Non-profit

18by Vote

Website:

18byvote.org/

Location:

Brookline, MA

Tax ID:

82-1962203

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $315,017
Expenses: $232,243
Assets: $161,305

Type:

Youth voter registration

Founded:

2019

Executive Director:

Ava Mateo

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

18by Vote is a youth-voter outreach organization that operates in six states. 1 Its activists are funded by grants from the left-of-center political action committee Progressive Turnout Project, and it circulates petitions in support of Democratic Party legislative efforts. 2 3 18by Vote is also a member of the left-leaning advocacy coalition Declaration for American Democracy and a national partner of the California-based left-of-center nonprofit VoteRiders. 4 5

Background

18by Vote encourages 18 and 19 year-olds to vote in targeted congressional districts in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The organization uses in-person events, partnerships with social-media influencers, and mass-texting campaigns. 18by Vote also hires, trains, and maintains a nationwide network of community organizers. 6 7

The organization’s founder, Katherine Bicer, is the wife of a general partner at a multibillion-dollar tech startup venture capital firm. 8 9 Jazmine Kay, former 18by Vote executive director and current board member, published an article encouraging an increase in youth voter participation to “help combat the climate crisis.” Her article also urges young people to limit their meat consumption, ensure their climate activism is “intersectional,” and to get involved with a provided list of radical environmentalist organizations that includes Extinction Rebellion. 10

At age 23, Kay signed onto a memo in 2021 asking the Biden administration to establish an “Office of Young Americans” in the Executive Office of the President and appoint a Generation Z “Director of National Youth Engagement” that would liaison with the National Security Council. 11

Progressive Turnout Project Funding

18by Vote’s outreach efforts are funded by Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based left-of-center political action committee. 12 18by Vote received $218,890 in grants from the PAC in 2022. 13 14 15 According to 18by Vote’s Twitter account, the grants were used to “support the expansion of our paid youth Civic Leaders training and Civic Organizer programs in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida.” 16

The Civic Leader Program involves a month-long training program to prepare individuals aged 17-22 to lead voter registration drives, canvassing events, voter outreach campaigns, and textbanking events. The Civic Organizer Program pays individuals aged 14-26 to participate in these activities. Both programs offer compensation for participants. 17 18 18by Vote recruits through social media, having offered Civic Organizers $20 per hour on its TikTok account for activities in 2022. 19

Major Activities

18by Vote claims to have reached 276,000 voters in the 2021 Georgia runoff election through mass texting, social media, and face to face engagement. The organization mobilized in-state and out-of-state paid organizers and volunteers to register young voters and encourage them to vote, targeting voters who had turned 18 and become eligible to vote between the general election and the runoffs. The organization also partnered with Peaches for Progress and AJ from the pop-rock group Aly & AJ to operate a mass texting campaign. 20 21 22

During the 2021 New York primary election, 18by Vote claims to have reached 1,500 New York City voters at 30 in-person voter registration and education events. The organization also employed a mass texting campaign, claiming to have reached 18,000 individuals. 23

18by Vote also operates a nationwide fellowship program to train young people to “spearhead civic engagement efforts within their own communities while also supporting the development of a nationwide peer network.” The program is intended to build “18by Vote hubs” around the country to increase youth voter participation. 24

In May 2024, 18by Vote was one of several advocacy groups that attended an event in New York City meant to address low youth vote turnout in the city. The event was held by Type Media Center and the Puffin Foundation while other groups in attendance included HeadCount and the New York Public Interest Research Group. 25

Petitions

18by Vote circulated a petition in support of a gun control bill introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). The petition goes further than the bill’s gun control provisions to advocate for creating a national gun registry and banning all semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic handguns, and pump-action shotguns. 26

The organization also circulated a petition to codify Roe v. Wade, claiming that failure to do so would make Congress “complicit in state sanctioned violence that will disproportionately affect low-income women, women of color and all people with uteruses.” 27

Another petition circulated by 18by Vote called for passing the For the People Act, the Democratic Party’s election overhaul bill that would forcefully expand mail-in voting in all states, federalize state redistricting procedures, and create a program in which the federal government would match (by a factor of 6-1) campaign contributions to political candidates. 28 29

References

  1. “18by Vote.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://18byvote.org/.
  2. “How 18BY VOTE UPLIFTS Youth Voters: Grantee Spotlight with Ava Mateo.” Progressive Turnout Project – Medium. September 8, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://turnoutpac.medium.com/how-18by-vote-uplifts-youth-voters-grantee-spotlight-with-ava-mateo-ff78aa69d8c2.
  3. “Take Action – Sign Petitions.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://18byvote.org/take-action/petitions/.
  4. “A Coalition of 240+ Member Organizations Working Together to Make the Promise of Democracy Real for All of Us.” Declaration for American Democracy. October 20, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
  5. “Partner Organizations.” VoteRiders. January 14, 2023. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://www.voteriders.org/partners/#.
  6. “18by Vote.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://18byvote.org/.
  7. “Fellowship.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://18byvote.org/programs/fellowship.
  8. “Our Team.” 18by Vote. December 9, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://18byvote.org/our-team/.
  9. Castellanos, Sara. “Cambridge VC to Appear on Home Improvement TV Show ‘This Old House.’” Boston Business Journal. September 24, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/09/cambridge-vc-toappear-on-home-improvement-tv-show.html#:~:text=Bicer%20said%20he%20and%20his%20wife%2C%20Katherine%2C%20are,its%20former%20glory%2C%22%20he%20said%20in%20an%20email.
  10. Kay, Jazmin. “7 Ways You Can Help Combat the Climate Crisis Following the Global Strike.” i-D. September 24, 2019. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/7x54g9/7-ways-you-can-help-combat-the-climate-crisis-following-the-global-strike
  11. Janfaza, Rachel. “Young Leaders Ask Incoming Biden Administration for a Seat at the Table.” CNN. January 17, 2021. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/17/politics/young-leaders-memo-biden-administration/index.html.
  12. “How 18BY VOTE UPLIFTS Youth Voters: Grantee Spotlight with Ava Mateo.” Progressive Turnout Project – Medium. September 8, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://turnoutpac.medium.com/how-18by-vote-uplifts-youth-voters-grantee-spotlight-with-ava-mateo-ff78aa69d8c2.
  13. Progressive Turnout Project, FEC Form 3X, Filing FEC-1645327, Schedule B, October 20,2022.
  14. Progressive Turnout Project, FEC Form 3X, Filing FEC-1623358, Schedule B, August 11, 2022.
  15. Progressive Turnout Project, FEC Form 3X, Filing FEC-1594781, Schedule B, May 16, 2022.
  16. 18by Vote (@18byvote). “Our Turnout Grant will support the expansion of our paid youth Civic Leaders training and Civic Organizer programs in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida. We’ll have a strong focus on these six states, specifically for the midterm elections.” Twitter. May 5, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://twitter.com/18byvote/status/1522281035614072835?s=20&t=ftnCM_ELfdFiRTN_izFeFg
  17. “Campaigns.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://18byvote.org/programs/campaigns.
  18. 18by Vote (@18byvote). “Link in bio!#greenscreensticker.” TikTok. October 18, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/@18byvote/video/7155909151695260974?_r=1&_t=8ZCUHi0JbQZ.
  19. 18by Vote (@18byvote). “Link in bio to apply!!!” TikTok. June 6, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/@18byvote/video/7106238819128642859?_r=1&_t=8ZCUAqBl0ax.
  20. “Young People Are Getting out the Vote in Georgia — from Thousands of Miles Away.” KRDO. December 31, 2020. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://krdo.com/politics/2020/12/31/young-people-are-getting-out-the-vote-in-georgia-from-thousands-of-miles-away/.
  21. Holcombe, Madeline. “These Are the Volunteers Who Drove across the Country to Register Voters in the Georgia Runoff.” CNN. January 2, 2021. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/02/politics/georgia-runoff-out-of-state-volunteers/index.html.
  22. “Campaigns.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://18byvote.org/programs/campaigns.
  23. “Campaigns.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://18byvote.org/programs/campaigns.
  24. “Fellowship.” 18by Vote. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://18byvote.org/programs/fellowship
  25. Gueye, Aminata and Nikole Rajgor. “Youth Voter Turnout in NYC Is Struggling. These Organizations Want to Fix It.” The Nation, August 30, 2024. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/voter-turnout-nyc-youth-2024/
  26. “Thoughts and Prayers Will Never Be Enough. Gun Reform Now!” Resistbot. May 5, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://resist.bot/petitions/PFSHMV.
  27. “Congress: Please Codify Roe v. Wade.” Resistbot. May 5, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://resist.bot/petitions/PNPFUG.
  28. Singman, Brooke. “Every House Democrat Signs on to Sweeping HR 1 Bill, GOP Argues It Would ‘Undermine’ Election Integrity.” Fox News. February 22, 2021. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/every-house-democrat-signs-on-to-hr1.
  29. “Call on Senate to Pass the for the People Act.” Resistbot. July 8, 2021. Accessed January 21, 2023. https://resist.bot/petitions/pemljy.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: June 1, 2019

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2022 Dec Form 990 $315,017 $232,243 $161,305 $2,581 N $315,017 $0 $0 $83,000 PDF
    2021 Dec Form 990EZ $0 $0 $78,444 $2,494 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2020 Dec Form 990EZ $0 $0 $63,077 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2019 Dec Form 990EZ $0 $0 $4,919 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    18by Vote

    14 Griggs Terrace
    Brookline, MA 02446-4733