July 19, 2016

Rock the Vote Announces #TruthToPower Campaign to Boost Participation of Millennial Voters in 2016 General Election

Multi-State Engagement Campaign Including Key Partnerships Aims to Register 2 Million Young Voters by November, Help Drive Millennial Turnout

Rock the Vote, the 25-year-old nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and building the political power of young people, today announced a $4.5 million campaign called “Truth to Power” to increase Millennial participation in the 2016 general election. The campaign aims to register an additional 2 million young voters before November and help drive turnout of voters under 30 in targeted battleground states. Rock the Vote will officially launch Truth to Power at sponsored events at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia the following week.

Rock the Vote’s Truth to Power campaign will include digital and on-the-ground voter registration drives and election turnout efforts in 12 key battleground states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia. Rock the Vote will partner with top entertainment and creative talent to create a series of compelling political content aimed at engaging and mobilizing Millennials throughout the general election season that will be featured in a fall 2016 national bus tour featuring appearances by Rock the Vote artists, musicians and cultural leaders.

“Throughout this election season, we’ve seen young people across the country taking a stand, demanding change and fighting for a system and leaders that work for us,” said Rock the Vote President Carolyn DeWitt. “Speaking truth to power — through engagement, through activism and through our votes — is how young people have shaped the world around us for generations. We know what’s at stake in November, and we’re ready to play a real role in the outcome.

In addition to an increased investment in existing registration and turnout efforts, Rock the Vote’s Truth to Power campaign will include new partnerships with Voto Latino, a civic media organization working to engage, educate and empower Latinos to be agents of change; PushBlack, the first mobile-based black civic engagement group; and APIAVote, a national nonpartisan organization that works to mobilize Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in electoral and civic participation. These three partnerships will focus specifically on engaging young people of color around critical issues that are at stake in this year’s election and driving voter participation and turnout.

“Young voters are the largest, most diverse electorate and this election will be a referendum on our future. Our issues have never been more pressing: student debt, wage equity, criminal justice reform, the environment, choice and immigration are all on the ballot,” said María Teresa Kumar, President & CEO of Voto Latino. “Voto Latino is excited to partner with Rock the Vote as we work to empower young people across the country, not as siloed organizations, but as one powerful voice.”

Additional partnerships with twenty different nonprofit organizations, corporate partners and media outlets will enable the Truth to Power campaign to serve as a dominant force in driving Millennial participation in the general election.

In recent presidential elections, Millennial voters have been a decisive voice in key battleground states, including Ohio and Florida in both 2008 and 2012. Driven by passionate Millennials across the country committed to a movement of bold, progressive change, Rock the Vote’s Truth to Power campaign aims to again help Millennials decide the 2016 presidential election. For more information on the Truth to Power campaign, visit rockthevote.com/truthtopower.

About Rock the Vote:
Rock the Vote is the largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization in the country driving the youth vote to the polls. Since 1990, Rock the Vote has fused pop culture, music, art and technology to fulfill its mission of building long-term youth political power. During the past six Presidential elections, Rock the Vote ran the largest voter registration drives for young people and has partnered with more than 25,000 partners through its online, multi-lingual voter registration tool. Rock the Vote is dedicated to mobilizing the vote, protecting voting rights and advocating for an electoral process and voting system that works for the Millennial generation, America's largest and most diverse population in history. To get Rock the Vote updates on upcoming events, election reminders and candidate, visit RocktheVote.com. Engage on social media, by following Rock the Vote on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @rockthevote.

Contacts:

Silvie Snow-Thomas

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June 30, 2016

Rock the Vote Announces New Leadership for 2016 General Election Campaign to Engage Millennials

Carolyn DeWitt Names New President, Sanders' Youth Vote Director Luis Calderia Named Vice President of Marketing & Creative

Rock the Vote, the nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and building the political power of young people, today announced its new leadership team through the 2016 general election and beyond. Carolyn DeWitt, who has served as the organization's Chief Operating Officer since October 2015, will serve as President of Rock the Vote, leading the organization's robust campaign to engage and mobilize Millennials across the country through November.

"Across the country, Millennials have become increasingly engaged in the 2016 election, recognizing our ability to speak truth to power and create change on important issues that impact our lives," said Rock the Vote President Carolyn DeWitt. "Rock the Vote is committed to building on our success during this year's presidential primaries and mobilizing millions of Millennial voters to come together and fight for bold, progressive change in November."

Before joining Rock the Vote as Chief Operating Officer in 2015, DeWitt recently served as chief of staff for Pivot, a political communications firm, during the 2014 election cycle and coordinated surrogate media appearances for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. DeWitt has also spent time working with democracy building efforts in South Africa and Kenya, and served as a senior international advisor to a youth political movement and potential presidential candidate in Madagascar. Additionally, DeWitt spent three and a half years as a financial and management consultant with Development Specialists, Inc., where she managed the firm's civic and government affairs in addition to her consulting responsibilities.

Rock the Vote has also hired Luis Calderin, who previously served as Director of Arts, Culture and the Youth Vote for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, to serve as Vice President of Marketing and Creative.

"I'm excited to join Rock the Vote and participate in this bold campaign to continue building the political power of young people in this election and I look forward to continuing that work through November and beyond in my new role," said Calderin."I'm proud of the work we did on the Sanders campaign to really focus on engaging young people in the process and uniting Millennials to make our voices heard, and I look forward to continuing that work through November in my new role. When all of us come together — across race, gender, family background, sexual orientation, gender identity — and participate in elections, we can change our country for the better."

During this year's presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders was widely recognized for inspiring young people across the country to register to vote and join his"political revolution" by focusing on issues like college affordability, environmental protection and eliminating the influence of large corporations and powerful special interest groups. A recent report showed that the Vermont senator won more than twice as many votes from young people in the 21 states that voted by June 1 as either of the presumptive presidential nominees. But as the Sanders campaign winds down its operations, his enthusiastic young supporters are looking to continue the Millennial-driven movement for progressive change that he started.

"We are excited to welcome Carolyn and Luis into their new leadership roles at Rock the Vote, in which they will lead our general election campaign to register and turn out Millennial voters across the country," said Jon Rubin, Rock the Vote Board Chairman. "Their experience and expertise in mobilizing young people to come together and fight for progressive change make them uniquely qualified to lead Rock the Vote through an election in which so much is at stake."

About Rock the Vote:

Rock the Vote is the largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization in the country driving the youth vote to the polls. Since 1990, Rock the Vote has fused pop culture, music, art and technology to fulfill its mission of building long-term youth political power. During the past six Presidential elections, Rock the Vote ran the largest voter registration drives for young people and has partnered with more than 25,000 partners through its online, multi-lingual voter registration tool. Rock the Vote is dedicated to mobilizing the vote, protecting voting rights and advocating for an electoral process and voting system that works for the Millennial generation, America's largest and most diverse population in history. To get Rock the Vote updates on upcoming events, election reminders and candidate, visit RocktheVote.com. Engage on social media, by following Rock the Vote on Facebook and on Twitter at @rockthevote.

Contacts:

Megan Noller