What’s in a name? At Rock the Vote: A LOT. When I tell people I’m an intern with Rock the Vote I get an overwhelmingly positive response. I hear remarks that are along the lines of “I remember their work with MTV” or, “Yeah, I’ve seen their public service announcements with celebrities!” But during my time here I have come to learn that Rock the Vote is a powerhouse of action. Their work goes well beyond the scope of having awesome celebrity ambassadors like Darren Criss or Perez Hilton.
As a field intern I have a first-hand view into the world of grassroots organizing at a very large reaching organization, run by a surprisingly tiny staff. Rock the Vote has an incredible amount of resources for young Americans to take action in politics. I was inspired to be a part of their team because of these initiatives & because I remember when they were on my college campus in 2008 (which was the first time I could ever vote in an election). Did you know that Rock the Vote pioneered the launch of the online national voter registration tool? They are also the largest non-partisan voter registration organization in the United States. To go even further, they launched Democracy Class, a civics education program designed for teachers to talk to high school students about the importance of voting. I could go on with this for a while, but you get the gist…
We Millennials have an extraordinary amount of political power—but we need to USE IT. Rock the Vote knows that we can’t have a voice without a vote. They registered over 1 million voters in 2012 and they continue to stand up for us against those who try to silence or intimidate our voices through the voting process. I’m glad that to have been given the opportunity to work with such a dynamic organization and talented group of people. I will definitely take this experience into my future work as an organizer.
