A few of us put together this video about canvassing to share why we think it's a great experience and critical to making social change a reality. Most of the people in the video are folks who have worked with the Fund or people who just know a lot about canvassing and the way we do things. If you've ever canvassed or ever thought about working in a canvass office, this video has a lot of great perspectives that you'll enjoy.
It's clearer than ever that strategic & aggressive efforts to get more young people in the political process works. According to PIRG/Fund alum Kathleen Barr of Youth Voter Strategies, "Turnout [in the 11/07/06 election] more than doubled in the 36 precincts where groups like the nonpartisan Student PIRG’s New Voters Project actively turned out this age cohort...The Student PIRG’s registered over 75,000 students to vote and ran nonpartisan GOTV operations on 80 campuses in 2006." For more on youth turnout in the recent election, check out this 11/9/06 news release from the Pew Charitable Trusts and Youth Voter Strategies.
"I directed four summer canvass offices for the Fund. Quite frankly, I never enjoyed canvassing and did not particularly excel at the art of it either! However, I developed relationships with people who started as activists in my offices and remain in contact with them as peers working towards social change to this day. While my job does not involve canvassing now, I know it has a valuable place in the overall movement."
Sarah Hodgdon
I wouldn’t be qualified to be the Executive Director of the Dogwood Alliance without the skills I learned from Green Corps. Practically every day, I rely on the expertise Green Corps gave me. Dogwood Alliance and the Southeastern forests are better off because of Green Corps.
In Nov. 2002, office superstore chain Staples agreed to phase out paper products made from endangered species of trees, and committed to including 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper content in all paper products. The announcement was a long-awaited victory for me. My organization, the Dogwood Alliance, along with several other Green Corps graduates, had been working toward this goal for two years.
The Dogwood Alliance, a North Carolina-based coalition of more than 70 southern groups, works to preserve forests in the region. Kelly Sheehan, from the Class of 1999, and Robyn Williams Heeks, from the class of 2000, teamed up with ForestEthics' Liz Butler, (Class of 1996) and Bill Holland (Class of 2001) to determine how best to protect those forests.
Our campaign got to work mobilizing citizens to speak out. We delivered 20,000 postcards to Staples' corporate headquarters, and organized a day of action that saw protests in 45 states. We recruited more than 100 businesses to sign on to a letter encouraging the company to improve the environmental quality of their paper.
Our efforts were successful, and the campaign moved on to challenge other chains, including Office Max and Office Depot, to meet or beat Staples' new policy. Green Corps trainees worked to raise the visibility of the campaign, create groups to target the two companies and hold them accountable into the future, build grassroots pressure, and generate media. With just six weeks on the campaign, Green Corps trainees recruited 700 activists, held thirty protests in four key states, generated 500 phone calls, 1,000 postcards, and 228 personal letters into corporate headquarters. Due to the flood of consumer pressure, both Office Max and Office Depot have announced policies to phase out products made from endangered forests.
“I can’t think of another organization that invests so much and gives such responsibility to young political activists, often fresh out of school. While grueling at times, my experience as a canvass director for the Fund taught me skills that I carry with me to this day. I wouldn’t trade my PIRG experience for anything because it was the foundation upon which I built the rest of my political career.” Seth Kilbourn
In March 2006, Seth Kilbourn became Political and Policy Director at Equality California (EQCA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. As Political Director, Seth oversees and coordinates the implementation of EQCA’s political, electoral and public policy priorities and activities. He manages EQCA’s legislative agenda and PAC, directs the legislative, communications, coalition building, and field staff functions, and manages strategies for building the capacity of the organization. As Policy Director for the Equality California Institute, Kilbourn manages a statewide public education campaign on marriage for same-sex couples and LGBT equality.
Prior to moving to San Francisco in March, Kilbourn worked for 9 years at the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBT advocacy group, in Washington DC. As Vice President for the Marriage Project, he directed HRC’s strategy and advocacy on marriage for same-sex couples. Kilbourn was HRC’s National Field Director for 5 years, leading a team of six field organizers to build HRC’s grassroots strength and presence at the state and local level. Under Seth’s leadership, HRC rapidly expanded its grassroots capacity, launched the HRC Action Center, a web-based network of activists nationwide, and brought an unprecedented level of HRC resources to state-level political work. In the 2004 election, he managed HRC’s $1.6 million campaign to turn out the GLBT and allied vote and the $1.7 million that HRC invested in state GLBT organizations and ballot campaigns to fund polling, message development and on-the-ground organizing.
Kilbourn began his tenure with HRC in March 1997 as a lobbyist, leading HRC's health policy work. Later, as HRC's deputy director for health and family policy, he directed the organization's efforts to ensure a comprehensive, well-funded national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“My introduction to politics was the door-to-door canvass I worked on in the summer of 2000 while I was a college student. Every night, rather than working at a sandwich shop or a checkout counter, I was reaching out to citizens by knocking on their doors, talking to them about pressing conservation issues, and asking them to get involved—I was doing something I cared about. Working on a canvass, I developed the dedication, work ethic, and skills that have allowed me to do the work I do today and see statewide victories, like the passage of Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Bill which sets the state’s first renewable energy standard. For me, canvassing was the crash course in grassroots organizing that set the tone for what I do now and will do in the future.” Jessica Garrels
Jessica Garrels joined the WLCV Institute staff in March, 2005. Most recently, Jessica was a Natural Resource Management Volunteer in the Peace Corps on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Niger, West Africa. Jessica grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and graduated from UW-Madison in 2002, with a B.A. in International Relations. She spent a large portion of her college years interning and working for WISPIRG (Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group), which is how she became involved in conservation efforts, public education and outreach, and mobilizing people to have an open dialogue with their elected representatives. Jessica also interned with the State Environmental Resource Center in 2002.
Fund alums can be found most everywhere in politics. Our records show alumni presence in more than 400 progressive organizations, foundations, and government offices, listed below.
AARP
ACLU of Northern California
ACORN
Advocacy Institute
Advocates for Youth
AFL-CIO
Alaska Coalition
Alaska Conservation Alliance
Alzheimer's Association
Amazon Watch
American Cancer Society
American Environics
American Farmland Trust
American Lands Alliance
American Local Power Project
American Medical Student Association
American Rivers
AmericaSpeaks
AmeriCorps
Amnesty International
Amputee Coalition of America
Anti Defamation League
Apollo Alliance
Appalachian Voices
Appliance Standards Awareness Project
Armenia Assembly of America
Armenian Forests NGO
Arthritis Foundation
Atlantans Building Leadership through Empowerment
Barbara Lee Foundation
Basic Rights Oregon
Beldon Fund
Berkeley Food Systems Project
Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board
Best Buddies of Maryland
Better World Books
Better World Club
Bloomington Monroe County Animal Control Shelter
Boston Creative Action
Boston Gay Community Center
Boston Phoenix
Boston University Community Service Center
Braille Printing Company
Bronx Museum of the Arts
Center on Wisconsin Strategy
CA State Senator Joe Simitian
CA Wilderness Coalition
California Wild Heritage Campaign
Catholic Charities
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Justice and Democracy
Center for Native Ecosystems
Center for Progressive Leadership
Central NH Regional Planning Commission
Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT)
CERES
Center for Health Environment and Justice
Children's Hospital, Denver
CIRCLE
Citizens for a Better Environment
Citizens Planning & Housing Assoc
Citizens Project
City Of Bainbridge Island
City of Cambridge Planning Dept
City of Eugene Public Works
City of Montery Park
City of Newton
City of Portland
City of Seattle
City Year
Clean Air Council
Clean and Green
Clean Water Action
Clean Money Hawaii
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Coastal Ocean Coalition
Colorado Common Cause
Colorado Conservation Voters
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Colorado Progressive Coalition
Colorado Renewable Energy Society
Colorado Rivers Alliance
Commercial Alert
Common Cause
Commonwealth of MA
Community Development Agency
Community Energy
Community Legal Services
Congregational Beth Israel
Congressman Earl Blumenauer
Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Service
Conservation Trust of North Carolina
Consumer Reports
Consumers Union
Cook County Commissioner
Co-Op America
Corporate Accountability International
Corporation for National Service
Corvallis Watershed Council
CPPAX
Critical Mass Energy Project
Oregon Citizens Utility Board
Defenders of Wildlife
Democratic Courage
Dennis Moore for Congress
Design for Social Impact
Developmental Studies Center
Dogwood Alliance
Earth First!
Earth Share
Earth Studio
Earthjustice
East Bay Community Law Center
Ecology Center
ECONorthwest
Environmental Defense Center
Endangered Species Coalition
Energy CENTS Coalition
Environmental Defense
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Environmental Health Strategy Center
Environmental Leadership Program
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Working Group
Epilepsy Foundation
Episcopal Church Foundation
Equality California
Equality Oregon
Equality Virginia
Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston
Fenton Communications
Fieldworks
Florida Council Against Sexual Violence
Food and Water Watch
For Her Information
Forest Ethics
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
Freedom House
Friends of Casco Bay
Friends of Columbia Gorge
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the River
Futurewise
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
GeekUprising
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Global Futures
GMO-Free Kaua'i
Gordon-Lovejoy Foundation
Government Accountability Project, The
Graduate School for Urban Planning, U.C. Berkeley
Great Valley Center
GREEN
Green Mountain Recycling
Greenbelt Alliance
Greenpeace USA
Grow Smart Maine
Gulf Restoration Network
Habitat for Humanity
Harlem Health Promotion Center- Columbia University
HEAL Utah
Hewlett Foundation
Highlands Coalition
Homes for Families
Housing Here and Now
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
Humane Society
Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers
Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition
Illinois Student Environmental Network
Inland NW Sierra Club
Institute for International Economics
John's Hopkins
Jones Falls Watershed Association
Kanai Organic Farms
Keystone Center
King County Council
LA Gay & Lesbian Center
Lake Snell Perry Mermin & Associates
Land & Water Conservation Fund of the Rockies
Land Trust Alliance
League of Conservation Voters
League of Oregon Cities
League of Women Voters
Liberty House
Life of the Land
Louisiana Bucket Brigade
M&R Strategic Services
MA Audubon
MA Public Health Association
Maine People's Alliance
Maine Rivers
Maine Safe Energy
Maryland State House
Mass Audubon
Mass League of Environmental Voters
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection
Mass. Office for Refugees & Immigrants
Mazoni Center
MD House of Delegates
MD LCV Education Fund
MI House Democratic Policy Staff
Michigan Environmental Council
Mid Peninsula Open Space District
Montana Environmental Information Center
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
MoveOn.org
MoveOnPAC
Moxie Media
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Museum of Fine Arts
N.Tahoe Parks & Recreation
National Association of Counties
National Democratic Institute
National Education Center
National Environmental Trust
National Family Farm Coalition
National Resources Defense Council
National Training & Information Center
National Wildlife Federation
Nature Conservancy
Nature's Classroom
NCSL Child Care and Early Childhood Education Project
Neighborhood Business Council
Neighborhood Design Center
Neighborhood Interfaith Movement
New America Foundation
New England Aquarium
New Jersey office of Smart Growth
New Mexico LCV
New School for Social Research
NH Democratic Party
NJ Environmental Federation
No on 933
Non Profit Housing Association
North Alaska Environmental Center
North Carolina Conservation Network
North Carolina Dept of Environment and Natural Resources
NorthWest Initiative
Not In Our Name
NRDC
National Renewable Energy Lab
NY Lawyers for the Public Interest
Ocean Conservancy
Ocean County Board of Elections
Oceana
Office of European Union & Regional Affairs, State Dept
Office of Rep. Kanjorski
Office of Senator Richard Durbin
Office of the Mayor of Portland
Office of the Public Defender
Ohio House of Representatives
One Nation Enlightened
OneAtlantic.net
OR Department of Consumer and Business Services
Oregon Citizens' Utility Board
Oregon Department of Human Services
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
Oregon Natural Resources Council
Oregon Parks and Salmon Initiative
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Oregon Secretary of State
Oregon Supreme Court
Organic Events
Organic Greenhouse
Outspire
PA Department of Aging
PA Environmental Hearing Board
PA Heath Care Cost Containment Council
PA State Representative Josh Shapiro
Pace Law School
Pacific Coast Farmers Market
Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center
Pacific Pride Foundation
Park Foundation
Partnerships for Parks
Patagonia, Inc.
Peace Corps
Peggy Lamm for Congress
People for Puget Sound
Perkins School for the Blind
Philadelphia Women's Center
Physicians for Human Rights
Physicians for Reproductive Choice & Health
Planned Parenthood of MD
Planned Parenthood
Preventing Violence in the Home
Prevention Points Philadelphia
Progressive Campaigns
Progressive Majority
Progressive Minnesota
Progressive Voter Network
Project for Public Spaces
Project Vote Smart
Public Citizen
Public Utilities Commission, Energy Division
Rainforest Action Network
Reading to Kids
Redwood National & State Parks
Renewable Energy Initiative
Renewable NW Project
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Resource Conservation
RESTORE: The North Woods
RTK Net/OMB Watch
Save Darfur Coalition
Save the Children UK
Seattle Alliance for Good Jobs and Housing for Everyone
Seattle Department of Transportation
Seattle Tenants Union
SEIU
Sen. Stan Rosenberg
Senator Jack Reed
Sequoia National Park
Share Group
Sher & Leff LLP
Sierra Club
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign
Sierra Student Coalition
Sierra Watch
SLUG (SF League of Urban Gardeners)
Social Accountability International
Speaker of the Colorado House
State Appeals Court Judge
State Dept. on NATO Policy
State of Massachusetts
State of Maryland
State of Oregon
Statewide Poverty Action Network
Surface Transportation Policy Project
Sustainable Northwest for the Healthy Forests
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Teach for America
Telefund
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights
The GreenKeeper
The Institute for College Access & Success
The James Irvine Foundation
The Pioneer Institute
The smartMeme project
The Steppingstone Foundation
The Wilderness Society
This is That Productions
Tobacco Free Mass
Training Resources for the Environmental Community
Transit Riders United
Transport for London
Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC)
Transportation Choices Coalition
Transportation Planning
City & County of Denver
Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Trout Unlimited
Trust for Public Land
Tuolumne River Trust
U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland
U.S. Senator Harry Reid
Union of Concerned Scientists
United Council
United for a Fair Economy
United for Peace and Justice
United Way
USAction
USDA
Utne Reader
Vermont Campus Compact
Voice Your Vote
WA Citizens for Resource Conservation
Walmart Watch
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington Labor Council
Washington Toxics Coalition
Washington Trails Association
Washington Wilderness Coalition
Western States Center
White Earth Land Recovery Project
WI Dept of Natural Resources
Wilderness Society
WildLaw
Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation
Women Presidents' Organization
New Jersey Work Environment Council
Working Assets
Working Families Party
World Wildlife Fund
YMCA
Young Voter Strategies
Zilkha Renewable Energy
Los Angeles City Council
New York City Council
“Canvassing for the Fund was my first genuine political experience, starting the summer after I graduated from college in 1998. Fortunately, the experience didn’t just open my eyes to critical issues facing our environment and democracy, it also taught me solid communications skills and gave me much-needed leadership experience- all of which has helped me build a career in non profit and public interest work. Canvassing provides a opportunity for people from all walks of life to participate directly in the political process on issues they care about, and serves as an entrée for thousands of young people for a lifetime of public service and good citizenship. It was invaluable in shaping the person I am today.” Maggie Drummond
Maggie Drummond is the Advocacy Director for GrowSmart Maine, a non profit organization working to promote quality growth in the State. Maggie started as a canvasser and field manager for the Fund during the summer of 1998. She went on to become a director in the Newton, Massachusetts office that fall & winter, and became the National Canvass Administrator in 1999. Maggie held that position for three years, before moving back to her home state of Maine to direct the Toxics Action Center office from 2001 until 2004.
When the video was shot, Chris worked with City Year. He's now Executive Director the Valley Medical Center Foundation.
"I owe my success in the fund-raising and nonprofit development world to my years with the Fund, canvassing for the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). There, I learned the fundamentals of campaign work, and how to lead door-to-door canvass operations benefiting the environment, improving consumer safety and strengthening democracy." E. Chris Wilder
With eighteen years in the Bay Area's public benefit sector, Chris Wilder serves as the Executive Director of the Valley Medical Center Foundation. The VMC Foundation supports Silicon Valley's largest and busiest hospital, the only one with a 100% open-door policy providing excellent care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Since taking the position three years ago, Chris has raised more money than in the VMC Foundation's previous twelve years combined.
Before joining the VMC Foundation, Mr. Wilder most recently served as the Executive Director of City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, California's premiere AmeriCorps program. There he managed a large staff, led a dynamic board and oversaw a fund raising effort exceeding $2,000,000 annually. Prior to that, Chris served as Assistant Executive Director for the Vanished Children's Alliance, California's oldest and largest missing children's organization.
Today he serves as a commissioner to the Santa Clara County Child Abuse Council and is past Chair of the county's Victim Support Network. Chris also serves on the City Year advisory board, the San Jose Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force Executive Committee and is a founding board member of the California AmeriCorps Alliance. He graduated from Stanford University's Executive Program in Nonprofit Leadership.
Chris has hosted and produced two award-winning cable TV shows: Community Perspectives and For the Animals. Chris is a graduate of San José State University, a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, and a musician/song writer who has performed in two-dozen nations. He has received accolades and commendations from San Jose Mayors Ron Gonzales and Susan Hammer, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren Congressman Mike Honda, Governor Gray Davis and others.
"Canvassing helped teach me that democracy is something that is best practiced face-to-face. My experience prepared me for reaching out to people who tune out television ads and mailings, but who will engage with a direct interaction at their door. I am certainly a better and more effective public servant because of this experience." Eric M Garcetti
Mr. Garcetti won a hotly-contested election to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001, becoming one of the youngest city councilmembers in the city's history. Over 100 languages are spoken on the streets of his district, from Hollywood to Downtown and across the Los Angeles River. The neighborhoods he represents constitute the beating heart of Los Angeles.
Council President Garcetti chairs the Rules and Elections Committee. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Energy and the Environment Committee and sits on the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee, which he chaired for four and a half years. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc River Committee and the Ad Hoc Homelessness Committee, and serves on the Ad Hoc Stadium Committee. He was unopposed for re-election and began his second term in office in July 2005.
During his first term in office, Garcetti led the effort to fund the nation's largest Affordable Housing Trust Fund, oversaw the economic and cultural revitalization of Hollywood, wrote and championed Proposition O to clean up our local water, won passage of a plan that eliminated the city’s business tax for 60% of all businesses, and helped bring thousands of new high wage jobs to Los Angeles and his district. In his district, he doubled the number of parks, ensured the availability of an after-school program in every school in the district, and reduced graffiti by more than 60 percent.
Councilmember Garcetti's work has been recognized in dozens of awards, including a Green Cross Millennium Award from former President Mikhail Gorbachev for his environmental leadership, a "Tiger Award" from the Valley Industry and Commerce Association for his work on business tax reform, and the first Olson Award from Human Rights Watch for his human rights activism. The Los Angeles Times writes that Garcetti is "smart” and “imaginative” and offers the city “refreshing idealism.” He was featured in LA Weekly's Best of Los Angeles issue and the Los Angeles Alternative Press readers named him "L.A.'s Favorite Elected Official" of 2003. In 2004, The Los Angeles Business Journal named him one of the 25 Angelenos who stand out for their potential to shape lives in Los Angeles. A profile in Los Angeles magazine in 2006 called him "a rising star".
Prior to his election, Garcetti taught public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California. In 1998, the Rockefeller Foundation selected him as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow. Garcetti studied urban planning and political science at Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. Council President Garcetti canvassed with the Fund during college.
