ABOUT US:
Through year-round nonpartisan voter education & mobilization, leadership development, advocacy events, and collaboration with allied organizations, our initiatives create opportunities for meaningful local civic participation by informing, connecting and activating you to be the ones.
OUR MISSION:
Be The Ones is a nonpartisan grassroots organization building healthier communities, a more equitable democracy, and expanding power by removing barriers to local civic participation across South Carolina.
HOW WE DO IT:
Our work is centered on building for and with communities. In order to remove barriers to local civic participation we have to know what they are.
We go right to the source. We ask, we listen. We keep asking, we keep listening.
Informed by these lived experiences, we co-create solutions that increase civic understanding, motivate engagement and foster a culture of accessible, inclusive, sustainable, and joyful participation. We blend community organizing & movement-building with relational strategies, technology, storytelling, art, music, food, and culture to create a sense of place and possibility to do this work.
Recognizing there is no one size fits all approach to solving local civic information and participation gaps, we foster a culture of curiosity, creativity, and experimentation by piloting and implementing a wide range of tools, tactics and strategies.
Our work is informed by intersectionality (not siloed demographics) and does not view communities in terms of deficits, rather of unrealized opportunity and potential. While our programming is created with the intention of expanding power among disenfranchised and historically excluded communities - including communities of color, low-wealth individuals, and young people (16-40), we do not exclude folks of other intersecting identities.
We achieve our mission and vision through three key initiative pillars.
OUR INITIATIVES:
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BE A LOCAL VOTER
Our electoral work builds power through nonpartisan voter education & mobilization preparing you to participate in local elections & be lifelong voters.
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BE THE NOISE
Our advocacy work includes experiences and tools to gain knowledge, develop skills, and build community to champion issues and dismantle structural barriers.
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BE AND LEAD
Our leadership work shifts power and broadens leadership by training & supporting a new generation of leaders and movement builders.
THE RESULT:
Communities across South Carolina are strong, resilient & thriving because our systems and structures are built to support equitable access to resources and opportunities. Justice for all is achieved.
17 year-old from Colleton County, SC
“Thank you for coming and talking about voting. No one has ever asked me if I want to vote and why before. I feel like my voice meant something.”
Our Story:
How It Started…
Be The Ones began in 2020 as a volunteer effort born out of two conversations. Beth didn’t see the importance of voting or why she should participate. Anne kept hearing “local elections matter,” but couldn’t figure out why a coroner race was worthy of attention or where to find information on wtf the coroner does. We asked: “what could happen if we tried to help people by providing information they needed to participate, connected the dots to issues they care about, uplifted lived experiences…and built a community that had some fun?”
How It’s Going…
Be The Ones has engaged in thousands of conversations to identify civic pain points, listen to lived experiences and determine what folks really need in order to participate. We’ve engaged with the civically curious, civically engaged, and civically disinterested. We’ve run unique experiments, launched programs that have flopped and ones that’ve brought new voices into civic spaces. We’ve activated 500,000+ across the Southeast and we’re just getting started.
Will you join us in being the ones?
OUR IMPACT:
OUR PURPOSE:
We believe informed and engaged citizens are our greatest assets for solving the most critical problems in our communities.
Our current political and social structures are designed to include, privilege, and prioritize the power of certain groups which results in inequitable representation and policies that disadvantage and harm.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Be The Ones understands the importance and urgency of voting (especially at the local level), and also knows healthy communities and advancing racial & social justice requires more than showing up every 4 years to vote for a President. To achieve our mission and vision, we must address the root causes and barriers created and perpetuated by systemic racism, white supremacy, and patriarchy.
We must work together to structurally change it while also participating in it. We’re committed to waking up every day to inform, connect, and activate communities to re-imagine, dismantle, and re-build our political, economic and social structures and shift power to where it belongs.
We are committed to be the ones.
LEADERSHIP TEAM:
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Cate Mayer (she/her)
Founder & Executive Director
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Anna Long (they/them)
Program Director
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Dylan Gunnels (he/him)
Advocacy & Community Organizing Director
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Munir Meghjani (he/him)
Southeast Partnerships Director
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This Could Be You
We’re expanding our team soon! Interested in learning more? Email us: hello@betheones.org.
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This Could Be You
We’re expanding our internship programs and would love to learn more about you! Email us: hello@betheones.org
We also have the privilege and honor to work with a team of folks - from talented designers to technology geniuses and community organizers - that allow us to fulfill our mission.
LOCAL CHAMPIONS COUNCIL FOUNDING MEMBERS:
Kyle Brantley
Jessica Casagrande
Eduardo Curry
Samuel Grant
Lucas Jackson
Adrienne Lett
Davis McNeill
Madison Price
Haley Sabados
Champions Council Members Announced Soon!
MEMBERSHIPS & PARTNERSHIPS:
SC VOTING RIGHTS COALITION
SC HEALTHY FAMILIES COALITION
COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABLE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT COHORT
GET INVOLVED:
Join us in being the ones who shape the communities and democracy we want to be a part of.
