By Matthew Inui, 2026 CLA Intern
Written into our Executive Director’s Instagram bio is the phrase “together we together”(specifically in all lowercase), and somehow, this short phrase became our cohort’s tagline. In almost any situation, someone would figure out a way to weave this phrase into what they were saying. It was even almost our Soirée theme (written deliberately in CAUSE orange).
However, I never really took a moment to think about what this phrase means. At face value, it has no meaning — “together” was never meant to, nor do I think it should, be a verb. Now, I make no claim to Andrea Mac’s genius when she cooked up this Instagram bio, but I’ve tried to consider what meaning could possibly be gleaned from these three words. And strangely enough, I think the verb-ization of “together” perfectly captures the understanding of community I’ve built over the past nine weeks: togetherness is not simply a condition we find ourselves in, but a conscious action we choose to take.
As proud GMK campaign manager and state commissioner Kaitlan Sakuma once said, “community isn’t something you’re handed — it’s something you show up for,” and throughout my summer, I’ve seen time and time again what it looks like to show up for each other. Maybe it was seeing each intern advocate for themselves in their host offices to be part of some truly incredible projects. Maybe it was my mock election team working beyond our assigned roles to support each other through what was undoubtedly one of the most difficult and exhausting projects of our short lives (+Gabe’s slightly longer life). Maybe it was the way my CAUSE team puts so much thought and care into ensuring that our communities are represented in spaces where we would never think representation is needed.
Over and over again, I saw the way the CAUSE family showed up for themselves, for each other, and for community. And somewhere along the way, “together” stopped feeling like an adverb and started feeling more like a verb. To “together” is to make the conscious choice to invest in one another—to advocate, support, listen, celebrate, and, most importantly, show up. I’ve learned so much over the course of my nine weeks with CLA, and if my daily evals are evidence of anything, it is that I have many a key takeaway from our programming. But if there’s one thing that I’m confident will last me my lifetime, is the community that we chose to invest in this summer, rooted in the belief that only together can we together.