This 28-year-old majored in chemistry. Now she’s running for office in Pennsylvania. Here’s why

Fast Company’s new cover story focuses on a growing cohort: the young Americans taking a career gamble on politics. These bold individuals—including Nate Douglas, Allie Phillips, Ashwin Ramaswami, and Anna Thomas—are smart, politically engaged, and restless for change. They are following their convictions despite the risks to their bank accounts and personal safety. And they’ve got help.

David Hogg—the activist who drew national attention following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida—joined forces last year with campaign operative Kevin Lata to launch Leaders We Deserve, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young progressive candidates win office, predominantly at the state level.

Fast Company spoke with four of the rising political forces that Leaders We Deserve is backing—Nate Douglas, Allie Phillips, Ashwin Ramaswami, and Anna Thomas—about their career choices, the work of campaigning and governing, and what keeps them moving forward.

Here’s what you need to know about Anna Thomas, a 28-year-old candidate in Pennsylvania.

Office Running ForPennsylvania House of Representatives, District 137

Election DateNovember 5

Expected SalaryAround $106,000

Current JobPlanning commissioner

EducationWellesley College, BS in chemistry; University of Pennsylvania, master’s in public administration

Career She Thought She’d Have“I knew I was going to go into public service, but I had no idea I would be running for office in my twenties.”

Impetus for Running“When I was a sophomore in high school, Pennsylvania’s state government cut more than a billion dollars from public education. My favorite teacher ended up getting furloughed. And it changed the course of public education in Pennsylvania, and it is something that we are still recovering from.”

Favorite Part of the WorkdayCanvassing. “It’s intrinsically motivating to go door to door and talk to people, and ask them what they care about.”

Least Favorite Part of the Workday“Politics is not always built for twentysomethings. If you are an incumbent, and you have been in office for over a decade, there are certain things baked into your process that I think you can take for granted. But if you are building from scratch, you need to be very judicious with how you spend your time. For example, I am running for a state-level office, and it is a presidential year. One of the annoying things is the amount of work required to work with people from your party on levels up the ticket.”

Number of Staffers2

Most Rewarding Thing That’s Happened“I’ve had kids at community events point at me and be like, ‘That’s Anna Thomas.'”

Scariest Thing That’s Happened“I was canvassing, and I had parked on this side street. I was walking back to my car, and this huge guy was filming me with his camera and said, ‘Why are you walking all over my neighbor’s yard?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just walking on the grass to avoid the main road’ because it was a busy road. I took out my phone, and we were both just filming each other. I had to de-escalate the situation, and be, like, ‘I’m running to be your state rep. I actually was about to go knock on your door, so you would have seen me walk all over your yard in a second,’ trying to make light of it. It was just this guy who was scared, and so he treated me with a certain kind of energy.”