Every Voice, Every Vote grows to 76 partners, invests an additional $56,000 in civic engagement and community listening activities

March 28, 2023

To further its mission to amplify diverse voices from every corner of Philadelphia ahead of the city’s 2023 municipal elections, the Every Voice, Every Vote coalition is investing an additional $56,000 in voter engagement events, community listening sessions, and candidate forums hosted by 11 new community and media partners. This investment builds upon an initial $1.5 million in funding awarded to over 50 community and media organizations serving Philadelphia communities. Since its December 2022 launch, the coalition has grown from 55 to 76 members. 

To date, the coalition’s diverse group of media and community partners has published or broadcast over 100 news stories about Philadelphia’s 2023 municipal elections to a collective audience of over 3 million. Dozens of Every Vote, Every Voice forums and community events have gathered thousands of people in person and online around topics like public safety and economic growth. Voter education resources have been published in English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.  

The new $56,000 investment will catalyze even more civic engagement in Philadelphia ahead of the primary and general elections. Generocity, Indonesian Lantern Media, PhillyBOLT, and Monkey and the Elephant plan to host listening sessions and community conversations with local leaders, the Indonesian community, youth, and residents and business owners in the Brewerytown neighborhood, respectively.  

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, Please Touch Museum, West Mt. Airy Neighbors, and Episcopal Community Services will hold candidate and community forums, including topics like criminal justice, mobility, and issues important to youth and families. 

The Elevation Project, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, and Victoria’s Urban Outreach Tutoring Service will focus on developing media and voter education events about the judicial elections.  

In addition to the 11 sponsored partners, several new organizations have joined Every Voice, Every Vote since its launch to provide essential journalistic coverage of key issues and community engagement opportunities. These partners include Bridges of Opportunities, Children First, The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, FOX29, G-Town Radio, iHeart Media Philadelphia, The Bullhorn, The Philadelphia Sunday Sun, The Trace, and Waste Free Philly.  

Learn more about Every Voice, Every Vote and sign-up for email updates about the project at everyvoice-everyvote.org. Others interested in learning more about how to join Every Voice, Every Vote or support the project can email [email protected].

Here are the new community and media organizations receiving funding through Every Voice, Every Vote: 

• Episcopal Community Services – Episcopal Community Services will host a nonpartisan voting and civic engagement community forum in West Philadelphia. 
• Generocity – Generocity will produce a series of fireside chats with local leaders and community members. The goal is to empower Philadelphians to propose solutions and policies for the Mayoral candidates to consider and to inform the outlet’s future coverage of top issues. 
• Indonesian Lantern Media – Indonesian Lantern Media will host several community events to engage the Indonesian community in conversation and activities around civic literacy and voter awareness ahead of the 2023 Municipal elections. 
• Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts – PMC will hold candidate forums and produce a podcast series to inform Pennsylvania voters about the 2023 judicial elections, the courts for which the candidates are running, and the significant impact the courts have on Pennsylvanians and on our democracy.  
• PhillyBOLT (Build Our Lives Together) – In partnership with PA Youth Vote, Philly BOLT will train 20 youth facilitators to lead the Philly Youth Voices: Candidates & Elected Officials Listening Session.  
• Please Touch Museum – The Please Touch Museum will convene a Children’s Mayoral Forum to address the issues important to the children and families living in Philadelphia, with a specific focus on families residing in the Parkside Community. 
• The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia – The Bicycle Coalition will host a mayoral forum to discuss the future of transportation and mobility in Philadelphia. 
• The Elevation Project – The Elevation Project will hold a series of live social media interviews with judicial and mayoral candidates hosted by two formerly incarcerated individuals.  
• The Monkey & the Elephant – The Monkey & the Elephant will host a series of community listening sessions, voter drives, and panel discussions specifically for the Brewerytown business community, artists and creatives, and people affected by foster care.   
• Victoria’s Urban Outreach Tutoring Service – VUOTS will engage block captains and ward leaders in two civic education sessions for Germantown residents with a specific focus on judicial elections. 
• West Mt. Airy Neighbors – West Mt. Airy Neighbors will host three town halls style forums – one for mayoral candidates, one for city council at large candidates, and one for District 8 City Council candidates—geared toward Northwest Philadelphia residents. 

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ABOUT EVERY VOICE, EVERY VOTE 

Every Voice, Every Vote is a citywide coalition of Philadelphia news and community organizations committed to informing Philadelphians and ensuring their voices and interests are central to the 2023 campaigns for mayor and city council. The coalition is the largest collaborative journalism and community engagement effort ever launched for election coverage in Philadelphia.   

Every Voice, Every Vote is a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from Comcast NBCUniversal, the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Knight Foundation Donor-Advised Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, the Lenfest Institute, Peter and Judy Leone, Harriet and Larry Weiss, and the Wyncote Foundation, among others.