海角大神

As the聽 (MTP) enters the two-week countdown for applications, the nation is聽聽to its provocative idea: Let鈥檚 use 150-year-old railways to inspire 21^st 聽century change.

Over the span of 10 days, 40 Millennials will cross the country by train, each rider with a specific, crowdfunded project to help build a better nation. Riders won鈥檛 be alone: They will count on the dialogue and involvement of onboard mentors and station-side cities.

We Millennials [Editor's note: Millennials, roughly speaking, are teens and adults under 30 years of age] don鈥檛 have an easy future up ahead of us, and it seems that we鈥檝e been dubbed with some tough-to-swallow labels, like聽.听 25-year-old Patrick Dowd, MTP鈥檚 founder and CEO, insists that the jury is still out on our generation 鈥� and that maybe Millennials are ready to step up to the plate.

In our conversation, Dowd shares the challenges that Millennials face, the inspiration behind the project, and the stories MTP is uncovering through its applicants and stakeholders.

Your 聽article suggested that Millennials may not be such a 鈥淢e Me Me Generation,鈥� as TIME .

I thought that the TIME article was, like many others, not that impressive or accurate. It takes a slice of data and makes sweeping generalizations about what this generation is or isn鈥檛.

I鈥檓 not saying that Millennials are one thing or another. I鈥檓 just creating a platform that will help people to explore their passions. Applications are proving that there鈥檚 a lot of talent in our generation. That鈥檚 a big asset.

MTP says that Millennials are living in a United States that is more divided that at any time since the Civil War.听

It鈥檚 true. Just look at the exit maps from the last election 鈥� look at the red and blue states. There are a lot of disagreements, and a lot of polarizations. With the way the media has evolved, people can now build silos around themselves, surrounding themselves with information sources that reaffirm only their beliefs.

But there is no political litmus test to get on this train, and we are bringing really diverse people together. This is building new relationships based on shared aspirations for a better future 鈥� that aren鈥檛 constrained by existing political fault lines.

You鈥檝e said that MTP was inspired by your similar experience in India with .听

Yes. I studied Hindi and read and learned about India for three years, and I lived in India for five months 鈥� but traveling across the breadth of the country gave me so much more than what I could gleam from academic study or living in one place.

It also helped me to imagine what it鈥檚 like to do something on a big scale; to think of what the opportunities could be. You feel the diversity 鈥� the geographical diversity, the human diversity, and even the spiritual diversity as well. There鈥檚 something about feeling the bumps of the country as you go across it 鈥� highways and airplanes can鈥檛 offer that.

When I came back from India, I was working with JP Morgan when the Occupy Wall Street movement began to gain traction. I thought there was a better way to channel the frustration that my generation has with the challenges we face.

How does MTP鈥檚 compare to Jagriti Yatra?

They are both built on the concept that journeys build leaders, and they share the mission of building trans-regional perspectives and experiential learning.

The biggest difference is that MTP is very user-generated. Riders are designing their own projects, and doing their own crowdfunding. In India, we didn鈥檛 have the opportunity to develop our own projects.

An India-inspired idea, taking root in the United States. Any hopes it will continue to spread?

Expansion could happen. Maybe people will want to copy it 鈥� and that鈥檚 fine! We can help with capacity building if other people wanted to do this somewhere else. I think the most important component is that the location needs to have a geographically diverse innovation ecosystem.

You鈥檙e making a big bet on Millennials. Have you seen any adversity from that?

We had some surprising responses to my piece in . Some people from older generations were complaining about the project being only for Millennials, saying that older people shouldn鈥檛 be left out of the project. I certainly understand, but I think we need to create a safe space for our generation to create ideas of our own.

I was joking with my team that for every seat in Congress 鈥� which is making decisions that will affect our future 鈥� that鈥檚 occupied by a Millennial, we鈥檒l offer a seat for older people on the train!

Ha! I bet the comment wouldn鈥檛 sit well with a lot of non-Millennials.听

I don鈥檛 know about that. For every one snide comment I鈥檝e gotten, there have been 100 people saying, 鈥淭his is great,鈥� 鈥淚 want my daughter or son to get involved,鈥� or 鈥淗ow can I support you鈥�.鈥�

Older people are generally very supportive of MTP. People want to rebuild a sense of America, and that鈥檚 cross-generational.

What other stakeholders have been in dialog with MTP?

On the one hand, we鈥檙e working with the entrepreneurial, design-thinking community 鈥� but it鈥檚 been fascinating to connect with the old-school train community. The train guys are like land sailors. They have this amazing oral history about seeing cities being built across the country, but it鈥檚 not very well-documented or accessible online 鈥� you have to talk to them to discover their stories.

We also hosted a delegation of native Americans that had gone on a walk from Kansas to DC. We both connected with the idea that journeys build leaders. We had a very long discussion about the history of their people, their beliefs, and what it鈥檚 like to be a native American. The meeting was three hours long, and for the first 90 minutes, I just listened to the storytelling of their history and culture.

They reminded us that in popular culture, the idea of trains represents adventure and the pioneering spirit that we want to revive. But for them, it represents an instrument of extreme terror that was used as a vessel to desolate their populations. It was good to be made aware of that. They also recognized that we are using the train for a different purpose, and both sides hoped to see participation from their tribes.

Are you learning anything new about Millennials through this process?

Very diverse groups of people are gravitating toward the opportunity. It鈥檚 just this kaleidoscopic look at where the generation might be headed.听 There are projects about alternative education, wearable technologies, music, poetry, computer science, health, local governance鈥�.

I鈥檓 learning about things I didn鈥檛 even know existed. There is one project about . They are using technology to connect outdoor athletes, conservation scientists, and policymakers. For example, a rock climber sees an eagle鈥檚 nest, takes a picture with her cell phone, tags it, and sends the data to an eagle conservatory.

Another project works with . They use free open-source software to build community mesh intranets. One applicant, , is using Google Glass to identify opportunities for wearable technology.

So are you seeing a tech-heavy balance of projects?

There are a lot of projects that are only possible because of new technologies 鈥� but it鈥檚 not really about technology. It鈥檚 about passion, principles, and ideas.

wants to digitally share her street installations of poetry, but for her, [MTP] is about the magic and beauty of poetry. Stephanie is working with 鈥渢echy鈥� Google Glass, but it鈥檚 also about honoring and connecting with her immigrant parent鈥檚 pioneering journey to the United States. from Hawaii is integrating technologies into local governance, but I think it鈥檚 also about being part of a country even when you鈥檙e from an outlying part of it. I imagine her connecting with inspiring friends from the mainland as a result of this.

At a time when we have so much ability to connect through technological innovations, we have physical connections that can be much more powerful. It鈥檚 worth the time and effort of people to unplug and connect in that way.

This will be MTP鈥檚 first trip. What are MTP鈥檚 expectations?聽

This first journey is an experiment, and we鈥檒l learn from it. Some stops and forms of engagement will be more successful than others, and everybody getting onboard knows that. It鈥檚 the start of something great and a learning experience for everybody involved. We鈥檒l reinvest that knowledge.

Does that mean we can count on more trips in the future?

(Laughs) Let鈥檚 just see how this goes. I think it鈥檒l be great 鈥� and if that鈥檚 the case, there are more places to go.

鈥� at .