Can we make our dreams come true?
what we learned at the 100% Democracy Research and Design Symposium
Dear Friends -
We started the 100% Democracy Celebration in March by learning to ask “why not?” when we consider bold ideas for our democracy.
But this openness to bold ideas is just a first step. Learning to ask “why not?” gives us the courage to dream about how we might build a 100% Democracy together.
How might we make our dreams come true?
This past Monday, eight 100% Democracy Celebration co-hosts came together at the historic Globe Collection and Press to talk about how to make their dreams for our democracy come true.
We talked about Voting is Recovery and Scaled Voter Impact Models. We explored how to celebrate the efforts of local League of Women Voters’ chapters to partner with local election officials. We visualized how dynamic new knowledge could emerge from the Black Girls Vote Research Network and a Global Research Network studying what happens when democracies lower the voting age to sixteen (as twenty-two nations and five American cities have done).
And we workshopped designs for several new tools to support local leaders doing everything in their power to build a 100% Democracy in their community. We imagined pocket guides for new voters that them feel welcomed by the voting process and voter education materials for down ballot races that boost voter self esteem. We dreamed of an accessible voting index to support every local election official working hard to administer elections that include 100% of voters.
We responded to each bold idea with the spirit of “why not?” and tried to imagine how to make it work. And we’ll be pushing forward to make these dreams into reality in the coming weeks. I’ll be sharing a sketch of one of these ideas - as well as the amazing ideas and demos emerging from the Democracy Data Science Hack-a-thon and State of the Student Vote Research Workshop - each week with the full 100% Democracy Celebration community to broaden the circle of people thinking about how to make these bold dreams for our democracy come true.
Making our dreams for a 100% democracy come true is hard work. But it’s worth it! Don’t sleep on your dreams. If you have a bold idea for our democracy, don’t hold it in. Share it out. This community is here to sit with you lovingly, joyfully ask “why not”, and purposefully imagine what it would take to make it real. Let’s get to work!
Best,
Sam