Sebastian Nalls moved to Evanston as a one year old. As he grew up, he walked the halls of Evanston Township High School, worked as a camp counselor for the city’s youth programs and entrenched himself in the community.
The 23-year-old is now taking the reins from local organizer Lesley Williams to become president of the Community Alliance for Better Government, a resident-run watchdog group aimed at increasing local government transparency. Williams’ tenure as president lasted two years and stepped down due to the position’s hefty time commitment.
“Two years was enough for me and it’s a pretty demanding, time consuming job,” Williams said. “At the same time, I felt there was a natural transition because Sebastian is out of college. He’s committed to staying in Evanston and very familiar with the issues and the organization so it’s a pretty easy handoff. I don’t think I would have felt comfortable stepping down if there wasn’t somebody I knew was ready to hit the ground running.”
The leadership transition comes after Nalls graduated from Purdue University in 2022 with his bachelor’s degree in accounting and political science. He graduated from ETHS in 2018.
Nalls joins a growing number of Gen Z folks interested in local government. Today more than 20% of Gen Z say they’d consider running for a political office, according to a Tufts University study, alongside a 52% increase in political candidates between the ages of 18 and 25 from 2010 to 2020.
“You have a lot of younger people who are interested and working on climate change issues in Evanston,” Williams said regarding Gen Z’s involvement in Evanston politics. “One really great example of that was Evanston Fight for Black Lives and how during the George Floyd uprisings they really garnered the attention of the City Council.”
The new CABG president is no exception to that. Nalls, who is now an office associate for the American Bar Association, ran for mayor in 2021 but lost to Mayor Daniel Biss. He said his mayoral run was possible because his coursework at Purdue was hybrid, meaning he could return to Evanston each weekend to campaign. After his loss, Nalls joined Councilmember Devon Reid’s campaign to help him get elected in the 8th Ward. Running for mayor wasn’t Nall’s initial plan but decided it was worth a try to bring forth policy ideas.
While Nall’s 2021 campaign was heavy on transparency, equity issues also played a role, the young community activist said, with one of his big ticket items being Evanston’s beach tokens. Evanston’s beaches were segregated until 1931 when the city made some beaches free while others charged a fee, creating a barrier for financially-challenged Evanston residents. Beach tokens were needed to gain access to the paid beaches. Now, in part due to a 2021 proposal spearheaded by Reid, beach tokens eventually became free to Evanston residents, according to the city’s website.
“Throughout my time working in the city’s Parks and Recreation department, I would see a number of kids where coming to an Evanston camp was the first time they were utilizing the beach,” Nalls said.
The 2021 mayoral run is in Nall’s rearview mirror and he doesn’t plan on running again anytime soon, although he told Pioneer Press he’s open to the idea in the future.
“There comes a point when there’s a call to lead but there are plenty of times where you have to take a step back and say, ‘there are others either more qualified or that are willing to do the work and we need to support them,'” Nalls said.
Instead of focusing on another campaign, Nalls said he plans to bolster CABG’s community education programs to help others understand local government. Nalls told Pioneer Press the big take away from his mayoral campaign was realizing how many people didn’t know local politics can impact their everyday lives.
Community Alliance for Better Government is planning an affordable housing town hall to educate Evanston residents on how policy could help make Evanston more affordable as well as the factors playing into housing issues. The town hall is expected to take place this spring, he said.
Nalls also said he wants to continue Williams’ legacy of community partnerships and planning. Williams’ brought CABG together with similar Evanston organizations to create the Northwestern Accountability Alliance and Nalls said he hopes Williams’ collaboration skills rubbed off on him. In addition to enhancing education and collaboration, Nalls said he wants to get CABG in policy conversations early on to avoid heavy discourse when an issue goes before the City Council.
“I know some of the chief pushback against CABG is that it’s reactionary,” Nalls said. “A lot of times we have to react suddenly to something that happens in City Council or between city staff or city government as a whole. That can become burdensome for residents, too. I want to showcase that CABG is entirely committed to ensuring our government is equitable and transparent.”
Williams’ will stay active in CABG and said her efforts to partner with other local organizations are what she is most proud of accomplishing during her time with the organization. In addition to community partnerships, Williams helped organize Ryan Field
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events, stand up for Black city employees, investigate City Council campaign finances and shed light on Evanston deviating from hiring protocols during its 2022 police chief search. Not affiliated with CABG, Williams is currently pushing for City Council to approve a resolution signaling the city’s support for a cease fire in Israel and Palestine.“It was a fantastic experience. Despite the frustrations and the time it took, I’m very happy I did it,” Williams said. “I felt honored that people trusted me with the position, plus I had a terrific board. There are just a lot of really wonderful, talented and committed people who are on the CABG board and otherwise involved in CABG. I have every confidence that CABG is going to continue to make a difference in the future.”
Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.