Election Year Keeps Volunteers Busy!

Lorena Kanzki (PC ’19) spent her summer volunteering at the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade, a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of women and girls in Miami-Dade County, Florida. She was of particular help to the organization’s See Her Vote Campaign which is a non-partisan campaign seeking to increase women’s voter turnout in the Miami-Dade community. Lorena created multiple PSA’s for the campaign which have gone up on their website and are circulating through social media. She co-wrote the script and recorded audio for a PSA that will be aired on Comcast, joined canvassing and phone banking teams to directly encourage women to vote, helped with research on all things election-related to help educate the voters, and took photos and videos for the organization’s use along the way. Being so actively involved has made Lorena anxious for the August and November elections to see if voter turnout goals are met.

“I was given the opportunity to encourage women in my community to vote, so I was not only participating in civic engagement myself, but I was helping others to do the same. This is where I learned that civic engagement goes further than any individual’s actions while it can domino-effect into leading many to care about their community, and realize their potential to make positive change. From directly speaking to registered voters through phone banking and canvassing, I was given the opportunity to inform many voters on the specifics of the voting process that may not have been easily accessible to them. This is where I learned that civic engagement should be all-inclusive and as a society we tend to focus on the majority’s needs, or the needs that are most loudly heard, and we forget that big issues still stand where people may have less of a voice. To me, civic engagement means giving everyone a voice. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside strong, inspiring women at the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade, and give the women in my community a voice.”