse as candidates and what races to get involved in, the Arena looks for candidates who have a vision. The organization looks for people who have identified specific problems in their communities and how they can make an impact to solve them.
Here in New York, the Arena helped reform the political landscape of New York State and New York City by assisting several candidates, including fellow Young Gets It Done Honoree Senator Biaggi, in taking out the Independent Democratic Conference in the New York State Senate. In line with its mission, the Arena chose to support candidates who, despite being a bit off the beaten path, had a strong vision for how they could change politics and policies in Albany to best support their own communities. Ravi is proud of the Arena’s work, as the Senators they supported went on to help New York State pass a remarkable collection of progressive pieces of legislation this past year.
Going into the 2020 election cycle, the Arena is further planning to make a concerted effort to support active participation on campaigns, with a goal of placing 1,000 people on campaigns across the United States. In New York City specifically, the Arena just launched its Five Borough Future Project aimed at increasing New York City autonomy and government reform. This Arena-led program will host its first cohort of 26 fellows in a six-month training, which will help an already impressive set of individuals further build leadership skills, develop a deeper understanding of NYC’s history and politics, form relationships across the city’s diverse communities and access campaign training and industry experts.
What is Ravi’s advice for a young person who wants to help support others getting into office? He says, “choose a candidate that inspires you.” Ultimately, he advises that individuals should not worry too much about the role they initially take on a campaign, but rather focus on getting your foot in the door. He believes that if you are talented and like the candidate you are working for, you will find many opportunities for growth. And, what if you are considering running for office yourself? Ravi encourages you to “focus on what you want to change” as it will set you apart from those who often forget to do this in the process.