Getting to equal means ensuring that all our brothers and sisters have the opportunity to participate civically in state, local, and national elections. Since 1868, Florida’s constitution inserted and enshrined an all-too-common contradiction into one of America’s founding principles: that all her people are created equal. Men and women who strayed from the path but paid their debt to society were not allowed to rejoin it as productive citizens. A felony conviction sentenced formerly incarcerated persons to a lifetime without true freedom and without a voice to support positive change. This disenfranchised community grew and grew. In Florida, this community came to comprise more than 10 percent of the adult population thanks in large part to systemic inequality and oppression, making the pathway to restored citizenship only harder to walk.

Yet as of November 6, 2018, approximately 1.4 million Floridians regained their voting rights following the passage of Amendment 4 and began registering in January of this year. Over a million of our brothers and sisters are no longer captives of their pasts. Over a million citizens can now hold their elected representatives accountable for issues that affect their communities. This mighty blow to an oppressive system was made possible by faith and persistence leveraged in service of the common good.

Faith in Action’s Florida federation, Faith in Florida, played a powerful role in the 2018 midterm elections by engaging communities, through houses of worship, on the importance of passing Amendment 4 and getting voters to the polls. These communities rallied together as their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers with the collective goal of reviving the voice of the legislatively mandated voiceless.

Those who are eligible to vote enjoy one of the greatest rights and privileges of democracy—and they also carry the greatest responsibility of lifting up the least among us. Faith in Florida succeeded because it was able to show congregations what it means to put love thy neighbor into service. Allies across the state embraced their power as community organizers by educating their neighbors, registering them to vote, and taking them to the polls.

Much of these efforts were led by our dear sister Pastor Rhonda Thomas in partnership with our brother Desmond Meade, who founded the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Their collective efforts, with the support of their colleagues, engaged hundreds of churches across the state, most of which participated in Souls to the Polls, where Black churches lead their congregations to the polls during early voting opportunities preceding Election Day. This work firmly places our faith communities in a position of allyship with the disenfranchised and downtrodden, which is exactly where they should be.

The Amendment 4 victory is an important but fledgling step on the journey to equal. Now the question is how to best carry this momentum forward.

Faith in Action looks at our mandate through the lens of reexamining our relationship to power, specifically: how we support the aspirations of everyday working people; stand with those who are building power for social change; dismantle negative power; and build power within and among communities.

Our work on Amendment 4 built momentum across all three power dynamics. We helped the powerless reclaim their voice in our society. We struck a blow against the white supremacist power structure that disproportionately disenfranchises people of color, and we worked across faiths and partisan divides to change this unhealthy power dynamic.

To get to equal we have to know the roots of our power. We must look back at lessons from the giants on whose shoulders we stand. The fire that was built by leaders like labor rights activist A. Phillip Randolph, civil rights activist Ella Baker, and our modern-day young leaders like Patrisse Cullors and Phillip Agnew will fuel us through this struggle. Their lessons should awaken our people to this power narrative manifested across our political, economic, and spiritual lives. 

To make progress, we have to channel the power embedded in Black culture in America. We have the power to raise up the powerless. Faith in Action is committed to pursuing immigrant justice and addressing additional voting rights disparities. We have the power to dismantle the negative power structures that hold our people back. Faith in Action is working to end mass incarceration and make our economy work for everyone. We can put our power to work in partnership with other vulnerable communities. Faith in Action is part of various coalitions to end gun violence and improve access to health care.

Our mission at Faith in Action is to strive for the common good—to aspire to a day and a place where we live to serve the whole of humanity, not our individual needs and cares alone. Today, that means finding more ways to chip away at a repressive political system—like we did in Florida. It also means building wealth in the Black community so our prosperity can drive us toward equal and using our spirituality to guide this mission.

We must both seize our power—and share it—in order to get to equal. The passage of Amendment 4 illustrated that coalition-building is the greatest threat to the oppressive systems we must overcome. Faith in Action stands ready to link arms with the rest of the Black community and our allies to redefine our relationship with power and justice in America. Last year, when we changed our name from PICO National Network to Faith in Action, we wanted our name to better reflect who we are and what we do. And through faith in action, we’ll work tirelessly to get our people to equal and set captives of the current system free.

“If we truly want to get to equal, we must dismantle the systems that oppress Black communities through political, economic, and spiritual means.”

You can easily find a host of articles that describe Dallas as the city with the lowest voter turnout in municipal elections among the 33 largest cities in the United States. As evidence, the last mayoral election in Dallas saw a meager voter turnout of about seven percent of all registered voters. The numbers are grimmer for registered 18-34 year olds. Only 1.7 percent actually made it to the polls during early voting and on Election Day. The city of Fort Worth came in second place to Dallas with about 8 percent of registered voters voting and 1.1 percent of 18-34 year olds exercising their right to vote. As a community advocate and young civic leader from Dallas, these statistics made me feel ashamed and disappointed but never discouraged or doubtful. I was energized and quickly recognized an enormous opportunity for growth among young voters and for the city as a whole.

Increasing civic engagement and voter turnout, especially among young voters between the ages of 18 to 34 has served as a guiding ambition in my work. In my role as the chair of the Civic Engagement Committee for the Dallas-Fort Worth Urban League Young Professionals (DFWULYP), I was afforded a larger platform to work towards moving that needle and changing that low-turnout narrative.

Under my leadership, DFWULYP adopted and executed the National Urban League’s Bounce Back campaign, a newly created get-out-the-vote operation. Bounce Back is a tri-layered community engagement initiative designed to increase voter registration, public policy engagement, and local & midterm election turnout. DFWULYP took the initiative and created two campaigns aligned with the objectives of the Bounce Back campaign: “A Seat at the Table” and “Students Vote, Too.” 

A Seat at the Table—which was built on the work of the organization’s previous civic engagement chair—educated both our young professionals and members of various community organizations on important issues and upcoming elections, reminding everyone what was at stake. We sought to make young voters heard by the powers-that-be by reminding them that their voice was powerful and necessary, and their issues were worth fighting for. To get these potential voters to take a seat at our table, we met them where they were. DFWULYP hosted events at bars, rooftops, lounges, concerts, poetry nights, church conferences, college campuses, and more. We identified and partnered with organizations that had similar membership demographics or similar goals.

Students Vote, Too mirrored the work of A Seat at the Table but targeted high school seniors and college students. The second wave of this campaign started February 2019, when many of the seniors turned 18. The campaign also targeted seniors who will be 18 by the 2020 presidential election.

We plan to use school board elections scheduled in May to introduce our students to the importance of civic engagement and having a say in determining who is best to serve their needs.

The overall success of the Bounce Back campaign was measured using realistic small achievable goals that aligned with the proposed large-scaled goals. The main measurements of success were:

• Ensuring that 100 percent of our organization was registered and voted in the mid-term election—and again in the municipal election.
• Registering 300 community members for the midterm election and an additional 200 in time for the municipal election.
• Hosting a candidate forum for every election cycle
• Building a coalition of aligned organizations

To help meet these goals, DFWULYP’s committee hosted a variety of programs and events in a 7-week period:

• Political Power Game Night: This was a voter education event with a twist.  We strategically timed game night with Voter Registration Day. We created interactive games around races, candidates, facts on voting, and more.  We set up a table where participants could register to vote, check their voter registration status, and find their polling location.  Guests were also encouraged to use and share our Voters’ Hub as a resource.
• YP On the Road: As part of our YP On the Road series, we hosted a midterm election candidate forum. We brought candidates directly to the public in intimate setting. Using a speed dating style format, attendees got one-on-one face time with candidates for questions and to have their concerns addressed. Afterwards, candidates took to the stage for a forum, taking questions from the larger audience.  This forum included district attorney candidates from Dallas and Fort Worth races, Texas House of Representative candidates, a candidate for lieutenant governor, and candidates for railroad commissioner. 
• Text YP: GOTV: This was a volunteer-led text bank that connected people to the entire YP universe. Using the Hustle app, we text banked to see who would commit to vote. We pushed out resources via our Voter’s Hub and answered any questions about Election Day.  Volunteers also discussed voter mobilization strategies and more. 
• Early Voting Day Party: DFWULYP used this part as a voter education and mobilization opportunity. Party attendees were encouraged to talk about the election, ask questions, get information about their voting rights, and receive information about ballot referendums.  Midway through the party, we shimmied over to the polls and came back from performing our civic duty to celebrate with a lip sync battle.
• Election Night Watch Party: Dallas Fort Worth Urban League closed out the 2018 election season with a watch party. We spent the evening following the election results and discussed what we learned and experienced over the previous months leading up to the election. 

By our accounting, we met many of our goals. By October 2018, we registered 583 voters in a period of seven weeks in 21 different places. We collected over 230 pledge to vote cards. With our Text YP initiative, we received 463 yes replies, indicating that a person had already voted or planned to vote. We also canvassed and recorded more than 180,115 steps in the National Urban League’s “Walk It Like I Talk It” canvassing challenge. 

DFWULYP’s Bounce Back participation was a collective effort that engaged and challenged all our leaders—and their leadership ability—at each and every level of our chapter. We look forward to what is to come as it relates to civic engagement and are eager to regain seats and amplify the voices of the youth and the most vulnerable at the table of democracy.

In 2004, I escorted Missy Misdemeanor Elliott—the multi-hyphenated talent, Grammy Award-winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee—to the polls to vote for her first time. Like so many young people and people of color, Missy felt alienated from the voting process and did not recognize her power in our shared democracy. But moved by the issues she faced in her community growing up, and empowered by a budding movement that would ultimately become the Hip Hop Caucus, Missy felt compelled to finally exercise her sacred right as an American citizen.

Stories of people voting for the first time are beautiful. But for too many young people, particularly young people of color, the act of participating in our democracy never comes to fruition.

Young voters, ages 18 to 34, make up more than 30 percent of our electorate. Galvanizing this key voting bloc has traditionally been a low priority for the political establishment. However, we know that big things happen when the youth are engaged.

The 2018 midterm elections demonstrated record turnout for young people, with millions more young Americans voting across the country than in past midterm elections. This record-shattering turnout influenced tight races from sea to shining sea, helping to elect a historic 100-plus women to Congress and openly LGBTQ candidates to office. The youth vote ushered in a wave of politicians resolved to bring issues like voting rights, women’s rights, criminal justice reform, gun violence, and climate change front and center on the new Congress’s agenda.

The power of young people participating in our democracy is undeniable and essential for winning on the issues we care about. That’s why Hip Hop Caucus created Respect My Vote!, a non-partisan, get-out-the-vote campaign in 2008.

For more than a decade, Respect My Vote! has worked with dozens of artists and influencers like T.I., 2 Chainz, Amber Rose, Charlamagne Tha God, Keke Palmer, and Vic Mensa to prepare hundreds of thousands of people to vote through voter registration drives, issue education programs, and voter mobilization efforts. The campaign also aggressively pushes back against attacks on voting rights and advocates for reforms that will make voting easier for all Americans.

Respect My Vote! engages young people where they are: in communities, on college campuses, at music venues and festivals, and at major events like March For Our Lives. But it is equally important to meet young voters at the intersection of the issues that matter most to them and give them the tools available to make necessary change.

Voting Rights

Rapper T.I. was the lead Respect My Vote! spokesperson during its inaugural year. When the campaign started, he was on house arrest and unaware of his right to vote as a returning citizen (a formerly incarcerated person who has re-entered society after serving his or her sentence). He used his multi-city bus tour as a platform to stress that returning citizens learn their rights and flex their power by voting.

As returning citizens and campaign spokespeople, T.I., 2 Chainz, and Charlamagne Tha God have led the way and opened the door for other artists and entertainers to actively engage with programs that address injustices and inequalities, including addressing the prison industrial complex and fighting for criminal justice reform.

Their efforts played major roles in recent voting rights wins, including a 2018 ballot measure in Florida to restore voting rights to more than 1.5 million returned citizens—a major victory for our communities, our country, and our democracy.

Women's Rights

Last year, ahead of the crucial 2018 midterm elections, one of our key initiatives was a partnership with social media influencer Amber Rose to inspire and prepare young women to vote. The project featured Amber’s top 10 reasons to vote if you are a woman, or care about women. The initiative focused on violence against women, reproductive health, immigration, sexual harassment, LGBTQ equality, equal pay, mass incarceration, paid family leave, environmental health, and student loans and education.

Centering on those issues that unduly burden women, particularly women of color, we stressed that elected officials at all levels of government have a major say over the lives and opportunities that exist for women, and those that we elect make critical decisions on policies that can either bring our country towards greater equality and opportunity—or set us back.

Gun Violence

Following the 2018 Parkland mass shooting, Respect My Vote! teamed up with March For Our Lives to empower millions of young people to end gun violence in their communities and classrooms. Joined by Vic Mensa in Washington D.C., we co-hosted a voter registration training for over 400 people and joined crowds across the country to register thousands of young voters in a single day.

We believe in helping to implement solutions to reducing gun violence that come from the very communities that experience it firsthand. That is why Hip Hop Caucus teamed up with the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning recording artists Black Eyed Peas for the release of “Street Livin,” a 2018 single and video that drives awareness and is a call-to-action on issues that largely impact communities of color, including gun violence. We developed the project’s call-to-action on gun violence in partnership with national organizations led by millenials and people of color and implemented proven strategies to reduce gun violence in cities across the United States.

Climate Change

For more than a decade, the Hip Hop Caucus has been engaged in education campaigns and advocacy to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities, including urban communities and communities of color. We work with artists such as Antonique Smith to bring awareness to the issues and the solutions, like voting. We have launched Think 100% - The Coolest Show on Climate Change, a powerful podcast that engages young people and communities of color on climate issues facing their communities and the planet.

Next Up!

2018 was a landmark year for young voter turnout and engagement. But while we witnessed historic turnout, there remains much room for growth.

For more than 10 years, Respect My Vote! showed up for young voters who are looking for more than “thoughts and prayers” on the issues that impact them. This movement is not about a political party or a partisan line. It’s about lives and justice for all. It’s about the empowerment of young people heading to the polls in 2020 and beyond.

As chairman of the National Urban League’s board of trustees, the board and I are pleased to present to you “Getting 2 Equal: United Not Divided,” the 2019 edition of the State of Black America®.

This year’s report highlights the continuing need of American communities and cities to engage in and prioritize bipartisan solutions to persistent and emerging problems, especially in the areas of civil rights, social justice, and inclusion. While these remain our country’s shared challenges, they also present our nation with transformative opportunities.

For more than a century, the National Urban League has been a trusted resource, responsible activist, and leader in creating pathways for stronger, economically viable, and healthier communities. The National Urban League continues to enact policy and implement effective programs that lift our urban communities and create a more equitable society. No organization is as strategically well positioned to play a major role in building the bridges that lead to positive social change. 

However, the National Urban League cannot do it alone.

Overcoming the challenges of economic and social inequality requires the commitment of every American, and the cooperation of businesses, civic organizations, governments, and individuals working together. I strongly believe that businesses are particularly well suited to facilitate transformative and impactful partnerships between the public, private, and social sectors. As such, the business sector—in strategic partnership with organizations like the National Urban League—must take the lead in creating stronger, economically viable, and healthier communities across the nation.

Business leaders can cultivate real transformation for our society from the inside out by pioneering diverse and inclusive workplaces. By harnessing the unique talents and contributions of diverse and inclusive workplaces, businesses strengthen, not only their bottom line, but the communities in which they operate. In this way, diversity and inclusion are proven key ingredients to growing a strong and equitable economy that makes our country stronger and more competitive globally.

I hope this report serves as a call to action to leaders in diverse spheres—from corporate to civil rights leaders—to embrace new ways of thinking about their companies, communities, and respective roles in confronting the myriad challenges we face as a nation. Additionally, I invite all readers to use this report and the recommendations found throughout as a catalyst to dream boldly and act locally. With our accumulated successes, Americans of every race, ethnicity, and income bracket will have a fairer chance to access all of the our nation’s promised opportunities and enjoy a more equal and more prosperous future.

It is with incredible honor that I write these words as the 45th lieutenant governor of the state of Wisconsin. The gravity of being the first African American elected to this office, and the second ever elected to statewide office, is not lost on me—nor is the fact that Wisconsin is home to some of the most extreme racial inequities in the nation.

Wisconsin is consistently ranked the worst place in America to raise a Black child. Many in our community are underpaid and overworked, encountering barrier after barrier in the search for secure employment. Wealth gaps—at levels not seen since the Great Depression—are a fact of life. Hardworking mothers and fathers struggle to make ends meet while the well-connected have rigged the system to accumulate wealth. The quality of a child’s education is highly correlated to his or her address. Schools with the lowest rates of success decay in the shadows of well-funded, high achieving schools in better neighborhoods. And systemic barriers, such as racism and poverty, have taken a toll on the health of the young and old in our community. 

I grew up in Milwaukee’s 53206—America’s most incarcerated zip code. It is a community starved of resources but brimming with hardworking, brilliant Black people—people who try over and over to get ahead in life but remain furthest from the relief of opportunity. Many policies and practices established in this country were designed to systematically leave people behind—specifically Black people and our Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American brothers and sisters.

Governor Tony Evers and I have a responsibility to make sure that opportunity exists in every part of Wisconsin for every resident. We understand that this includes ensuring that every person in our state has a voice and a vote. Our budget, which was crafted with the input of people across our state, including communities of color, includes policies that will confront and attack inequality by making democracy more inclusive than it has historically been in our state—and country.

In recent years, those in power in Wisconsin have worked diligently to disenfranchise the African-American vote and the vote of other communities of color—from gerrymandering our districts to making the simple task of voting unnecessarily arduous. These tactics are deployed in service of securing their power and oppressive policies. Their toxic actions polluted our democracy, ceded power from the powerless, and gave it to those who do not represent the best interest of the people. For example, in Wisconsin, the Republican majority in the state assembly received less than 49 percent of the statewide popular vote but ended up with 63.6 percent of the seats. If that isn’t evidence of gerrymandering, I don’t know what is.

That’s why our administration is working to abolish partisan gerrymandering. It is a tool that deprives communities of power—with the Black community bearing the brunt of this strategy. Instead, we want to implement non-partisan redistricting so those making decisions in our highest offices on behalf of the people truly reflect the will of the people. We also want to implement automatic voter registration in Wisconsin. We believe in making it easier to vote, not harder. And we’re making voting more accessible for young people and college students.

Enshrining the right of eligible citizens to vote and elect their representatives without the hindrance of politically manufactured barriers is a journey, not a destination. We are obligated to remember those who paved this path and sacrificed so much in the name of racial justice. We should remember Wisconsin heroes, like my friend, Vel Phillips, who was the first and the only African-American woman elected to statewide office in Wisconsin; and Ezekiel Gillespie, who attempted to vote in Wisconsin in 1865 but was denied a ballot. Gillespie sued, took his case all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and won. And of course, we owe our thanks to those like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Congressman John Lewis, and the countless greats of the Black freedom movement who fought for institutional change.

It has been more than 50 years since hundreds marched from Selma to Montgomery to demand the right for Black people to vote. Today, we embark on the same march in a new era. In this era, Jim Crow laws are masked beneath the guise of mass incarceration and large scale voter suppression. Our children are willfully denied access to clean drinking water while the children of families seeking refuge are separated at borders and put in cages. In this era, some of our elected officials are clamoring for an ineffective and inessential border wall that will only serve a goal of white supremacy.

Whether you are elected or not, we are all chosen—not to make history—but to make a difference. In spite of the challenges, we would be remiss not to acknowledge that we are also living in an era of change. An era where our nation has elected the most diverse Congress ever. For the first time, two Native American women are serving in Congress along with the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress, one of Palestinian descent and a Somali refugee. Nationally, we also witnessed a historic wave of African-American women elected to office.

Americans are calling for change; and in my capacity as lieutenant governor, I will deliver that change to my home state. I stand ready to work with others throughout this nation to usher in a new chapter where every person can easily exercise his or her right to vote so the fate of our democracy can be determined by all. Our democracy is something we need to continue building for the future.

Wisconsin is by no means unique or unusual. All across our nation there are concerted efforts by some elected officials and legislative bodies to silence Black voices and the voices of those who favor inclusive, progressive policies. But they don’t get to win this fight. We will continue to march towards justice and equity and demand that our voices be heard and our votes are counted as cast. We have yet to fully manifest the dreams of those who struggled before us, but we stand tall on the shoulders and achievements of this movement started hundreds of years ago by our brothers and sisters.  We are mid-stride in the march for justice and for equity, and we will march on until victory is won.

Our founder, Will Keith Kellogg, believed in the democratic process driven by ordinary people collaborating to solve the problems that faced children and their families. He called it cooperative planning, intelligent study and group action – cooperative leadership on behalf of the whole. His belief in it was so strong that he bequeathed his entire fortune to pursuing it in order “to promote the health, happiness and well-being of children” – all children, regardless of race, sex, creed or nationality.

Mr. Kellogg wanted children to face the future with hope and confidence in our democracy. He trusted that education – “the greatest opportunity for improving one generation over another” – would develop leaders in every community; and together they would remove obstacles to equitable opportunity.

For almost 90 years, the Kellogg Foundation has pursued our founder’s ideals – supporting leadership, racial equity and community engagement on behalf of children. But as a society, we need to acknowledge that all children are not facing the hopeful future Mr. Kellogg envisioned. We are failing too many – especially children of color.

In 2017, 46 percent of White children in fourth grade were proficient in reading compared to 19 percent of Black, 22 percent of Hispanic/Latino and 21 percent of Native American students. The achievement gap between White children and children of color signals unequal access to quality education – a systemic obstacle that reflects the legacy of segregation, concentrated poverty and the structured lack of resources. An example is the “word gap” most impoverished children must bridge before they enter school. Although researchers debate the actual size of the gap (4 million words or much higher), it would be hard to overcome under any circumstances. And when young children are subjected to the most inadequate schools and under-prepared teachers, the climb up the academic ladder is difficult and costly.

Racial equity gaps like these are not only a problem for children. They’re a problem for the entire nation – and one that democracy must fix. That’s because inequity impairs the economic growth of the nation as a whole. We all lose. A recent analysis commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation quantified the loss. If we could close the racial equity gap and prepare every working age person to participate in the economy, we could create almost $3 trillion in additional gross domestic output by 2050 – more than enough to educate every child. The question is how do we work together to make that possibility a real one for all of our children?

It will take leadership. We need leaders who are willing to collaborate and work in solidarity on behalf of the whole, as Mr. Kellogg suggested. They do exist, but we could use more. Our leadership programs have helped to develop thousands. In February, we joined the Center for Creative Leadership® to announce the newest cohort of W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network fellows, adding 80 more to that number. All develop personal leadership skills grounded in their understanding of racial equity and racial healing, and the power of collective action. Through that lens, they will be the leaders to take our nation forward.

That kind of collective leadership is already having an impact in places like Jackson, Mississippi, and Battle Creek, Michigan.

In Jackson, when a state takeover of failing schools was on the table in 2017, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, the Jackson Public School District (JPS) and the Kellogg Foundation entered into a working partnership to improve student achievement in JPS and ensure children have an equitable, excellent educational experience.

The collaborative approach brought together unlikely partners, but the ripple effect of leaders acting in solidarity on behalf of children has drawn more people into the problem-solving process.

The independent Better Together Commission developed a community visioning process and produced a student-centered assessment of the district. Now JPS’s new superintendent and the Board of Trustees have a set of prioritized recommendations and a pathway to develop a strategic operating plan to ensure all students succeed. Equally important are the working relationships connecting parents and educators, state and city officials, business leaders and community advocates. Collectively, participants are coming to grips with the disparities, listening respectfully to the perspectives of community stakeholders and thinking together. The experience is building trust and laying the groundwork for collaboration.

In Battle Creek, Michigan, we’ve seen a similar impact from cooperative planning, intelligent study and group action. A 2017 study revealed that structural bias and segregation, compounded by income inequality, had concentrated poverty in the Battle Creek Public School (BCPS) district among people of color and poor white residents, perpetuating economic and racial divisions. The study acknowledged what community members already knew: there were serious disparities between schools, with BCPS faring worst after decades of disinvestment where the need was highest.

In response, leaders across the community came together to envision a place where people can work, live and play. The result is a commitment to increasing jobs and talent and creating a culture of vitality in the city. That focus is driving transformation.

Within BCPS, a juvenile justice judge is joining school staff and parents to support struggling students. Together, they are creating stronger academic programs at middle and high schools that help students focus on their future. Increased support and new curricula are already producing academic improvements – notably in math and reading scores for younger elementary students. Even more encouraging, kindergarteners who participated in a new full-time, free summer program scored 15 percent higher than peers on a key literacy assessment that indicates readiness.

Community learning in our priority places is strengthened by work with partners like the National Urban League, who are organizing and driving support for policies that advance racial equity and cross-sector collaboration. Our shared focus creates pathways for local leaders willing to act on behalf of society as a whole.

We have an opportunity to uplift leaders who act in solidarity – the women and men who are trying to bring us together rather than tear us apart. The Kellogg Foundation is committed to building that kind of leadership because our children depend on it.

In 2018, Ashley Stewart, the iconic fashion and lifestyle brand, partnered with the National Urban League to encourage our respective networks of customers, employees, vendors, partners and friends to exercise their collective right to register and vote in their local, state and federal elections. We harnessed the same infrastructure, technology engine, people and distribution channels that fuel our fashion, media and events businesses to get out the vote.  To further complement our partnership with the National Urban League, Ashley Stewart invited non-partisan voting organizations in states like Georgia into our stores to help our customers verify proper voter registration. This was far from our first foray into non-partisan voting advocacy. In the run up to the 2016 presidential election, we quietly and independently created and produced a video encouraging voting, amplifying its message with our vast social media apparatus. 

As we look ahead to the 2020 election, what do Ashley Stewarts’ non-partisan voter activations suggest about the importance of increasing voting participation via the private sector?

For a variety of reasons, the private sector is assuming responsibilities once traditionally carried out by the public sector.  Whether this shift is good or sustainable for our society remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that private sector leadership—whether by choice or necessity—is driving change in “general welfare” areas such as education, healthcare, defense, housing, environmental matters and city planning. The proliferation of digitally-fueled, virtual worlds, with their own currencies, languages and news streams, gated by access to technology and new forms of payment systems, further complicates matters. 

The public sector, ostensibly charged with serving the collective good, has found it difficult to enact forward-looking, visionary legislation and policy to address the new ways people live today—and will live in generations to come.  The private sector has always proven more adept at seizing control of opportunities in transitional periods; that advantage is more pronounced as that change becomes increasingly digital and multi-dimensional.  Realistically, most corporations will best serve the narrow cross section of society that makes up their top employees and shareholders. But a future that prioritizes the privileged few will inevitably disregard the needs of groups outside the borders of this narrow cross section, leaving them outside the scope of influence of the increasingly powerful private sector.

Since 1991, Ashley Stewart has championed inclusion, becoming a safe, familiar, supportive and local space for curvy African-American women to congregate and shop for stylish, affordable fashion among friends. It is arguably the oldest and largest women’s fashion brand, size agnostic, whose origins are rooted in the African-American community. 

For almost 30 years, the Ashley Stewart woman has visited the visually appealing neighborhood and downtown stores, oftentimes more than once per week, for a healthy dose of fellowship, self-affirmation and general self-care, briefly shielded from the sting of racial discrimination or size-based shaming.  Ashley Stewart is a space for her and about her.  It is one of the few places where she can be her true self among familiar faces and unburden herself of the many responsibilities she tends to shoulder and overcome—usually without accolades or appreciation.  Customers are on a first name basis, employees are oftentimes called “Ms. Ashley”, and it is common for employees and customers to develop genuine friendships outside the four walls of the stores.  The Ashley Stewart brand elicits feelings of pride, confidence, solidarity and hope amongst a group of women who generally give more than they receive and quietly provide critical leadership without fanfare in communities across the country.

In 2013, only three years removed from a prior bankruptcy, Ashley Stewart was on the verge of liquidation.  The situation was dire. There were no computers in the stores and no Wi-Fi at headquarters.  The prior revolving door of owners and leaders hemorrhaged cash for decades and consistently failed to pay its bills, consequences of an antiquated and mathematically unsound business model and a lack of appreciation for the fact that the brand’s true impact transcends fashion.  Unsurprisingly, Ashley Stewart was paid scant attention by Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Seventh Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. Perhaps because of its target customer base, capital was also harder to secure. Relationships in places of influence were more limited in scope and the recruitment of top-notch talent in a fast-paced, increasingly technology-driven business environment proved difficult. Corporate pride did not parallel the pride that customers have always exhibited wearing Ashley Stewart’s confident colors and styles.  Long-term planning and a vision that saw past short-term crises were non-existent, drowned out by the woes of day-to-day survival and handicapped by eyebrow-raising and myopic decisions. Ashley Stewart’s demise would have come and gone without any press.

Today, only five short years later, Ashley Stewart’s influence has grown on a national and increasingly international scale.  An alliance of unlikely and ordinary people, including the author, fought for Ashley Stewart during a made-for-Hollywood, six-month test of resilience and loyalty that happily culminated in its improbable rebirth in 2014. 

The new Ashley Stewart is profitable, technologically capable and digitally savvy.  Our financial success story has been documented by leading periodicals, news agencies and industry conferences across the globe. Today, Ashley Stewart has a seat at the table on the board of the National Retail Federation and the advisory council of JP Morgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways initiative. The company that had no Wi-Fi at its headquarters now shares its story as a keynote at leading professional and digital conferences. The mathematical foundation of the company is sound, and we believe our business model is unique among retail and media companies alike.  Our influence has dwarfed our size.

Ashley Stewart was able to reinvent itself despite not having vast financial resources or a network of powerful friends to rely on. Early on, our efforts were met with a certain level of disbelief and sometimes disdain.  The single most important change catalyzed on identifying, embracing and operationalizing core intangible assets:  confidence, self-care, fellowship and trust. These guiding assets had sustained the brand during its darkest times. Despite the company’s business failures, Ashley Stewart devotees never failed the brand, as evidenced by stories of worried customers returning hangers to help defray costs.

Our internal corporate culture stresses kindness, math, self-acceptance and accountability.  We held up a mirror to long-tenured employees and asked them to see Ashley Stewart for what it is: a historically unique, national and yet hyper-localized series of non-commercial relationships cemented through hundreds of millions of woman-to-woman interactions and transactions grounded in genuine trust. Then we turned that mirror to our customers and used it to proudly broadcast their voice and appearance in a newly crafted, user-generated content media strategy. Our corporate values are basic, traditional and never go out of style. These values have translated into a net promoter score of 90 and an explosive ecommerce business with millions of monthly visits.  We fundamentally believe that the Ashley Stewart consumer deserves recognition, and her story of being the success she already is is worthy of being documented, told and heard.  For many of our customers, Ashley Stewart’s rebirth serves as a source of motivation, inspiring them to continue to thrive despite their own individual crucibles.

Today, Ashley Stewart is extending its influence in a variety of ways by leveraging its earned trust across our vast network.  Our media arm has mobilized millions of women through our Finding Ashley Stewart tour, which culminates in a star-studded finale that crowns the next “Miss Ashley Stewart” and annually sells out Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre.  Our reach and unique relationship with our customer base have opened eyes at leading media players, financial institutions and consumer products companies who recognize the benefits of our endorsement and distribution channels.  The outreach from business leaders and celebrities has been greatly appreciated.

By remaining true to our core customer, while extending respect to other groups of women, we have broadened our influence in new communities. Approximately 40 percent of our e-commerce demand is now Caucasian, and we are exploring partnerships in Europe, South America, Africa and Australia.  These new sources of capital inflows are vital for the future success of Ashley Stewart.  Further, we have forged relationships with educational institutions and philanthropic organizations to utilize our platform to create positive, multi-generational impacts for our core customer base.  In 2019, we became a champion partner of Susan G. Komen to do our part in making a dent in the disparate breast cancer outcomes for Black women.  We were approached, not for our size as measured by revenue or physical footprint, but rather for our hard-earned power of influence.  For the last several years, I have been teaching a life, money and happiness class to the children of our customers at historically Black colleges and colleges and universities with high numbers of students of color.  Fundamentally grounded in pride of heritage, fellowship and integrity, but steeped in financial principles, the Ashley College Tour is not just inspiring a whole new generation of potential entrepreneurs and difference makers.  It is also funding change through the granting of scholarships presented at the finale of the Finding Ashley Stewart campaign.

Given Ashley Stewart’s history of difficulties, especially against the broader backdrop of today’s accelerated blurring of lines between the private and public sectors, it should come as no surprise that we thought encouraging our customer base to exercise its collective right to vote was not just consistent with our efforts but vital.  The values and strengths that sustain the Ashley Stewart community closely align with those that have sustained generations of immigrants in this country.  There is no greater act of self-determination and self-confidence than deciding that one’s voice has meaning at the local, state and national levels.

Voting takes resolve, and Ashley Stewart stands for the values encouraged by the franchise: community engagement and bipartisan alliances. Our company’s renaissance over the past five years is a testament to what is possible when ordinary people—consciously or subconsciously—rally behind values that transcend all ideologies, like dignity, empathy and kindness.  Good things tend to follow (yes, including profits) from mutual respect. 

As we look to the future, we remain optimistic that Ashley Stewart will continue to thrive and remain committed to providing moments of inspiration, boosting self-esteem and encouraging new alliances and investments into Ashley Stewart’s community. Ashley Stewart will need support from friends, both old and new.  Above all else, we believe our nation can only benefit when the Ashley Stewart community is respected, recognized and assumes its rightful seat at the table. 

In 2018, the National Urban League launched its get-out-the-vote campaign, “Enough Is Enough. VOTE!” Although, as a nation, we have witnessed some advancement, the Black community still faces stubborn injustices and obstacles: barriers to the ballot box; double-digit unemployment in comparison to white peers; the senseless killings of unarmed Black people; unequitable education for Black children, and much more.  The GOTV campaign called for the Urban League movement and its partners to constructively harness the public’s anger and frustration and take it to the polls to demand change by electing people who will speak for the Black community. The campaign launched digitally in September 2018 but started on the ground with grassroots conversations in the spring of 2018.

The major strategy was to go where the people were. The campaign hit the ground running at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana. A month later, the campaign headed to Columbus, Ohio. The National Urban League met with local community members and voters during its annual conference as part of its “Community Day” programming. In October, four additional activations took place in Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia. These activations were multi-generational and accomplished in coalition with other communities of color who understood that the lasting effects from the 2018 midterm elections would impact them for decades as well. Campaign activities included a “Meet the Candidate Forum,” voter verification drives at an annual health fair and local restaurants, a voter suppression hearing, neighborhood canvassing, and tailgating at Morehouse College’s homecoming game. When engaging voters, conversations started early, occurred often, and relationships were cultivated and maintained via email and text messaging. Regular communication kept the election top-of-mind and our consistent messaging stressed how this election would impact the Black community for decades.

The National Urban League could not have run a successful civic engagement campaign without the Movement. Activations and training sessions of local affiliates, young professionals and guild chapters, and partners were key in mobilizing the campaign. Understanding the importance of how to conduct voter engagement within a nonprofit organization ensured compliance for each 501(c)3 organization. In addition to trainings, the National Urban League partnered with Nonprofit VOTE to co-brand a voter toolkit that educated campaign participants on how to be involved in the political process without affecting funding. This alliance yielded a premiere partnership for National Voter Registration Day where over half of the affiliate movement and auxiliary groups conducted voter registration activities throughout the country. Partners, such as When We All Vote and Rock The Vote amplified the messaging on their social media accounts. Ashley Stewart, a clothing company and lifestyle brand, was one of the campaign’s key corporate partners. Ashley Stewart created a digital campaign that was distributed to their consumers via email and social media as well as a co-branded commercial, which was also distributed by the National Urban League. Rideshare company, Lyft, provided special ride codes in selected cities to encourage voters who lacked transportation to get to the polls and cast their vote.

With the help of the Urban League Movement and its partners, 16 million people were reached, nearly 800,000 impressions were made on social media platforms, and the campaign generated almost 49 million earned media impressions.  Nearly 100,000 touches occurred through email, text messaging, and the Urban League’s “Civic Action Center.”

While the campaign was successful, there remain opportunities to strengthen its future impact and reach. One critical strategy will be to engage with the affiliate movement and partners much earlier. The National Urban League will begin focusing on educating, strategizing, and road-mapping for 2020 this year, knowing that the success of the 2020 campaign hinges on engagement from the entire Urban League Movement and its partners.

The Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965. Today—54 years later—access to the ballot box is under threat yet again—and actively under attack. While some of the tactics may have changed, the intent remains the same: elections officials enact restrictive voter identification laws; approve changes to polling locations without proper notice; and limit or eliminate access to activities such as early voting to create high social and legal barriers to the vote.

Voting is a civic duty and a form of activism. The franchise empowers individuals to elect representatives who will support their interests and protect their rights. If the history of Black people in America has proven anything, it has proven that protest, boycotts, and marching are necessary, but voting must be a key part of a civil rights activism strategy. Voting allows people to be proactive in setting the agenda with elected officials instead of being reactive when rights are violated or rolled back.

There is too much at stake now—and for generations to come. We say: enough of our civil rights being stripped away by the rolling back of immigration, voting rights, and criminal justice laws and policies. Enough of our public schools being underfunded and our children being over-penalized. Enough of the attacks on access to affordable healthcare and women’s reproductive rights. And enough of the unjustified killings of unarmed people of color by the police. Enough is enough—vote!

Historically, protest and protest movements have played an important role in translating anger into action and in forcing the powerful to pay attention and in righting wrongs. From strikes to boycotts and marches, these people-powered movements have functioned as critical change agents. However, protest devoid of organization is merely disruption. Protests movements must shift into social movements that employ a variety of strategies in service of large-scale, sustainable, and systemic change.

The National Urban League’s get-out-the-vote initiative, the “Bounce Back” campaign, was modeled on the organization’s core belief that protest must co-exist with “an overwhelming electoral expression at the ballot box to codify demands for a more just and equitable society.” Understanding the high stakes of the 2018 midterm elections, the Los Angeles Urban League Young Professionals (LAULYP) participated in several on-the-ground activities in alignment with the Bounce Back campaign. 

In the days leading up to the midterms, LAULYP partnered with the Los Angeles Urban League (LAUL) and its guild to register voters in South Los Angeles. We also hosted a lecture by Lorrie Frasure-Yokley, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science at UCLA, who spoke on the attitudes of Black voters concerning voter identification laws since many of our members were unaware that ID is not required to vote in California or that voter ID laws varied so much between states. She stressed the importance of civic organizations in spreading racially relevant political information.  Dr. Frasure-Yokley also discussed the millennial vote as a significant demographic to observe in the midterm elections given Black men and women’s political engagement and policy preferences. Her talk sparked a resolve in our members to critically engage with any information encountered on the internet and other media sources.

LAULYP partnered with local organizations, such as Empowerment Congress, to host “Woke Vote: Why Your Vote Matters” events, debating the various propositions Californians were expected to vote on and to connect individuals to community-based organizations that would be directly impacted by the implementation or rejection of a ballot proposition. These events made the importance of voting clear. The stakes were high for the politicians who sought the youth and African-American vote, but they were higher still for the voters who would experience firsthand the effect of newly implemented or rejected policies in their communities. Many first-time voters who needed guidance on interpreting the jargon riddled propositions reported feelings of empowerment after hearing from informed and non-partisan sources.

A week before the midterm elections, our committee hosted a “Politics and Pancakes” gathering where we educated our young professionals and community members on voter suppression in high-profile races, misinformation around California’s Proposition 10 (a rent control measure), and strategies to remain civically engaged after the November elections. We invited Kat Calvin, the founder of Spread the Vote; and Mike Gipson, Assemblymember of California’s 64th Assembly District and Assembly Democratic Caucus Chair, to speak. Calvin’s work with Spread the Vote, a nonprofit that obtains IDs for eligible voters in voter ID states, has benefitted low-income communities across the country. Asm. Gipson spoke of his journey to political office, delivering an inspiring message about the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things and ignite change. He also shared the importance of elections as a powerful means of communicating with elected officials, adding that he gauges the support of his constituents by voter turnout. We ended the gathering with smaller group discussions and a debate over ballot propositions that directly affected young African Americans. The event made California’s jargon laden ballot propositions clear and provided a non-judgmental, non-partisan space to our members to discuss politics.

In December  2018, we began to draft our strategy for the 2020 election. LAULYP member, Zaneta Smith, MSW, associate director of the California Policy and Research Initiative, an African-American think tank, hosted “So What Now?: Holding Elected Officials Accountable,” a discussion centered on the ability of LAULYP to impact and advocate in local Los Angeles politics. To that end, our organization will host forums throughout the year that address issues of police accountability, housing and homelessness, healthcare, and student loan debt. LAULYP has also planned to conduct workshops on campaigning and running for office.

LAULYP centered its Bounce Back programming around the provision of reliable and accurate information from a variety of nonpartisan and special interest sources. As evidenced during the 2016 presidential election, misleading, or emotionally charged messages were deployed by bad faith actors to divide communities and prevent voters from making decisions that were in their best interests. In our capacity as young professionals, we have curated spaces, hosted events, and created programming that connects participants with change agents, academics, activists, and politicians. Each interaction was designed to stress the need to press forward in the movement for change and to empower our communities. Now more than ever, our divided electorate and society needs change—the kind that comes from civic engagement in all its forms. The LAULYP is committed to playing its part in harnessing the power of our local community into a mighty bounce of interest and engagement in politics and a surge at the polls.

Our aspiration at Lyft is to be a public company for the public good.  We are a business, but we also see ourselves as a critical part of the future of the ecosystem of city transportation—including transit, shared bicycles and e-scooters, and even land use.  Our core business contributes to the life of cities and its people, and we aim to do more.  

Today, more people are moving to cities than ever to seek the economic opportunities and quality of life that our urban centers provide. We view this development as a time to forge stronger connections between people—to each other, to their communities, and to their cities.

Every time a person shares a Lyft ride or uses our app to take a transit trip, we bridge people together—while they are connecting to work, school, healthcare, or just to go to the movies.  In 2018, we were particularly proud to work with the National Urban League and other non-profit organizations to help individuals get to the polls and exercise their right to vote.  We did so on a nonpartisan basis; and working together, we helped tens of thousands of people cast their ballots, helping to produce the greatest voter turnout on record for a midterm election.

Another aspect, perhaps less commonly known and appreciated aspect of our business, is the role our company plays in providing supplemental income and flexible work for 1.9 million drivers. The Lyft community is engaged in civic causes in cities all year round—not just on Election Day. Over the past two years, Lyft passengers have donated over $11 million to important charitable causes, such as Black Girls Code and the ACLU, through Lyft’s Round Up & Donate program. And earlier this year, during Black History Month, Lyft provided free rides to Black history museums, memorials, relevant cultural sites, and Black-owned businesses across 36 cities to recognize, celebrate, and support the important contributions of Black men and women in American history. These are just two examples of how Lyft, through transportation, is connecting communities to each other and important social issues every day.  

We have only scratched the surface. There is so much more work we can do to improve transportation and transform cities.  At Lyft, we take our civic responsibility seriously. We believe that providing accessible, affordable, reliable, and safe transportation services will expand economic opportunity in communities around the country. In addition, we continue to iterate on our ongoing effortsto support our drivers and cities through programs like Lyft Driver Centers, an ambitious economic initiative to help drivers succeed on their own terms; and Lyft City Works, which reinvests a portion of Lyft profits back into cities. It is my hope that organizations across sectors and industries will work with us to expand the ways in which we empower our cities and communities.