User:Nikta1/Mobilize.org

Mobilize.org is an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase their civic engagement and political participation. The organization works to show young people how public policy impacts lives, and how they can impact public policy.

History
Mobilize.org's founder, Dave Smith, and other members of the External Affairs Office of the Associated Students of the University of California, decided in the 2001-2002 school year that they wanted to extend their influence beyond the limits of the UC Berkeley campus, and began looking outside, specifically Sacramento.

With the goal of becoming "the most powerful student lobbying organization in the State of California," LobbyCorps began planning Cal Lobby Day, where 150 UC Berkeley students traveled to Sacramento, lobbying on issues affecting all California students. Students met with 110 of 120 elected officials, with a legislative platform focused on student housing, not raising student fees, and protecting the UC Budget. Student fees were not raised, saving UC students nearly $100 million, the UC budget was protected to a greater extent than nearly any other state-funded program, and students got $15 million of a housing bond for low-income student housing, matched by the University for a total of $30 million.

The night of Cal Lobby Day, a few of the organizers flew out to Washington DC to search for youth organizations and movements that could represent the young adults of America in the nation's capital. Although there are many organizations doing great work in various areas of youth involvement, there didn't seem to be a unified voice in DC. Mobilize.org was created to be the advocating voice for the youth.

Mission
Mobilize.org’s theory of change starts with the individual citizen identifying problems at the local, state and national levels. Once problems are identified, citizens must engage in conversations searching for innovative solutions to the problems they have identified. Mobilize.org seeks to take the individual actor past the deliberation stage, enabling members of the Millennial Generation to implement their solutions. Through the success of citizen-generated initiatives, Mobilize.org's end goal is to institutionalize citizen-generated solutions as a staple of American governance at all levels.

Educate
The Mobilizer’s Guidebook is a compilation of lessons learned over time, walking students through the 10 Steps to Mobilize.

Empower
The Youth Policy Action Center (YPAC) consists of 100 member organizations and a list-serv of 2 million youth and youth advocates, serving as a place to learn about policy impacting youth, finding local decision makers and media outlets, and contacting elected officials.

Energize
With over 220 Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneurs on college and high school campuses and in communities across the country, Entrepreneurs organize around issues that are important to their local community.

Staff/Sponsors
With a cross-country staff all under the age of 30, and based in Washington DC and California, Mobilize.org is an organization by and for the youth. Sponsors include: the Center for Individual and Institutional Renewal (Marston Family Foundation), Arsalyn Program (Ludwick Family Foundation), Carnegie Corporation, Case Foundation, Johnson Foundation, Walter and Elise Haas Sr. Fund, Starbucks Innovation Fund, Sunlight Foundation, 18to35/Third Millennium, San Francisco Foundation, and the Whitman Institute.

Projects
Fitting with Mobilize.org’s methodology, 50 youth leaders ranging from high school to graduate students met in Washington DC on October 3, 2007 for the Democracy 2.0 Summit. Students were educated on issues, and energized to take action, now organizing on their campuses and communities around the country. 80 Million Strong (for Young American Jobs) is a coalition of youth organizations that will meet July 14-15, 2009 in Washington DC to influence their economic futures.