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Journey was a political organizer intern with Students for Voting Justice in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021. As a political organizer, Journey found that “having to be the person to go out and convince others to text and phone bank people -- almost having to be a saleswoman for voting rights -- allowed me to stretch my ability to be persuasive.” In fall 2021, Journey was part of our inaugural class of team managers – star interns who are promoted to the role of managing and mentoring a team of new interns. All her experiences in SVJ were important, but Journey told us that “Being a team manager had the most impact on my ability to see myself as someone who could teach or even lead others.”
Now Journey has taken on a leadership role that builds on that early experience with SVJ. As a Davis Polk Leadership Initiative Fellow, she is a co-founder of the Harlem Youth Voter Engagement Project (HYVE), which offers a series of workshops designed to promote civic engagement among New York City’s high school students. The curriculum focuses on inspiring youth engagement at the local level, showing high school students how the outcome of local elections can make a difference in their daily lives. She envisions the workshops culminating in each student making a plan to vote. Fundamentally, Journey wants each student to “recognize the power that they possess.”
Journey explains, “I'm from Harlem, so Harlem is very important to me. I know what it's like to be a student in Harlem. I know what it's like to not engage with the voting process. Going to the voting booth on election day was not a regular occurrence for me growing up. It really wasn't until I matriculated to Bowdoin and got involved in Students for Voting Justice that I was able to feel confident in the power I possessed as a voter and inspired to help others know how to use their voting power."
Journey is grateful to all of you, the donors to Students for Voting Justice who made her internships with us possible. She says, “When you're making a donation to Students for Voting Justice, you’re making an investment in progress, an investment in educating youth -- and not only educating them, but also giving them the tools to educate others like them. This is the most effective way to reach youth in any capacity, but especially in voting. You're recognizing the power of the youth to influence the lives of others in a positive way. You're investing in skill development for a lot of young leaders, giving them confidence, teaching them how to lead a diverse team of people. You’re giving young adults substantive work experiences that they will continue to call on.”
This summer, Journey will be interning at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She doesn’t know what will come after that, because she is still exploring her many legal interests. But having known Journey for four and a half years now, we can say with complete confidence that she will continue to use her many talents to make the world a better place. We are so proud to know her and to have been able to help her realize her potential!
With your help, Students for Voting Justice is identifying and training the leaders of tomorrow. Journey is just one of our alumni who are already having an impact. In upcoming newsletters, we will profile others. Stay tuned!
With continued hope for our democracy,
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