A SNAPSHOT OF OUR YEAR:

  • 51 events & community engagements

  • 38 partnerships activated locally

  • 453 new voters registered (30% under 25 years old)

  • 2250+ voter conversations between September - November

  • 30,000 nonpartisan voter information cards distributed

  • 2 percentage point increase in municipal voter turnout in Charleston County (SC) from 2019


We’re changing the way communities think about local government, politics and voting. We’re creating opportunities for community conversations focused on how each of us can build and use our own political power. We’re empowering folks to take action and activate their friends and communities in joining them in local civic activities.

Thank you for being part of this community, and thank you for showing up in all the ways you have this year. 

Our 2023 Impact: click to watch 60 seconds of power and joy brought to communities

At the beginning of 2023, we gathered a group of folks to strategize the year ahead. While our work in Georgia, North Carolina and our neighboring Southern states would continue, it became very clear the recipe for building healthier communities and a more equitable democracy in South Carolina was not working.

South Carolina is a high voter registration state but low participation state. Using existing data coupled with significant timely events happening across the state, we saw an opportunity to try a new recipe for civic & electoral engagement — one centered on building for and with our community.

Over the course of the year, we hopscotched our way around the state to meet and talk with voters, non-voters, those that identify all over the political spectrum & varying intersecting identities. An overarching theme was that people want to participate, but they don’t have the basic information, tools and resources to do so along with not seeing opportunities for them to have a say in how they could participate.

Reflecting back on the year, we’re really proud of the measurable impact we have had, but, equally, our relentless commitment to actively inviting folks to have a role in shaping the very recipe that will define their futures.

2023 IN REVEW:

EVENT HIGHLIGHT:

Be The Ones, SC Housing Justice Network in partnership with Charleston Area Justice Ministry and Lowcountry Local First hosted a first-of-its kind event, Mingle with Your Mayoral Candidates Community Celebration designed to remove barriers to local civic participation and create a gathering space for community celebration.  200+ community members mingled with Mayoral candidates & local elected officials, met local organizations working on issues in our community and celebrated the electoral process, voting, and civic engagement in a fun and joyful way.