UWSN is launching our Democracy Fellowship this year!
- Be trained on how to serve our state’s election processes as poll workers
- Understand our state’s policy-making process, from the state to local levels, and attend public hearings on issues they care about.
- Connect with nonprofit and community leaders to learn best advocacy practices.
The curriculum and modules are intentionally designed to equip fellows with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to build greater awareness on how our communities are governed and offers several opportunities for elevated responsibility and leadership.
Requirements
- Attend to all five monthly trainings (dates tentatively: 8/29, 9/12, 9/26, 10/17, and 11/21 at 5:30PM)
- At minimum, attend or conduct (3) community outreach activities to solicit voter registration or poll worker recruitment. This can look like tabling at a community resource fair, giving a presentation to at a library or to high schools, or partnering with another nonprofit to host an event.
- Commitment to serving as a poll working during Election Day or if it is not possible due to scheduling conflicts, sign up for an Election Protection Shift, which is a four-hour commitment.
- Attend at least one (1) state, county, or city government meeting.
- Attend a check-in with program staff in-between modules to answer any questions or measure their progress in the program.
- Optional: Participation at UWSN partner and signature events during the fellowship.
Ready to get involved? Click the link here to submit an application. Our application deadline is operating on a rolling basis until filled. If you have any questions or encounter any issues submitting an application, please contact Henry Rosas, External Affairs Manager, at henryr@uwsn.org. Selected fellows will receive an invitation for a 15-minute phone screening shortly after.
Trainings Information
By the end of this session, fellows will review:
- Expectations and timeline, and key election dates to make sure fellows are aligned on the programmatic structure for the remainder of the fall.
- Poll Worker Overview – Introduce fellows to the work, responsibility, and the need for poll workers in our democracy. The training will review how to register, what the role’s job is, and how to recruit community workers to volunteer.
During this training, fellows will learn the tools, strategies, and practices for them to engage their communities in nonpartisan civic engagement. From this module fellows will:
- Have exposure a complete understanding of the tools and resources provided by Nonprofit VOTE/All Voting is Local to fully talk about the importance of voting and becoming civically engaged with their community.
- Be assigned into groups of 2-3 to begin working on creating presentation materials to present to their peers.
Fellows will be given a comprehensive overview of the lawmaking process at the state, county, and local level. The overview will provide a clear understanding for how to distinguish which level of government impacts their lives and families in order to build actionable change. By the end of this session, fellows will:
- Identify elected officials representing their community
- Identify 2-3 policy issues that are important to them
- Track and monitor a county or city meeting based on their issues of interest
- Gain knowledge of how governments collaborate and segment legislative power/authority.
Fellows will be given an overview of how elections are administered and what resources are available for Limited-English proficient communities to fully participate in our democracy. From this session fellows will:
- Learn the steps to request a ballot in another language and how voters can access language translation services at the ballot box.
- Understand historic legislation that expanded accessibility for voting rights and efforts to increase language access services at the state legislative level.
In a post-election conversation, UWSN will host a community roundtable organized and led by students that assemble community leaders to discuss how immigrants and New Americans can participate and advocate in the electoral and legislative processes. This event will be open to the public and serve as an opportunity to celebrate fellows’ work.
Thank you to our sponsor, All Voting Is Local, for making this program possible!
