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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for BigTentUSA
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240910T120000
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DTSTAMP:20260406T135417
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SUMMARY:Turn up the Vote with HeadCount’s Executive Director Lucille Wenegieme
DESCRIPTION:BigTent was thrilled to host Lucille Wenegieme Executive Director of HeadCount. Lucille discussed HeadCount’s impactful work in fostering voter engagement and civic involvement with young voters\, through music and culture. She dove into their strategies and innovative approaches to promote voter registration and democratic participation. \nHeadCount gets people registered to vote and interested in democracy. They are at concerts\, festivals\, community events – anywhere they can translate the power of music and culture into real action. Their mission is to use the power of music and popular culture to register voters and promote participation in democracy. They reach young people where they already are to inform and empower. \nHeadCount stages nonpartisan voter registration drives at more than 1\,000 live events each year and collaborate with cultural leaders to promote civic engagement on a national scale. Since 2004\, they’ve signed up over 1\,000\,000 voters through their work with touring musicians like Ariana Grande\, Dead & Company\, and Beyoncé and events like Lollapalooza\, Bonnaroo\, Pride Festivals and RuPaul’s DragCon. Meanwhile\, their digital campaigns have won Clio and SHORTY awards\, and their public service announcements have starred the likes of Jay-Z\, Dave Matthews and members of the Grateful Dead. \nABOUT OUR SPEAKER \nLucille Wenegieme is an executive in the civic engagement and democracy spaces with an eclectic background in political advocacy\, communications\, fashion\, and biomedical science. Her central change philosophy is that democracy has to meet people where they are\, and she focuses on culture as the vehicle to get there. \nPrior to joining HeadCounT\, Lucille served on the executive team at the Denver Clerk & Recorder’s Office where her team leveraged a $13 million budget to administer elections and provide other essential services. During her tenure\, the Office launched a citizen-led campaign finance initiative to match local small-dollar donations with public funding and implemented a first-of-its-kind marijuana-themed get-out-the-vote campaign. \nHer career has also included a stint as vice president of communications at the National Vote at Home Institute\, which helped states and municipalities rapidly scale up their capacity to handle mail-in votes during the 2020 election. She also led her own communications firm\, Kleos Creative\, and was an executive at the Washington\, D.C.-based public affairs firm Fireside Campaigns. Prior to entering the democracy space\, she worked in communications at the global luxury retail giant Tapestry (formerly Coach\, Inc.).
URL:https://bigtentusa.org/event/head-count/
LOCATION:BigTent Zoom Room
CATEGORIES:Tent Talks,BigTent Events,Protecting our Children,Preserving Democracy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://bigtentusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Copy-of-Copy-of-Copy-of-Recap-GA-Tent-Talk-1-1.webp
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240911T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240911T200000
DTSTAMP:20260406T135417
CREATED:20240816T032100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240914T004250Z
UID:53394-1726081200-1726084800@bigtentusa.org
SUMMARY:Turning Tragedy into Activism: Amanda Zurawski and Tara McGowan
DESCRIPTION:On Wednesday September 11 at 7:00PM ET\, we were honored to have the lead plaintiff in Zurawski vs. Texas\, Amanda Zurawski\, and renowned journalist Tara McGowan. \nThis was an unique opportunity to hear from two women who are making significant contributions to critical issues in our society. Amanda Zurawski’s powerful testimony sheds light on the human cost of restrictive abortion laws\, while Tara McGowan explored the vital role of media in strengthening democracy and inspiring civic action. \nABOUT OUR SPEAKERS \nAmanda Zurawski was the lead plaintiff in Zurawski vs. Texas\, the first lawsuit brought by patients challenging a state on its abortion bans since the fall of Roe.  She lives in Austin\, TX. \nIn 2022\, after 18 months of fertility treatment\, Zurawski and her husband Josh learned she was pregnant with their first baby. Unfortunately Amanda miscarried at 18 weeks\, but due to the abortion bans in Texas\, was unable to receive healthcare\, and after three days crashed into septic shock\, which nearly killed her. After spending a week in the hospital\, Amanda began speaking out about her experience to help spread awareness and with hopes of preventing similar fates befalling other pregnant people\, in Texas and beyond. \nAmanda has spent the last two years advocating for reproductive rights and abortion access. She has testified in front of US Congress\, has provided interviews for countless media outlets and platforms. \nTara McGowan is the founder and publisher of COURIER\, a fast-growing left-leaning news network with local newsrooms in eleven states. COURIER is building a more informed\, engaged\, and representative democracy by reaching tens of millions of Americans where they are online with factual\, values-driven news that inspires civic participation. \nA former journalist and political strategist\, Tara has seen firsthand how America’s growing information chasm has contributed to increased polarization and the rising threat of authoritarianism. Recognizing the need for a new model of media that exists explicitly to protect and strengthen our fragile democracy\, Tara founded COURIER in 2019. COURIER is a network of state newsrooms whose on-the-ground reporters and correspondents deliver factual and empowering pro-democracy news directly to the social newsfeeds and inboxes of communities who have been left behind by traditional media. COURIER is one of the fastest-growing news networks in the country\, with nearly 4 million online subscribers\, over 800K TikTok followers\, and an average weekly reach of over 50 million Americans.
URL:https://bigtentusa.org/event/zurawski/
LOCATION:BigTent Zoom Room
CATEGORIES:BigTent Spotlight Speaker Series,BigTent Events,Womens Empowerment and Rights,Preserving Democracy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://bigtentusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ZURAWSKI.webp
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240917T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240917T130000
DTSTAMP:20260406T135417
CREATED:20240713T225658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T011323Z
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SUMMARY:Tent Talk: Recruiting Future State Leaders with New Politics Founder Emily Cherniack
DESCRIPTION:BigTent was thrilled to welcome New Politics Founder and Executive Director Emily Cherniak and AZ State House District 5 Candidate Aaron Márquez under the tent. Emily is on a mission to train and recruit “servant leaders” that will adopt the “we mindset.” See her recent article here. \nNew Politics revitalizes American democracy by recruiting\, developing\, and electing servant leaders who put community and country over self. They support outstanding military veterans and national service leaders\, alumni of programs like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps\, to step up and serve our country again\, this time through politics. They understand that to achieve their mission to revitalize democracy they must break down barriers to entry\, support servant leaders who reflect the diversity of our nation\, and center the voices of those most impacted by OUR politics. \nABOUT THE SPEAKERS \nEmily Cherniack is founder and executive director of New Politics\, which she founded in 2013 to recruit and support military and national service programs alumni to run for political office\, and New Politics Leadership Academy. Previously\, she served on the campaign staff of Alan Khazei\, a US Senate candidate from Massachusetts who was her boss at City Year Boston. Cherniack also spent four years at Be the Change\, as chief of staff and\, before that\, organizing director. At City Year Boston\, she was service director and a program manager. In 2018\, Emily was named to the Politico 50 as one of the 50 “thinkers\, doers\, and dreamers driving politics.” \nEmily graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology and a Masters Degree in Education Policy. \nAaron Márquez is a veteran of multiple political campaigns and the United States Army – grew up in Arizona\, served his country through two deployments to Afghanistan\, and has fought for progressive change in Arizona across the country. Most recently\, Aaron cofounded VetsForward.us\, a group of progressive military veterans in Arizona that work to defend democratic values at home by winning the hearts and minds of American voters. \nRaised in Arizona\, Aaron proudly attended public elementary\, middle\, and high schools in Mesa\, Chandler\, Tempe\, and Gilbert. In 2020\, Aaron was elected to the at-large seat of the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board\, where he has been fighting for progressive change to improve local public schools for our students and their families. As a school board member\, he has advocated for more robust public health policies\, bringing in national service programs to provide increased wraparound services\, and restorative justice practices. \nAaron lives in Phoenix with his wife – an elementary school principal – seven-year-old daughter Sarah\, and seventeen-year-old stepson James. He is running as a state candidate for Arizona State House District 5. \n 
URL:https://bigtentusa.org/event/new-politics/
LOCATION:BigTent Zoom Room
CATEGORIES:Tent Talks,BigTent Events,Preserving Democracy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://bigtentusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/New-Politics-169-1.webp
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240926T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240926T200000
DTSTAMP:20260406T135417
CREATED:20240914T003441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241009T133440Z
UID:53504-1727377200-1727380800@bigtentusa.org
SUMMARY:Gen Z Vibes and The 2024 Election: A Conversation with renowned pollster John Della Volpe and Founder of GenVote Brianna Cea
DESCRIPTION:On Thursday\, September 26 at 7:00PM ET\, BigTentUSA welcomed John Della Volpe\, author and Director of Polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics\, and Gen Zer Brianna Cea\, founder and executive director of GenVote.  \nWhether or not\, Gen Z’ goes to the polls will be the deciding factor in November. No one explains how Gen Z is feeling about the election more clearly than Della Volpe\, one of America’s premier thought leaders and polling experts on Gen Z. In conversation with Brianna\, they discussed the enormous power this generation can wield on electoral outcomes and on the formative factors that have defined Gen Z’s place in the arena of American politics and culture. Della Volpe also shared new polling data and screen a clip from the upcoming documentary The Power of Z.  \nSee our recent piece on Gen Z HERE \nABOUT THE SPEAKERS \nJohn Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics\, and the author of Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America (2022). The Washington Post referred to John as one of the world’s leading authorities on global sentiment\, opinion\, and influence\, especially among young Americans and in the age of digital and social media. \nJohn is also founder of SocialSphere\, a Cambridge based public opinion and analytics company. He serves on the Board of Trustees of iCatholic Media\, the Ad Club of Boston\, and is a member of the Global Alumni Council for Eisenhower Fellowships. John appears regularly on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and his insights on the Millennial generation are found in national media outlets in the U.S. and abroad\, including the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. \nBrianna Cea is the executive director and founder of Generation Vote (GenVote). A skilled youth voting rights organizer and advocate for the AAPI community in NYC\, Cea is a frequent media commentator on youth voting issues and has been featured in Good Morning America\, WNYC\, NPR\, Vox News\, as well as in USA Today\, Ms. Magazine\, among other outlets. Brianna is also the current President of OCA-Asian Pacific Advocates NY and the youngest chapter President on the OCA-National Board\, where she is dedicated to advancing the social\, political and economic well being of Asian Americans in New York City. \nBrianna is a former Senior Research and Program Associate at the Brennan Center for Justice. At the Brennan Center\, Brianna focused on the census and redistricting. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times\, New York Times\, Atlantic\, SCOTUSblog and other outlets. Cea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in political science and philosophy\, politics and law from Binghamton University in May 2018.
URL:https://bigtentusa.org/event/john-della-volpe/
LOCATION:BigTent Zoom Room
CATEGORIES:BigTent Spotlight Speaker Series,BigTent Events,Preserving Democracy
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://bigtentusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Volpe_Rea-169.webp
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