At Chicago Votes, we believe in the potential of our generation to use organizing and advocacy to change politics as usual. We utilize these tools to develop the next generation of young leaders in Chicago. We bring together young, driven Chicagoans who are ready to get their hands dirty and learn the grassroots basics of our democracy. Want to learn how to organize large-scale volunteer events (we got ya!), oversee a massive voter registration drive (you bet!), throw an awesome panel/debate/conference (who doesn’t?) We’re committed to educating, training, and empowering the next generation of Chicagoans and have designed our programs to act as springboards for young leaders to enter the life of political and public service. All of our programs–Unlock Civics, Parade to the Polls, Give A Sh*t, and Leadership Development–are rooted in voter registration, voter education, and voter activation. Chicago Votes’ Successes: - Passed five bills for Early, Online and permanent precinct wide Same-Day Voter Registration, Extended Grace Period Voting, Automatic Voter Registration, Civics in Prison, and Voting in Jails. - In two years we registered more than 22,000 young Illinoisans to vote. - Trained more than 200 organizers, fellows and interns. - Thousands of youth from across Chicago have come to our events that educate young people on the electoral process and connect community issues to government .