+1 the Vote

Roles: Impact Strategy, Program Development, Partnerships, Campaign Management 

Impact: +1 the Vote changed the way young people think about elections – making it 20% more likely that they would ask their friends to vote in 2018 (the most powerful driver of civic participation: social pressure).

More: In 2018, young people were leading the charge in improving our communities. From the March for Our Lives to young Dreamers to Black Lives Matter, the next generation was showing up for the issues they cared about. In an election year, the question became: would young people show up to vote in the midterms? 

In order to support young people in getting to the polls in 2018, I helped develop MTV’s first-ever midterm election campaign, +1 the Vote, based on an audience insight that friendship is one of the most powerful motivators in civic action. Given that young people were already fired up, we called on them to invite a "+1" to vote with them. We knew they would be more persuasive with their community than any single brand. As part of the campaign’s development, I spearheaded most major aspects of the effort, including partnerships, site development, events strategy, and provided feedback on creative content.

We launched +1 the Vote during MTV’s biggest night of the year, the VMAs, with an innovative, first-of-its-kind digital buddy system that enabled our audience to identify and message friends who weren’t registered to vote. To encourage voter turnout, we teamed up with #VoteTogether to give away voting party grants in 50 states, which brought out more than 20,000 people. We capped off these parties across the country with a massive +1 the Vote: Election Afterparty at Miami Dade College in Florida. 

Over a three-month span, the AP saw a 20% increase in youth who said they were "extremely" likely to encourage a friend to vote. The campaign won the Shorty Award for the Best Call to Action of any Social Good Campaign in 2018 and a D&AD Award for Campaign Branding.

+1 the Vote branding and graphics created by MTV Entertainment Design Group. Advisors included CIRCLE, Democracy Works, the Alliance for Youth Organizing, and #VoteTogether at Civic Nation.