Free and fair elections are one of the bedrock principles of American democracy. But the proper functioning of our elections is at risk from a number of forces, one of which is a national shortage of poll workers, which has reached a critical level.  The traditional cohort of poll workers has an average age of 60 and their outstanding volunteerism has been badly suppressed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Election boards across the country have struggled to recruit enough volunteers to efficiently and effectively run elections and keep polling places open and running smoothly. America needs to recruit more than 1 million volunteers annually to administer election polling sites. We The Veterans is working to fill that void with its nonpartisan Vet the Vote initiative, which seeks to recruit 100,000 veterans and military family members to fill these vacant rolls and, leveraging the credibility of this community, help restore faith in our elections.

NationSwell invites you to join Council member and We the Veterans co-founder Ben Keiser for a strategic advisory session to help further this effort. We are looking for leaders in the veteran community along with experts in public relations, marketing, coalition building, and democracy activists to provide insights and actionable goals for the Vet the Vote initiative.

Ben will be seeking advice on how best to build a brand that generates awareness and public trust in this effort, increase awareness about poll workers and what they do, build partnerships outside the veteran and military community, and reach unaffiliated veterans and military families, with a focus on engaging with large corporate CSR and veteran ERG groups.