Our year, Wrapped.

Before starting the holiday season, let’s take a look back at our favorite holidays: the Civic Holidays. Nobody does civic celebrations like the Alliance Network. From National Voter Registration Day to Election Hero Day, Alliance organizers turned up and turned out various events, digital campaigns, and educational programs to get more young people ready to vote in this year’s midterms.

Young people turn out to vote in record numbers despite attempts to silence their voices because they believe in a Democracy Done Right. This campaign is all about creating a reality where more people participate in our democracy, and have protected, easy access to the ballot. This year, we amplified Democracy Done Right through a week of voter rights actions.

On September 21st, we gathered young movement leaders from across the network for panel discussions on the powerful role the Gen-Z and Millennial voting bloc would play in this year’s midterm elections. We were joined by activist Tiffany Dena Loftin, indie pop band The Aces, and journalist Paola Ramos along with live performances from DJ Saint Cedes and DJ Searchlight.

With more than 8 million people turning 18 since the 2020 election, we wanted to roll out the red carpet for new voters casting their ballots for the first time in this year’s midterm elections! In October we launched Democracy Debut, a new campaign dedicated to celebrating first-time voters. Since then, we’ve collected stories from five young voters on what’s driving them to the polls this year.

The Alliance Network flexed the power of the youth vote in this year’s election. Young people turned out (again) in record numbers, second only to the historic turnout of the 2018 midterms. Needless to say, we are celebrating a lot of wins from across the Alliance Network into the new year. 

This year, we spent a week dreaming of what life could be without the weight of the student debt crisis. In early April, we took a series of actions to put pressure on President Biden to follow through on his campaign promise to cancel student debt. 

During the Dreams Not Debt Week of Action, we joined several partners on the streets of Washington, D.C. to rally for student debt cancellation outside of the Department of Education. We were also joined by youth organizers from the Alliance Network representing Virginia Student Power Network and Ohio Student Association. 

This year, we wanted to focus our lens on the individual stories that make up the Alliance Network’s organizing power. We launched a new digital storytelling project to highlight different leaders from across the network and their connections to the communities they organize in.

From July 25th-31st, we continued our tradition to grow our network of grassroots giving with the eighth annual Monthly Donor Competition. This year, we had eleven organizations go head-to-head in a nationwide match to grow their monthly donor program, unlocking matching grants from the Alliance in return.

In the last two weeks of October, the Alliance staff worked across the country to get out the youth vote. From Montana to North Carolina, we joined forces with Alliance Network orgs to host events, knock on doors, and engage with voters ahead of the midterm elections.