Postlight Pledges Funds to Support Voter Rights

Voter access is crucial to an antiracist society — that’s why for our second round of giving in our financial commitment to drive change that benefits Black people, we’ve chosen to support organizations working to empower underrepresented voter groups.

We’re committing the remaining $150,000 in our pledge to these six organizations our Action Committee selected to support in furthering voting rights for Black people, Latinx people, unmarried women, formerly incarcerated people, and young people. Learn about their work below, and go vote!

Black Voters Matter

“Our goal is to increase power in marginalized, predominantly Black communities. Effective voting allows a community to determine its own destiny.”

“Black Voters Matter not only on Election Day, but on the 364 days between Election Days as well. This means we must support individuals and organizations that are striving to obtain social justice throughout the year.”

Black Futures Lab (Black to the Ballot)

“The problems facing Black communities are complex. Changing communities for the better requires changing a culture that takes Black people for granted and changing policies and laws. Black Futures Lab (BFL) works with Black people to transform communities, building Black political power and changing the way that power operates — locally, statewide, and nationally.”

“Black to the Ballot registers, engages, and activates Black voters through their national voter registration drive. We’ve partnered with 15 Black-led grassroots organizations in nine states to register 10,000 new Black voters and get 50,000 people to pledge to vote.”

Voto Latino

“Voto Latino is a grassroots political organization focused on educating and empowering a new generation of Latinx voters, as well as creating a more robust and inclusive democracy. Through innovative digital campaigns, culturally relevant programs, and authentic voices, Voto Latino shepherds the Latinx community toward full realization of its political power.”

“In our 15-year history, we’ve been at the forefront of political, cultural, and digital trends for organizing and activating Latinxs. With just two months left to go before the most critical election of our lifetime, Voto Latino has registered 300,000 voters. We are now more than halfway to our total goal of registering 500,000 new voters before the election.”

Vote.org

“Vote.org uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy.”

“We work to ensure that the electorate matches the population. To turn out the vote among young people and people of color, Vote.org partners with corporations and other organizations in the civic space…. Many of their corporate partners have signed on to Vote.org’s Election Day campaign, launched in 2018, which commits them to giving their employees paid time off to vote on Election Day. To date, 500 companies have signed the pledge.”

Voter Participation Center

“The Voter Participation Center is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization founded in 2003 to help members of the Rising American Electorate — young people, people of color, and unmarried women — to register and vote.”

“VPC uses commercial and public data to identify people who are eligible to vote but who need to register, [and] works with local election officials as well as national, state, and local partners to help people register to vote and cast their ballots.”

We Got the Vote (FRRC)

“We are committed to making sure our efforts to help returning citizens in Florida become full members of society are not infected by partisan politics. At the core of our mission and our Fines and Fees Program is the belief that all returning citizens — from all walks of life and political persuasions — should have access to our democracy, if they choose.”

“We have been openly, honestly, and legally working with local clerks to clear fines and fees for returning citizens since 2019. That includes payments to clerks offices in the vast majority of Florida’s 67 counties. We will continue to make decisions that center on the lives of returning citizens and do the work of building a more inclusive democracy in Florida.”

With the full amount of our 2020 financial pledge committed, our Action Committee will now turn its attention to the second part of our mandate — bringing our talent to this movement. Postlight is committed to supporting our employees in efforts that help Black organizations thrive, such as advisory, mentorship, and especially in building software. We look forward to sharing our plans with you as we mobilize our people in support of change.

Meredith Franzese is a Managing Partner at Postlight. Drop her a note at hello@postlight.com.