About two months ago, I attended a congressional simulation in Boston with about 25 other students from my high school. This amazing experience was Harvard Model Congress. There is too much to write about HMC and the trip to Boston, so for this post I will only be talking about how my path crossed with New Voters and where that has led me up to now.
For Harvard Model Congress, the students at Harvard organized lectures that I and other attendees could sign up for with topics ranging from environmental conservation to civic engagement. Unknowingly, my friend and I both signed up for the same lecture, Civic Engagement: Building a Movement of New Voters. At this lecture, we met Jahnavi Rao, a student at Harvard who is founder and president of New Voters, a nonprofit organization with the goal of gathering nationwide youth based chapters to stimulate civic engagement and help other high school teens with voter registration. As a nonpartisan organization, New Voters welcomes all teens with an interest in politics or who simply want to learn more about how to make a difference in their local governments. The goal of teenage civic engagement is achieved through New Voters’ mentor program which pairs high school students with college level students who will offer training on how to run voter registration drives at their local high schools. In April, even through the COVID-19 epidemic, New Voters virtually trained over 100 students through partnerships with High School Democrats of America and March for our Lives.
My involvement with New Voters began in Boston but by coming in contact with Jahnavi and by expressing my interest in civic engagement I have recently become an intern. This opportunity has allowed me to explore my interest in politics and taught me how I can be part of a team with a goal larger than my own. I would highly encourage any high school student who wants to learn more about civic engagement to join New Voters to get others involved with something as simple as registering to vote.
If anyone reading is interested in New Voters and civic engagement, feel free to contact Jahnavi Rao through her email: jahnavirao@college.harvard.edu
-Abi