Since 2022, Incite has partnered with MyVote Project to develop new, youth-led voter engagement models.

MyVote Project is a national, nonpartisan organization promoting civic engagement and voter participation among young people and voters of all ages. Powered by a network of more than 250 student volunteers, MyVote Project combines old-school community outreach with social media, virtual meetings, and a website that makes local policies and policymakers searchable by postal code. In partnership with Incite, MyVote Project is experimenting with new models of local voter engagement.

Over the last year, Incite and MyVote Project have piloted two Community Conversations in New York City, where youth volunteers engaged local leaders, artists, activists, advocates, faith groups, organizations, and the general public in discussions about local issues. Findings from these conversations will help shape the content on MyVote Project's innovative website.

Working at a local level, these models of community outreach are based on the theory of change that young people can shape their futures by constructing the issues considered societally relevant. At the core of this partnership is an idea central to many of Incite's projects—listening to each other's stories and understanding one another's worldviews are critical to human and community development and, so, to a democratic society.

We are thrilled to announce that Mellon Foundation has granted $50,000 to expand our partnership with MyVote Project. This contribution will enable us to continue to refine, develop, and share models that we hope to implement across the country.

Our activities will build on our June Community Conversations event focused on the lasting impacts of Covid-19 on life in New York. In small groups, local high school students led participants through discussions about the impact of Covid-19 on education, performing arts, healthcare, and small business. With food, music, and appearances from local performers, this event sought to move critical conversations beyond boardrooms and classrooms and create an open and welcoming place to discuss local politics.

Through Mellon support, we're also working to partner with other colleges, develop a paid internship program for students, and assess findings from past and future Community Conversations. Incite will contribute experience in survey and interview research to better understand participants' experiences and drive continuous improvement.

“We are very excited to continue developing the Community Conversations model in partnership with Incite at Columbia University,” said MVP co-founder Gita Stulberg. "We see this work as a critical piece to making MyVote Project a place for young people to learn how to construct a polity in which they and their respective communities can see themselves.”

Local politics affect many aspects of everyday life, including education, transportation, and public safety. However, participation in local politics is often low. Through our partnership with MyVote Project, we’re re-imagining what local voter engagement could look like—and we’re taking cues from young New Yorkers.

MyVote Project is a national, nonpartisan organization promoting civic engagement and voter participation among young people and voters of all ages. Powered by a network of more than 250 student volunteers, MyVote Project combines old-school community outreach with social media, virtual meetings, and a website that makes local policies and policymakers searchable by postal code. In partnership with Incite, MyVote Project is experimenting with new models of local voter engagement.

On June 17, MyVote Project and Incite hosted an event at The Clemente in New York with music, food, and appearances from local leaders, entertainers, and artists. By taking conversations out of classrooms and boardrooms, our Community Conversations series aims to create a more open and welcoming space for discussing the local issues that matter most.

The second in a series, this event focused on the lasting impacts of Covid-19 on life in New York. In small groups, local high school students led participants through discussions about the impact of Covid-19 on education, performing arts, healthcare, and small business.

Those with expertise and lived experience helped with the discussions, including psychotherapist and parent coach Hannah Lavan, community engagement specialist Paulette Spencer, and fashion designer Bones Jones.

Before parting ways, all participants met as a larger group to discuss their findings. Insights from Community Conversations will shape MyVote Project’s website and form a basis for further experimentation. It’s our hope that the models we develop through this partnership can be implemented nationally.

For more information on our partnership with MyVote Project, click here.

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