Students for Justice is a paid internship program that was developed in 2020 to engage college students in the struggle to fight systemic voter suppression in the United States and to turn out the vote. We have two goals. The first is to create an expanding cohort of young leaders who are passionate about voting rights. The second is to have a real impact on voter turnout in communities of color during important elections.

Our interns are recruited from areas where the fight for voting rights is most intense— communities of color in the South. Most are students at a historically Black college or university and the vast majority identify as African American. They use successful, data-driven strategies to increase voter turnout in key elections in rural communities and among college students.  Our interns leverage their time by recruiting and managing volunteers to engage in voter outreach using postcards, phone banking, and text banking. And they also learn how to create paid marketing campaigns to reach young potential voters on social media.

Since July 1, 2020, we have provided nearly 500 paid internships. This fall, we had 45 interns working to get out the vote for the legislative election in Virginia -- a critically important election with repercussions far beyond the borders of VA. Our goal for 2024 is to enroll at least 120 college student interns over the summer and fall to work on increasing voter turnout among communities of color in North Carolina and Georgia.

Thank you for investing in the next generation of democracy leaders. This work could not be more timely or more crucial!

Students for Justice is an initiative of the Center for Common Ground, a Virginia-based 501(c)(3). Your donation is tax-deductible.