Recently, Connect Me took a huge step toward amplifying youth voices in politics by hosting its very first Political Engagement Webinar. With over 100 attendees from both inside and outside of the organization tuning in, the event featured Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, along with two of her team members, Director of Partner Relations Sarah Reinhardt and Director of External Relations Joshua Elliot.
The goal was to break down the voting process, emphasize its importance among the youth, and show how the younger generation can make a real impact even as young people. With Millennials and Gen-Z making up the majority of voting by the year 2028, it’s incredibly vital to educate the youth on voting and how they can get civically engaged.
Secretary Benson’s team members first gave webinar attendees insight on youth voting, along with knowledge of how the younger demographic can get civically engaged. They spoke about why voting matters, broke some common voting myths, provided data with the younger generation’s engagement with civics, addressed barriers and described how those can be fixed, gave directions on how to register for voting, and even presented a recent “I Voted” Sticker Contest, showing how younger individuals can get engaged with the political world. There was then a Q&A segment where questions were asked to Director Reinhardt and Director Elliot in relation to the topics they discussed.
Secretary Benson then shared powerful insights about what it means to be politically engaged, especially knowing that it is the upcoming generation’s responsibility to share their voices and show representation civically among their communities. She spoke about the importance of registering to vote while relating it to the powerful message of how a vote is a voice. Secretary Benson also addressed some concerns with voting, such as two friends having clashing political beliefs, and provided ways to combat those issues while maintaining their friendship.
She expressed that the youth, especially with our engagement online through the media, are critical consumers of information, and stressed on the importance of finding news that are specifically unbiased. She explained how we should question what is being read and seek out multiple sources to ensure proper information is being evaluated, especially before sharing anything.
A Q&A segment by the attendees then took place, where dozens of questions were asked regarding deeper understandings of the voting process, concerns regarding the biased political world, and personal questions about Secretary Benson.
While the webinar went exceptionally well, it’s important to recognize those who put this event together. Connect Me’s Founder and Board of Directors Chair, Mehmet Tascioglu, Director of Public Relations Ritvik Ellendula, Board of Directors Secretary Camille Johnson, President Hasini Anand, and External Vice President Aarav Shah, spent countless hours attending meetings, communicating with the team through emails, drafting and finalizing scripts, and creating pre-prepared questions to ensure this event would go smoothly.
Nurturing the next generation is greatly important to Connect Me. We may be achieving this through education, but we strive to also do this in other ways. This webinar, The Importance of Voting and Youth Political Engagement with Michigan’s Secretary of State, is a key example of how we are continuing our mission.
Author: Diksha Lal
