On Wednesday, August 27th, Progressive Future threw a Denver dance party during the Democratic Convention to honor the next generation of progressive activists.
The group honored three young activists for being on the Youth Engagement Honor Roll for having accomplished something significant in terms of engaging youth on a progressive issue in the last year.
Rock the Vote, MoveOn.org Civic Action, Hip Hop Summit Action Network, United States Student Association, Campus Progress Action, the Bus Project, Young Voter PAC, Energy Action Coalition, the Student PIRGs, Hip Hop Caucus, Young People For, AlterNet, Qvisory, and the League of Young Voters were on the host committee.
Arshad Hasan, Arianna Huffington, Rob McKay, Jimmy Miller, Eli Pariser, Christine Pelosi, Doug Phelps, David Sirota and Heather Thomas were on the Youth Engagement Honor Roll Advisory Committee.
At the event, Eli Pariser, Doug Phelps and Arshad Hasan gave the winners a signed Shepard Fairey Obama "Hope" poster and a signed copy of Count My Vote book by Alternet's Steve Rosenfeld.
Youth Engagement Honor Roll Awardees:
Alex Aronson, University of Pennsylvania alumnus, Oregon Bus Project organizer
Alex came to Oregon in 2005 after graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the university's Cochran Prize for Outstanding American History thesis. A lifelong progressive, he caught the youth vote bug in 2006, single-handedly registering 2,000 voters as lead organizer on the Bus Project's Building Votes program, which increased Oregon's 18-29 year-old electorate by over six percent. Since the 2006 election, Alex has emerged as one of the Bus Project's key leaders. In 2007 he oversaw the organization's voter access initiatives in the Oregon Legislature.
Alex's 2007 policy work culminated in his direction and production of the 2008 Rebooting Democracy conference, a 500-person issues conference drawing participants from all across the west, and from a broad array of issue areas. He currently serves dual roles as the Bus Project's youth vote director, overseeing the Building Votes youth mobilization program, and as national coordinator for Trick or Vote, the Bus Project's signature nonpartisan Halloween costumed canvass.
Lil' Mama, rapper & activist with Hip Hop Summit Action Network
Born Niatia Jessica Kirkland, rap sensation Lil' Mama is indeed what she considers herself to be the voice of the young people. From growing up on the rough streets of Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood to losing her mother to cancer, Lil' Mama knows all too well what it is like to be forced to overcome both personal and financial struggles at an early age. It is through her music that Lil' Mama shares her childhood experiences. She helps shine light on issues such as teen pregnancy, high school dropout rates, and drugs that are affecting so many young people today. She lets these teenagers know that they are not alone in their struggle, while encouraging others to take action against these problems.
Lil' Mama undoubtedly provides meaning to the phrase "actions speak louder than words." Although her music reaches thousands of listeners, it is her personal dedication to change that affects the lives of her audience. She has been a guest speaker for several Hip Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) and Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) events, offering words of wisdom to teens struggling at home and school. . . But perhaps most impressive, is her recent education initiative "I Will Graduate" through the Entertainers for Education Alliance. "I Will Graduate" is a call to students, parents, and educators to increase the academic achievements of at risk youth. In August 2008, Lil' Mama call[ed] to action an inner city school of her choice by offering supplies to students for the upcoming school year.
Lil' Mama uses her celebrity status to better herself as well as those like her.
Sarah Dobjensky, UCLA junior, Student PIRGs New Voters Project coordinator for California
A UCLA Junior and statewide California coordinator of the Student PIRGs New Voters Project, Sarah got her start mobilizing young voters in 2006, spearheading a 1,500-student peer-to-peer voter registration drive in the 2006 mid-term elections. Sarah went on to lead a campus effort to educate fellow students about student debt issues and the need to reduce college costs at the UCLA campus, ultimately help win the passage of the federal College Cost Reduction and Access Act of September, 2007.
This primary season she mobilized groups of students on campus to attended events fundraisers, town halls and photo-ops organized by presidential candidates to ask about issues important to youth.
The effort, part of CALPIRG's What's Your Plan? Campaign asked all the major presidential candidates face-face their plans on global warming, healthcare, financial security and
college affordability on the primary campaign trail more than 100 times. This fall, as statewide student coordinator of the California Public Interest Research Groups (CALPIRG's) New Voters Project, Sarah will lead the largest on the ground non-partisan effort in the state to register students and turn them out to the polls.
Spearheading a new young voter mobilization model that combines the power of online voter registration technology with tried and true grassroots organizing techniques, the goal of
the campaign is to reach 80 percent voter turnout on more than a dozen college campuses in California.
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Progressive Future is promoting progressive values through grassroots action. We are a nonprofit organization advocating for core progressive principles such as community, fairness, security and liberty.
We are organizing around critical issues such as economic fairness and security, health care, global security and educational reform. We make the case for sensible policy solutions and hold politicians' feet to the fire by activating citizens in their communities and helping progressive Americans make their voices heard.
