The Summer for Progress and Change

By Morgan Stahr, Rina Welch, and Nick Guthman

The COVID-19 pandemic and the mass protests following the recent murders of Black Americans by police are rapidly transforming our lives, exposing the injustices that the powerful few have unleashed since the founding of our country, and at the same time, opening up the possibility for a profound realignment in our politics. 2020 is a moment in history that will redefine the story of America. And as history has shown, young people have always been the driving force of social movements. Relying on their resilience, energy, and youthfulness young people still found a way to build the movement for social change, and lead us toward a brighter future, even amidst a global pandemic. And so what follows is our team’s reflection on Blue Future’s Summer for Progress and Change.

This summer Blue Future was a catalyst for youth leadership and worked with young organizers all across the country to get out the vote. We took on an ambitious goal of training 125+ young people in the middle of a pandemic. We knew traditional organizing tactics of one on one meetings in coffee shops and door knocking wouldn’t work this time around. But, regardless of what was going on in the world, we knew the most important election of our lives was upon us. Voter registration rates are down, the President has been trying to destroy the USPS, and voter suppression is on the rise. Therefore, our work had to continue and was more necessary this summer than ever before.

Surprisingly, and because of the brilliant strategic thinking of youth organizers nationwide, the pandemic allowed us to expand our organizing efforts to elect decision makers who will fight for our rights, no matter our race, gender, sexual orientation, accent, or zip code.

Blue Future’s Summer for Progress and Change program was our largest and most impactful voter contact program. We virtually traveled across the country stopping in 10 different states to help key Congressional and Senate candidates, as well as the presidential ticket in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. More specifically, we worked with the following campaigns:

• North Carolina — Cal Cunningham
• Minnesota — Tina Smith
• Michigan — Gary Peters
• Texas — MJ Hegar
• Maine — Sara Gideon
• Pennsylvania — Coordinated/Biden Campaign
• Arizona — Mark Kelly
• Wisconsin — Coordinated/Biden Campaign
• Candace Valenzuela (TX-24)
• Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
• Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
• Grace Meng (NY-06)

As we traveled from state to state each week we also picked up new skills on the way. Our student organizers attended comprehensive political organizing trainings focused on the complexities of phone banking, campaign finance, digital organizing and more. They walked away well-equipped to join a campaign team. In fact, many of our summer organizers went on to do just that and joined campaigns across the country!

To share a few numbers, here’s what we accomplished:

• Over 350,000 calls to voters in key states
• 312,000 texts
• Nearly 1,000 volunteers recruited
• Over 5,000 volunteer hours driven to campaigns
• Over 120 youth organizers trained in fundamentals of political and community organizing

However, what is more important to us is the lasting impact this prograam had on the student organizers we worked with. One of our organizers, Rina, shared, “As someone who is immunocompromised, Blue Future allowed me to organize in a safe way during the pandemic and enhanced my skills in political organizing while connecting me to young people across the country with similar passions, goals and political ideals to work together to make our priorities heard.” In multiple feedback sessions, our youth organizers shared with us how much this program has meant to them and how they planned on using what they learned as they pursue a career within the larger movement for social change.

Students like Anna went on to work for Amy McGrath to help defeat Mitch McConnell and Tim joined Team Biden. Others are continuing to build out their College Democrats chapters and working with Blue Future in the fall! Still, others are now enrolled in law school to carry on the struggle through policy and legislative advocacy.

But, our work doesn’t stop in the summer. By coming together to elect Democrats this year, young people will flex our power. If we organize and if we vote in record numbers, we will be in a position to make our voices heard in the halls of power. If the politicians understand that young people are responsible for delivering their success on November 3 and that we are prepared to pressure them on our priorities, we will have political capital and leverage to hold them accountable to the issues we care about.

That’s why Blue Future is launching our Fall for Progress and Change program with 100 + paid student organizers. Our organizers will be working for some of the most competitive campaigns across the country to ensure Democratic wins up and down the ticket! Through this program, we will provide thorough training focused on volunteer recruitment and vote tripling so we can maximize our impact. It is our goal to contact half a million voters before Election Day on November 3rd! We are confident that when we invest in young people, we win!

And as we look to the future, when Democrats take power after the election, young people must push for a profoundly transformative and progressive agenda that will change our lives for the better and pave the way for a brighter tomorrow. There is no time to wait. Come join Blue Future and organizers across the country to organize and win for our better future!