Voter Empowerment Project

The Voter Empowerment Project (VEP) is a grassroots initiative that mobilizes individuals to support voter turnout in high-need areas. VEP was launched in November 2019 to create a new model of volunteering in support of voting rights. It was inspired in large part by a 2016 conversation with an older Black Philadelphia voter, who conveyed that his reticence to vote was because “you people come here every four years and tell us to ‘go vote’ then you leave ‘cause you don’t give a damn about us.”

Activists of color have said for decades that we must abandon such short-term, transactional forms of voter engagement, and instead adopt respectful, longterm strategies built on trust. VEP therefore created a new and innovative model that mobilizes volunteer professionals to provide pro bono technical assistance to small, high-impact state and local voting rights organizations that have strong existing ties in their respective communities.

VEP recruits and manages a network of volunteers with a wide range of skills and expertise to provide remote capacity building support tailored to each organization’s needs, including in: communications, data analysis, web design, social media strategy, fundraising and grant writing, volunteer recruitment, digital marketing, graphic design, video production, content writing and editing, voter file data management, and other areas. VEP assists partner organizations in determining their needs, matches volunteers with the necessary skills and experience, and manages the process to ensure timely and satisfactory completion of projects.