Partners with group, founded by Democrat leader that “drives real, meaningful change by shifting culture, systems, and policy“
By Guy Page
The Vermont Campus Voting Challenge, a college voter registration initiative announced Jan. 25 by Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, is run by the ALL IN arm of Civic Nation, a non-partisan non-profit whose founder has strong ties with the national Democratic Party.
Civic Nation was founded by Jenn Brown, a former campaign leader for New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker and Hillary Clinton. After founding Civic Nation in 2015, she was named VP of Planned Parenthood of America in 2020.
“Civic Nation drives real, meaningful change by shifting culture, systems, and policy…Our goal is to empower individuals, companies, institutions, and organizations to create a more inclusive, equitable America,” Brown says on her LinkedIn page.
Civic Nation media highlight the importance of college voters in ‘battleground’ states. “Battleground states with competitive elections have seen an increase in youth voter registrations since 2018, including Michigan, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona. As a group, college students are motivated by the hot-button issues of abortion, inflation, climate change, and ‘protecting democracy,” a Civic Nation fact sheet claims.
“In fact, two-in-five youth voters say the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision makes them more likely to vote in the midterms this year,” the fact sheet states.
In the 2020 General Election, the national student voting rate was 66%, a 14-point increase from 2016. The rate of registered students who voted hit 80%, up from 69% in 2016. ALL IN campuses had average 2020 voter turnout rates that were 3.7 percentage points higher than campuses that were not engaged in ALL IN, the fact sheet states.
And no wonder, considering that in 2023, Civic Nation:
- Educated 2.2 million voters about the 2023 elections
- Activated 4,539 volunteers and civic leaders
- Engaged 1,397 high school and college campuses
- Partnered with over 150 celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers
- Collaborated with 1,367 media, corporate, and non-profit partners
Participating Vermont colleges and universities will be eligible for awards based on achieving their campus goals for the November 5 election, Copeland-Hanzas announced.
“The Vermont Campus Voting Challenge is a great addition to all of the civics education and engagement work my office has been focused on since I took office last year,” said Copeland Hanzas, “I know we have engaged college students here in Vermont and any extra incentive for them to get energized about voting is fantastic. I can’t wait to see the results of our partnership with ALL IN as November’s General Election draws closer.”
Institutions that opt into the program will be provided guidance and tools to create an action plan for increasing student engagement on their campus, Copeland-Hanzas said. “By signing up for the Vermont Campus Voting Challenge, all accredited, degree-granting higher education institutions across the state can improve, measure, and celebrate efforts to institutionalize nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and informed voter participation.” They also will be eligible for state-level and national awards.
Civic Nation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that bills itself as “a nonprofit ecosystem for high-impact organizing and education initiatives working to build a more inclusive and equitable America. Civic Nation shifts culture, systems, and policy by bringing together individuals, grassroots organizers, industry leaders and influencers to tackle some of our nation’s most pressing social challenges.”
Influencewatch.org posted the following:
“Civic Nation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2015, headed by President Jason Waskey (CEO of Blue Crab Strategies LLC) and Executive Director Jenn Brown. Touting itself as an organ of widespread positive social change, Civic Nation funds several large charitable initiatives: Erase the Hate, College Promise, It’s On Us, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, #VoteTogether, and United State of Women. Civic Nation functions as a sort of organizing hub for its partner, Creative Alliance, a left-leaning marketing group which produces advertisements and online content for its subsidiary and partner organizations. From fiscal year 2016 to 2017 Civic Nation’s funding nearly tripled from 2,945,775 to 8,326,553. IRS Form 990 document