Millenial On The Move

Eric Gooden isn’t one to back down from a challenge.

At just 25 years old, he was the youngest candidate to ever run for a Boca Raton City Council seat in 2014. A Lynn University student from Michigan, he entered the local government race knowing he was walking into a battle that he very well could lose.

But Gooden, who calls Boca Raton home, welcomed the feat. Why? Because he is a millennial determined to change the world.

“I got a lot of backlash for it,” says Gooden, now 33. “People were saying ‘he’s too young’ and ‘he doesn’t know any better.’ But that made me want to do the groundwork and knock on doors even more.”

He lost the race that year, but his experience campaigning encouraged him to pursue community service in other ways. While at Lynn University, he dove into student government life, interned on Capitol Hill and eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.  

From 2015 to 2020, Gooden took a seat on a variety of city boards, including serving as chairman of the Boca Raton Community Advisory Panel, and, while that was rewarding, he began to wonder how he could be of more help to the younger generation. 

That curiosity led him on a path to create The 35U, a nonprofit organization that works to inspire future leaders by connecting them with seasoned professionals and offering resources to help them on their path to success.

Gooden created a boot-camp style virtual workshop called “Leaders Of Today” that featured professionals across the country, some who work in government, healthcare and education along with leaders in sports and media. Each spoke about their careers, how to thrive in their field and make positive changes in communities. An estimated 500 people signed up to attend the last virtual boot camp in October of 2021.

Gooden hopes the next The 35U workshop will be held in person, and he intends for the group to eventually operate on a national level so he can inspire as many future leaders as possible.

“I think our generation is very entrepreneur-like. We are very techie and want to start our own businesses. Our generation,” Gooden says, “wants to create a legacy.”