At Wellstone Action, we're all about building capacity of people and organizations looking to get involved in electoral and issue campaigns. In April, the first of several Voter Engagement School trainings with the Arab American Institute (AAI) took place in Dearborn Michigan, centered on the nonpartisan Yalla Vote Campaign. Yalla Vote, brainchild of AAI, is an organized effort to increase political participation for Arab Americans nationwide. They represent a mostly unspoken for constituency in America, a voice that often obscured and disempowered by acts of hate and discrimination. But like any underrepresented constituency, the first steps to being heard are getting organized, educating leaders, and building on available resources for the movement. AAI did just that by working with Wellstone Action to build their capacity to fight for change.
Yalla Vote Campaign organizers and volunteers have been busy this year, collecting petition signatures supporting a national policy agenda for the Arab-American community. These petitions will be sent to the Democratic presidential nominee, once chosen, and Republican nominee John McCain, delivered at each party's national convention by AAI in August and September. All the while, Yalla Vote organizers will be registering unprecedented numbers of new Arab-American voters. The goal of the Yalla Vote Campaign is to demonstrate the power of the Arab-American community to party leaders, and communicate their national and international agendas.
Over 65 people attended the Dearborn training, ranging in age from high school and college students to retired activists in the Arab-American Community. Participants learned tools for engaging voters in the national political process, connecting on the issues that directly impact them, and identifying candidates who will fight for their interests.
Wellstone Action is proud to partner with the Arab American Institute on the Yalla Vote Campaign. Keep a look out for AAI Voter Engagement School trainings happening in Washington D.C and New Jersey later this year.
For more information on the Yalla Vote campaign, click here.
The training was great !
My sister was there to be
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