Today, Jacquelyn attended a panel with other high school students interested in pursuing careers in the political field with the Hockaday Institute for Social Impact. This panel included Melissa Kilby, the Executive Director of Girl Up; Irene Bueno, the founder of the NVG government relations firm; and Amber MacDonald, a speechwriter for the Biden Campaign. During this meeting, Jacquelyn was able to network with Melissa Kilby and learn more about how to create change through VotEd from experts in the field.

Learn more about the Hockaday Institute for Social Impact here: https://www.hockaday.org/academics/institute-for-social-impact

Today, Jacquelyn talked to Delegate Susan Krebs and invited her to participate in her women in government panel in April and May. She accepted and discussed her experience entering the government sector. She explained that she never planned to enter the MD House of Delegates until she realized that educational policy was not being advocated for often in the MD House. She also realized that women were not often represented in the House and wanted to make sure their voices were heard. She plans to participate in the VotEd Women in Government panel.

Today, Jacquelyn (with the assistance of the Youth Advocacy Project) planned and coordinated a meeting with local activists interested in helping advocate for voting rights in Maryland. In this meeting, the members decided that out priorities would be: 1.)instituting advisory lessons regarding voting in local schools and 2.) advocating for legislation regarding voting rights. We plan to meet again next year to discuss implementing these proposals and creating change in our local community.

Today, VotEd hosted a letter-writing party in which participants wrote 200+ letters to voters in Georgia, encouraging them to vote in the upcoming runoff election. Participants attended a short zoom call to share their letters and celebrate their successes!

Today, Jacquelyn met with the League of Women Voters Action Committee to discuss next steps regarding legislative advocacy for the 2020 legislative session. She learned about their legislative priorities and about the aspects involved in legislative advocacy. She plans to work with the League of Women Voters this January through April to testify on behalf of legislation advocating for voting rights and the MD Blueprint for Education.