Sep 28, 2021
Rhizome, A Trailblazing Community of Youth Voters
Jeffrey Camille
Rhizome is powered by conscious representation and collaborative growth that vitalizes a national civic engagement network. This community’s innovative work has helped to establish Rhizome as a standout among other grassroots organizations thanks to our principle of being youth-built and youth-led. With Co-Founders in 21 states, Rhizome’s members are the piloting force behind one of the first national nonprofits run by future generations of trailblazers across the U.S.
Voting is our backbone. Rhizome seeks to create a politically active culture — our purpose is to magnify civic participation in every corner of the country. Rhizome’s work is centered in the demographic with the most potential to be civically engaged on a mass scale: the American youth.
Through a focus on high schools across the country, Rhizome acknowledges the untapped potential of youth to impact national civic involvement. We specifically work with Title I schools to support minority youth. Following Rhizome’s ‘Lifelong Leadership’ Curriculum, we provide students with the necessary knowledge and tools to successfully integrate themselves into our nation’s political systems.
Engaging future generations of voters into the national scene accomplishes one of Rhizome’s fundamental objectives: to diversify the American vote. The words of Sundar Pichai embody our goal: “A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.”
With National Voter Registration Day taking place today, September 28th, Rhizome is moving to make the most of this opportunity. First observed in 2012, National Voter Registration Day has rapidly gained momentum with nearly 4.5 million voters having registered to vote on the holiday to date. Rhizome will be joining the coordinated efforts of other volunteers and organizations to promote voter registration. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, as many as 1 in 4 eligible Americans are not registered to vote, mainly due to missed registration deadlines, lack of updated registration, and absence of registration knowledge.
In order to address these issues, Rhizome aims to provide accessible voter registration information. We establish clubs that launch voter registration campaigns and use a peer mentorship model in which students are registered to vote and educated by their peers to follow through on voting. Thanks to its youth-focused work, Rhizome has also grasped how powerful social media can be as a driving force for outreach efforts. Our media team has done outstanding work in creating user-friendly pages across internet platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to relay crucial information in a fast and reliable manner.
With a fresh take on grassroots movements, Rhizome brings forth a new wave of civic engagement within the American political scene. Rhizome is working to diversify the voting process within the country to ensure that forthcoming eligible voters have a say in what takes place within our nation. Rhizome’s community is sure to demonstrate the commitment American youth has toward leaving the world a better place than we found it.
