INCITE partners with MyVote Project to mentor NYC youth volunteers to organize community conversations on nonpartisan voter education
New York, New York City, August 8, 2022 – MyVote Project, is pleased to announce a partnership with INCITE at Columbia University to engage young volunteers in leading nonpartisan community conversations. This new model of voter education builds upon MVPs mission of creating voters who are more informed and engaged at the local level. MVP was founded in 2018 by Sari Kaufman, a survivor of the Parkland, FL school shooting and now a student at Yale, David McAdams, a professor at Duke University and Gita Stulberg, a native New Yorker and experienced community organizer.
According to Gita Stulberg, Executive Director of MVP, “New York City being the most diverse and multicultural city in this country, is the clear and most consequential place for developing this community conversation model which MyVote Project has only started to build. INCITE is our natural partner bringing their expertise in promoting community dialogues and mentoring us through the process of creating this model. It is our hope to replicate this model across the country and have it eventually serve as a vehicle for informing local political platforms on the issues and/or policies that captivate voters and bring them to the polls.”
MyVote Project (MVP) began as a grassroots movement in 2018 linked to escalating gun violence in America, and evolved into a robust, nationwide movement -- largely due to the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, a flood of young volunteers discovered MVP. Overnight, the nascent project blossomed, with hundreds of students signing up to volunteer virtually.
Michael Falco, Executive Director of INCITE says, “MyVote Project first came to our attention during the 2021 NYC primaries and we have continued to watch the youth-led organization grow. When Gita brought this idea to us, it was a natural fit, aligning perfectly with our mission to facilitate innovative forms of communication and create new resources for public understanding.”
The New York Community Trust will support this partnership as it expands into NYC.
For Sari Kaufman, this partnership “is a perfect example of what MyVote Project is all about. It’s an opportunity for our volunteers, under the tutelage of experts, to engage with local communities by talking to voters and learning directly from them what they care about, and what brings them out to vote. Simply put, we want to help communicate to candidates what their constituents care about and we want voters to know who they’re electing and why.”
The first Community Conversation is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 18th, 2022. Please check MyVoteProject.com for updates.
About INCITE
INCITE brings research to bear on public problems and creates new resources for public understanding, in order to strengthen the forms of trust and deliberation that make democracy work. By facilitating inventive forms of communication and collaboration between researchers, students, artists, activists, and others from outside the academy, we seek to arrive at new understandings and practices that advance public action.
About MyVote Project
Powered by a network of nearly 300 student volunteers, MyVote Project combines old-school community outreach with digital-themed voter-engagement techniques using social media, virtual convenings, and an interactive website designed to inform, not influence, voters. MVP is countering the wave of misinformation online by serving as a credible, verified source of information taken from respected sources with no partisan, biased opinions or embellishment. MVP is cultivating and nurturing a younger generation of future voters and leaders, who will play a role in strengthening democracy.
Media Contact: media@myvoteproject.com