New Laufer Democracy Internship Program mobilizes UMD talent to strengthen democracy

At CDCE we are always working to mobilize UMD talent, knowledge, and convening power to strengthen democracy. The Laufer Democracy Internship Program will powerfully accelerate this work.

SAM NOVEY AND MICHAEL HANMER APR 4

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Having a huge impact while advancing UMD faculty research and accelerating students’ careers!

A critical national election is approaching this fall which presents enormous challenges to our society. That’s why CDCE is focused on working with our partners from across UMD in the Maryland Democracy Initiative to strengthen democracy by addressing the grand challenge of low and unequal voter participation in the United States. Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, we have been doing exciting interdisciplinary work together around the theme of “mobilizing colleges and schools to welcome all new voters.” This work has included the leadership role our faculty and fellows play in the Student Vote Research Network and New Voters Research Network as well as our work hosting the 2023 National Student Vote Summit at UMD.

Mobilizing colleges and schools to welcome all new voters SAM NOVEY AND MICHAEL HANMER · DECEMBER 15, 2023 Read full story

Now, we’re thrilled to powerfully accelerate this work through the Laufer Democracy Internship Program. We will use this program to place some of the most talented UMD students drawn from across the entire university in summer internships with some of the most innovative and impactful organizations in the country working towards 100% student voting rates.

This program deeply aligns with our vision at CDCE to fully integrate the research, teaching, and service parts of our work. We know that we can only do our best research when we authentically co-create great projects with community partners who are fully engaged with the work of strengthening democracy every day.

That is why we are so excited to be co-producing the Laufer Democracy Internship Program with our colleague Bianca Rosales and the incredible team at the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition. As the national hub and largest non-partisan network in the country dedicated to increasing student voter participation, the SLSV Coalition is a critically important part of America’s elections infrastructure. At CDCE, our partnership with the SLSV Coalition and their member organizations helps us do highly strategic and impactful research every day. The Laufer Democracy Internship Program will give our students amazing opportunities to do impactful work while strengthening an important research partnership for UMD.

We were so proud to host the National Student Vote Summit at UMD this past fall! Now we are building on that work by co-producing the Laufer Democracy Internship Program with the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.

An incredible range of placements!

The internship placements for the Laufer Democracy Internship Program reflect the breadth of both the SLSV Coalition and the students at the University of Maryland. We are so excited about the work our students will do with these amazing partners in several important areas.

Movement building: These placements focus on growing the student vote movement both to reach every part of our campus at UMD and to reach every campus in America. They are perfect for students interested in community organizing or non-profit careers.

• ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge: This placement is with ALL IN Managing Director Catherine Fish and will focus on supporting ALL IN’s communities of practice for Community Colleges and Minority Serving Institutions.
• Campus Vote Project (2) These placements are with Campus Vote Project Curriculum and Research Manager Kassie Phebillo and will focus on CVP’s Annual Student Vote Study (an amazing grassroots student led research initiative to understand what motivates student voters!) and support for Campus Vote Project’s fellowship programming.
• TerpsVote (2): These placements are with Stamp Student Union Coordinator for Social and Democratic Engagement Naomi Cohen (‘15) and will focus on preparing materials and getting the TerpsVote coalition organized for a very busy fall of voter engagement programs at UMD ahead of the 2024 election.

Celebrating Democracy: These placements focus on creating an inclusive culture around democracy and elections. They are perfect for students interested in careers in arts and culture, communications, corporate social responsibility, and event production.

• Vote Early Day (2): These placements are with Vote Early Day Director (and former Montana State Senator!) Bryce Bennett and will focus on planning and support for thousands of community celebrations of voting planned for fall 2024.
• Pizza to the Polls: This placement is with Pizza to the Polls Chief Pizza Officer Lee Kornfeld and will focus on coordinating the Pizza to the Polls’ “pre-order program” that supports local partners with delicious food for civic engagement events.
• Impactual: This placement is with Impactual Program Manager Katherine Hernandez to support work across Impactual’s portfolio of social impact projects. (This placement will also build on incredible work done by UMD School of Public Health alumni at Impactual including Katherine Dolan ‘18 and Rohini Nambiar ‘19).

Engaging diverse constituencies: These placements support organizations that focus on improving voting rates for specific student constituencies. They are perfect for students interested in careers building power with specific constituency groups.

• APIA Vote: This placement with APIA Vote Program Associate Kareena Salvi will focus on implementing programs across the country that seek to engage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the electoral process.
• XCeleader: This placement with XCeleader Co-Founder Tevon Blair will support Xceleader’s Vote HBCU program which connects civics and culture to mobilize HBCU students.
• National Congress of American Indians: This placement with NCAI Civic Engagement Associate Saundra Mitrovich will focus on conducting programming and research focusing on Native youth and students at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) and facilitating a virtual TCU Native Vote summit.
• The Team: This placement with The Team Director of Programming Hannah Nussbaum will support The Team’s Civic Captain program. This program recruits, trains, and empowers student athletes to utilize their platforms to organize their peers to vote by equipping their campuses with necessary civic resources.

Voting rights advocacy: These placements support organizations that focus on advocacy and voting rights policy. They are perfect for students interested in careers in public policy.

• Southern Poverty Law Center: This placement with SPLC Policy Research Director Andrea McChristian will support SPLC’s Strengthening Democracy Initiative to support ongoing state policy efforts in SPLC’s five priority states (AL, GA, MS, FL, and LA).
• VoteRiders: This placement with VoteRiders’ National Volunteer Manager Sylvester Johnson will support voter ID focused volunteer programs, including regular virtual events such as text-banks, phone banks, and letter-writing parties. This role includes an option to continue at 10-15 hours per week in the fall.

Research and faculty engagement: These placements support organizations that work with faculty around the country on both original research about student voting as well as efforts to improve teaching and learning about elections. They are perfect for students who are interested in research, academic careers, or otherwise building their networks in higher education.

• CIRCLE: This placement with CIRCLE Elections Coordinator Ruby Belle Booth will focus on supporting CIRCLE’s work providing the public with crucial data and research about youth voting and electoral participation.
• Scholars Strategy Network: This placement with Scholars Strategy Network Senior Voting and Election Policy Associate Britah Odondi will focus on supporting SSN’s work convening the Faculty Network on Student Voting Rights and their engagement about voting rights with SSN Chapters across the country.
• Campus Compact: This placement with Campus Compact Student Engagement Manager Morgan Goodwin will focus on creating connections between Campus Compact – a national coalition of colleges committed to the public purposes of higher education – and student leaders building campus voting coalitions.

We are just getting started in our work to mobilize UMD talent to strengthen democracy!

At CDCE, we are committed to being your friendly front door to the work of strengthening democracy. So if you’re a student interested in this work, please reach out! Even if the Laufer Democracy Internship Program wasn’t a good fit for you this year, we’d love to hear from you and help you find your calling in the work of strengthening democracy. And if you’re a faculty colleague or community partner interested in this work please reach out as well – we’d love to continue to learn and build together!

Sam Novey is Chief Strategist at the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. Mike Hanmer is Director of UMD’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.