Cleveland Votes is a left-of-center voter project and advocacy organization that funds various get-out-the-vote projects in the greater Cleveland area. The group is a project of the Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association. The group was formed in 2013 ahead of the 2014 election cycle by Erika Anthony, a community activist and lobbyist, and Crystal Bryant, who is now president of the Cleveland NAACP.

The group provided over $300,000 in grants to local organizations in Cleveland promoting voter registration, voter turnout, and census survey taking in the predominantly democratic Cleveland area. The group has been an outspoken proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement and has partnered with many notable left-of-center organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. ^{1 2}

Background

Cleveland Votes was founded in 2013 by community activists Erika Anthony and Crystal Bryant. At the time of the organization’s founding Anthony was working at a community reentry and rehabilitation nonprofit serving ex-convicts, and Bryant was a former prosecutor working in the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry. The professional backgrounds of the organization’s cofounders led to Cleveland Votes’ continued focus on promoting and funding voter registration and turnout initiatives within community reentry programs. ^{3 4 5}

Cleveland Votes is a project of the Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association, a nonprofit fiscal agent that plans, coordinates, and budgets for several community service centers and programs including childcare, senior programs, and food distribution. ⁶

Activity

During the 2020 election cycle, Cleveland Votes states that it provided over $312,000 to community organizations for the purpose of conducting election-related activities and that it provided over $562,000 to such projects in collaboration with its “philanthropic partners.” The types of projects funded by the group included registering people to vote at “peaceful rallies/protests,” prototyping digital engagements, and providing masks to those being registered to vote and completing the census. The group has not published a comprehensive list of groups it has awarded grants to but claims to have assisted in registering over 21,000 voters in 2020. ⁷

Community groups that have been highlighted by Cleveland Votes as former or current recipients of the organization’s funds include the City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland State University, the NAACP Cleveland Branch, Ohio Progressive Asian Women’s Leadership, Young Latino Network, the Center for Community Solutions, and Policy Matters Ohio. ⁸

The group has also promoted and collaborated with national groups including National Voter Registration Day, the ACLU, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Common Cause regarding voter turnout programs. ⁹

People

Board members of Cleveland Votes are affiliated with groups including the George Gund Foundation, Cuyahoga Community College, the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Third Space Action Lab, Shooting Without Bullets, Equality Ohio, the Ohio Climate Justice Fund, and Cleveland Documenters. ¹⁰

Erika Anthony is the CEO of Cleveland Votes and co-founded the organization in 2013 with Crystal Bryant. Anthony has led the group full-time since March 2022, and previously held roles working for reentry and rehabilitation programs in the Cleveland area before working as the vice president of government relations at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and then as the executive director of the Ohio Transformation Fund. ¹¹

1. “2020 Post Election Report.” Cleveland Votes. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.clevotes.com/_files/ugd/19caea_7cc32fdc520e44acb22572b038ecb1db.pdf
2. “Newsletter.” Cleveland Votes. May 26, 2021. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.clevotes.com/_files/ugd/19caea_7a87fc593a3a4043b0cd949c08e90a87.pdf
3. The NAACP Cleveland Branch Announces Attorney Crystal Bryant as New Executive Director.” Cleveland Branch NAACP. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://clevelandnaacp.org/the-naacp-cleveland-branch-announces-attorney-crystal-bryant-as-new-executive-director/
4. “Erika Anthony.” Linkedin Profile. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-anthony-146a424/
5. “Mission.” Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://gcnca.org/mission/
6. “Mission.” Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://gcnca.org/mission/
7. “2022 Election Toolkit.” Cleveland Votes. Accessed April 7, 2022.  https://www.clevotes.com/_files/ugd/19caea_2144054a48b747c69a835047f0f410b2.pdf
8.  ^[1]“2022 Election Toolkit.” Cleveland Votes. Accessed April 7, 2022.  https://www.clevotes.com/_files/ugd/19caea_2144054a48b747c69a835047f0f410b2.pdf
9. ^[1]“2022 Election Toolkit.” Cleveland Votes. Accessed April 7, 2022.  https://www.clevotes.com/_files/ugd/19caea_2144054a48b747c69a835047f0f410b2.pdf
10. “Who We Are.” Cleveland Votes. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.clevotes.com/who-we-are
11. ^[1] “Erika Anthony.” Linkedin Profile. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-anthony-146a424/