Momentum Magazine: Civic Participation Now Live

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the November election only a few short months away, the latest issue of Momentum Magazine, with contributions from the national leaders in the civic participation and engagement space, is now live. Authors include Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood Action Fund; Gerry Hudson, SEIU;Scott Nielsen, the McKay Foundation; Clarissa Martinez, Council of La Raza; Christie George, New Media Ventures; Biko Baker, League of Young Voters. Each is implementing a variety of strategies to engage voters, mobilize folks to exercise voting rights, sustain social-change organizations and advocate for meaningful policy change.

"There is no more important election than this one," Cecile Richards says in her article, which describes so. "We know what happens when we send anti-woman politicians to Washington, and we know just how critical it is to elect — and re-elect — pro-women champions."

Gerry Hudson reflects on the growing income and opportunity gap in the United States. "Across the country, I hear the same story from workers. In spite of playing by the rules and doing everything right, they can't seem to get ahead. Some are discouraged because they don't believe that hard work will pay. We have become the land of opportunity—for a few." 

Scott Nielsen focuses on how building leadership and organizational capacity in the nonprofit sector are key ingredients to building a solid civic-engagement infrastructure.  "We have found that investment in executive development and organizational capacity-building dramatically improves organizational, network, and sector performance, Nielsen says."

Clarissa Martinez delves into voter registration and the need for electoral expansion. "A concerted, energetic push is now even more important to put voters back in the driver's seat, since participation gaps will be exacerbated by the displacement resulting from the economic and foreclosure crises and state laws that make it more difficult for eligible Americans to register and vote—factors that will have an impact beyond this election."

In a similar vein, Biko Baker discusses the importance of the Voter Activation Network for civic-engagement groups. "If all of our movements use the same up-to-date database we will drastically improve our ability to inform voters about their rights and strengthen our ability to protect voters from the growing list of suppression tactics that threaten our democracy," he says.

"We hear it constantly: voters are increasingly disengaged with the political process," says Christie George. "At New Media Ventures (NMV), we believe that the same kinds of technologies that have revolutionized how we interact with one another have the potential to radically transform how we interact with our politics."

Momentum Magazine is a monthly digital publication published by Tides. In keeping with Tides' mandate to evolve product and service innovation across the sector, and based on our seminal Momentum Leadership Conference series, Momentum is a quarterly publication that spotlights the world's leading and emerging social change-makers. Covering issues ranging from the environment, to education, health, and social and racial equity, Momentum seeks to educate, inspire, and motivate activists and organizations to action.

SOURCE Tides Network