When I was still a Clark Atlanta University student, I was referred to WE by my sister, who had attended one of their events. I became a canvasser for WE and this really helped me understand Political Science. We went to Moreland Avenue and West Atlanta and told people about the upcoming gubernatorial vote and the deadlines and asked them if they needed any information. I learned that if you don’t vote consistently you can get kicked out.
Now, I’m really involved at my new school [University of Alabama]; I’m the secretary and treasurer for the NAACP and am running for the State Chairman. I got that out of working for WE.
Currently, I’m writing a proposal about access to healthcare in rural Alabama and what the governor should do about it. We don’t have enough beds and physicians. As part of my proposals for Health Policy Reform, I’m proposing to change the bed intake and incentivize physicians with grants or loan forgiveness.
Michelle Stevenson
I started working for WE in Oct 2017 as a canvasser for the City of Atlanta mayoral election and ended up being
promoted to leading the canvassing. I got trained in VAN and in doing debrief sessions. That experience brought a lot of humanity to the work; now when I do community organizing, I’m able to talk to people about a wide range of issues. In
becoming a leader, I got to see what it takes organizationally to do the work and who the comrades are. I was always
interested in social justice but didn’t know how it translated into a job.
I am in DC now and am consulting for a social justice
nonprofit in DC — Teach Reconstruction. I’m getting people to sign a petition for more funding for education. I also worked for a community organization in Chicago.
Doing this work as a Black woman makes a difference. I can relate to what people tell me. Also, all of my mentors and bosses have been Black women.
Hesena
Michelle had come to my campus and my political science professor told us to come to the event for extra credit, and during the event I heard from Michelle that WE was hiring, so I decided to go ahead and sign up. In person, I was nervous about the door to door canvassing but was excited to go to our communities speaking about voter registration and
reproductive justice, and just educating the community.
I
appreciate the personal touch that came with it.
I learned the importance of Reproductive justice. I didn't know what it was till I started in the WE, but it's very
important to learn about it because it impacts our daily lives. Educating people about smaller elections and the importance of it. I love the WE workplace because they teach how to lead with kindness, and that’s what I’ll take with me. I enjoyed door to door, and I enjoyed helping people with resources when the pandemic hit, I enjoyed being that helping hand. I liked helping with other organizations and doing social media lives, and reaching out to friends and family with tools and resources.
Courtney
I learned so much from Michelle, and we learned from each other. I didn’t realize she learned from me too. When we were out in the field with each other, we learned from each other.
One day we were canvassing college park train station, and the taxi drivers would sit out there. One day I canvassed and
registered every cab driver, and Michelle was shocked and said,
“Andrea how did you do that? I’ve been trying to register them for three year.” And I got it done.