We have a farm there in Pocahontas County, and we go back there a few times a year. As much as I love New York City, boy do I need fresh air. I don’t go out to the Hamptons. I never grew up as a beach person, and I like the woods more than the beach. I was born in West Virginia and lived there until I was 5½.

Do you think there is a connection between the life you knew there and your work with Generation Engage?

West Virginia absolutely gets me thinking about access. In New York City, there are multiple dry cleaners on every street. You can’t go anywhere in this city without access to something. In Appalachia, the mountains present serious limitations in terms of access—be it cell phone access or access to politicians. It did get me thinking about those issues.

How did your father happen to get there?

A friend told him you can’t know the world until you have seen its poorest places, and why not start with your own country? So he became a VISTA volunteer in Appalachia. He fell head over heels in love with West Virginia.

Political discussions among your family members must be explosive.

My grandfather, Charles Percy, was a moderate Republican who opposed the Vietnam War and made Richard Nixon’s enemies list. It’s one of the things he’s most proud of.

People are very respectful of other people’s views in the family. I think some in the family have wished that my great-uncle David had not given quite as much to the Republican Party in terms of bringing the Republican Convention to New York in 2004. But he adores New York, and it was the right thing to do for New York City. I agree with that decision, and I’m a Democrat. I can’t rightfully say that Uncle David is my mentor because I haven’t spent enough time with him. But he is maybe the person I know whom I respect the most. He is so kind, so smart, so accomplished. You walk through the Museum of Modern Art with him and he knows all the guards’ names. He doesn’t have to, but he does. And I can’t believe that he gets done everything that he gets done. I’m just an amateur.

Photograph by Thomas Hart Shelby.