Mission and GoalsNonprofit Voter Engagement Network (NVEN ) is dedicated to expanding the role of America’s nonprofits in voting and elections. NVEN works with state nonprofit VOTE initiatives and its national website to provide resources and tools for 501(c)(3) nonprofits to help their communities participate and vote.
The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. NVEN has with state nonprofit vote partners in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania – listed below.
- Building lasting capacity for nonpartisan, nonprofit voter participation
- Providing resources and support to 501(c)(3) nonprofit voter participation initiatives that work year-round to increase the number of nonprofits integrating voter engagement activities into to their on-going work.
- Seeking sustained increases in voter participation, especially those voters with a recent history of lower participation – through engaging voters where they gather to work, learn, advocate and receive services.
- Broaden support for the revitalization of democracy and election reforms
- Strengthening the nonprofit sector and encouraging new civic leadership
State Partners
NVEN’s state partners have year-round voter participation programs. Their staff and partners provide voter engagement resources to their state and region’s broad nonprofit community.
A program of the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations
An independent public charity, founded in 1999 to serve Boston and Massachusetts
A program of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers
A program of the Michigan Nonprofit Association
A program of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
A program of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio
A partnership of nonprofit organizations in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
National Association of Community Health Clinics
Other State Partners
In addition NVEN works with other state nonprofit associations and nonprofit partners in states to provide voter participation materials to 501c3s in their states, including the:
- Colorado Nonprofit Association
- Connecticut Association of Nonprofits
- Connecticut Association of Human Services
- Maine Association of Nonprofits
- Montana Nonprofit Association
- N.C. (North Carolina) Center for Nonprofits
- New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits
- New Mexico Association of Grantmakers,New Mexico Community Foundation, Con Alma Health Foundation, Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Santa Fe Community Foundation
If you work with a state nonprofit associations, human service alliances or other state nonprofit collaborations serving the broader nonprofit sector and interesting in expanding your work on voter participation, we would be glad to have you contact us (go to Staff Directory or Contact Us page).
NVEN Leadership Council
Michael Weekes, President/CEO
Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers
Michael a national leader for the Nonprofit Congress and recent Board Chair of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations. He has served on numerous commissions and task forces focused on the human service, government and nonprofit sectors.
Marcia Avner, Public Policy Director
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Marcia authored widely used books on nonprofit lobbying and advocacy including Advocating for Your Community: The Nonprofit Organization’s Guide to State and Local Lobbying (2002). She chairs and serves on a number of nonprofit boards including: Charity Lobbying the Public Interest, Washington, DC, Jewish Community Action, Wellstone Action, and Sheila Wellstone Institute.
Erin Skene-Pratt, Public Policy Director
Michigan Nonprofit Association
Erin authored Nonprofit Advocacy: A Michigan Primer. Prior to working at MPPI, Erin held the position of Statewide Project Coordinator on Campaign Finance Reform for the League of Women Voters of Michigan and is a Trustee for Boarshead Theatre in Lansing.
Jocelyn Travis, State Census Director, Ohio NAACP
Jocelyn Travis has worked on voter and civic participation issues throughout her career. She directed the Election Protection program of People for the American Way in 2004. Jocelyn has been active in the Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition and serves as Cleveland Branch Secretary for the NAACP where she has volunteered for more than 30 years.She is currently a member of the Ohio Secretary of State's Voting Rights Institute.
Ashley Herad, Statewide Director of Public Policy, Louisiana
Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO)
Ashley Herad holds a Masters
Degree in Public Administration from the State University of New York
at Binghamton and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology from Louisiana
State University. Before coming to LANO, Ashley served as a press aid
and researcher in the Louisiana Governors’ Office. Over the last year,
Ashley has served as the Housing Policy Coordinator for LANO and
coordinated the establishment of the Louisiana Housing Alliance. She
has participated in national advocacy training with Neighborworks, the
National Low Income Housing Coalition, and in voter engagement training
with the National Voter Engagement Network.
Avi Green, Executive Director, MassVOTE
Avi Green is an experienced community organizer, campaign manager, and policy analyst. A native of Pennsylvania, Avi graduated from Columbia University, where he studied Religion. He went on to teach World Cultures and kindergarten to school children in North Carolina. Avi moved to Massachusetts in 1997, where he earned a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1999. In 2000, Avi went to Florida to participate in the Presidential recount. He has served as Executive Director of MassVOTE since 2006. Avi currently serves as Chair of Mayor Thomas Menino's Election Advisory Committee, a group that works to make sure that elections in Boston are free, fair, and welcoming for all.
Advisory Board
Diana Aviv, Independent Sector
Harriet Barlow, HKH Foundation
Gary Bass, OMB Watch
Jeffrey Berry, Tufts University
Kafi Blumenfield, Liberty Hill Foundation
John Bridgeland, Civic Enterprises, LLC
Tim Delaney, National Council of Nonprofits
Kari Dunn Saratovsky, The Case Foundation
Pablo Eisenberg, Georgetown Public Policy Institute
Kathay Feng, California Common Cause
Cynthia M. Gibson, Cynthesis Consulting
Deborah Goldberg, Brennan Center for Justice
Peter Goldberg, Alliance for Children and Families
Hon. Amo Houghton, Former Member of Congress
Hon. Joan Growe, Former Secretary of State of Minnesota
Alexander Keyssar, Kennedy School of Government
Kim Klein, Klein & Roth Consulting
Kelly LeRoux, University of Kansas
Peter Levine, CIRCLE-Tisch College of Citizenship
Daniella Levine, Human Services Coalition of Miami Dade
Michael McDonald, George Mason University
Michael McGrath, National Civic League
Linda Nguyen, Alliance for Children and Families
Frank Omowale Satterwhite, National Community Development Institute
Norman Ornstein, The American Enterprise Institute
Lawrence Ottinger, Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
Jon Pratt, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Miles Rapoport, Demos
Gibran X Rivera, Interaction Institute for Social Change
Mark Rosenman, The Union Institute
Nancy Tate, League of Women Voters
Liz Towne, Alliance for Justice
Tracy Westen, Center for Governmental Studies
Supporters
California Community Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Funding Exchange
HKH Foundation
Mitchell Kapor Foundation
Open Society Institute
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The George Gund Foundation
The John Merck Fund
The Solidago Foundation
Surdna Foundation
Tides Foundation
Other family foundations
and individual donors
National Office Staff
Rachel Adams, rachel at nonprofitvote.org, Communications and Development Associate, Boston Office, 617.357.8683
Robynne Curlee, robynne at nonprofitvote.org, Program Coordinator, St. Paul Office, 651.642.1904
Julian Johannesen, julian at nonprofitvote.org Research and Technology Associate, Boston Office, 617.357.8683
George Pillsbury, gpillsbury at nonprofitvote.org, Founder, Senior Director of Strategy, Boston Office, 617.357.8683
Bridgette Rongitsch, bridgette at nonprofitvote.org , National Director, St. Paul Office, 651.642.1904
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