Session Type(s): Training
Training Tag(s): Grassroots Organizing/Campaigns
Starts: Friday, Jul. 14 1:30 PM (Central)
Ends: Friday, Jul. 14 2:30 PM (Central)
Room: PDR #2
Successful organizing work has challenges—from voter turnout to down-ballot drop-off to volunteer recruitment. We need to address these challenges if we want to keep winning elections. In this hands-on workshop, participants will break out into small groups to ideate creative solutions to chronic civic engagement challenges, with an eye towards scalability, impact and cost-effectiveness. We’ll break down problems to focus on the barriers most amenable to creative solutions. This workshop is the place to explore ideas that previously seemed impossible. Participants will leave the session with new strategies to try in their communities.
Ani Kelemdjian (she/her) has spent the past 9+ years in Democratic and progressive electoral politics; working on federal, state, and local races focusing on voter engagement, voter turnout, and advocacy around educational equity. Her non-profit experience includes co-managing a national c4 organization where she led independent expenditures for local elections across the country.
In her current role as Deputy Director of Partner Success at Vote Rev, Ani supports management of Vote Rev’s expanding portfolio of campaign and nonprofit partners in implementing Vote Rev’s research-backed suite of tactics through in-depth holistic coaching.
Ani is a first generation Armenian-American passionate about social justice and the first-generation experience in the U.S.
Andrea Vasquez is a Senior Manager at Vote Rev where she designs and tests tactics to help historically disenfranchised voters. Her work is rooted in the belief that equitable and rigorous research is a powerful tool for change. She’s presented to groups of all types and is adept at making things accessible to laypeople. She’s also done research and presented on higher education programs focused on community college students, and on programs designed to help people achieve financial wellbeing.