At the Alliance, so much of what we do is connected to passionate community members working hard to protect the wildlife, wild places, and community character of Jackson Hole. Through our Conservation Leadership Institute (CLI), we have had the opportunity to engage and empower some of the most driven and innovative members of the community, people like Maggie Shipley.
Maggie moved to Jackson in February of 2015 when she accepted a position at the Latino Resource Center (now One22) as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. Shortly after graduating from round 6 of CLI, she began working as the Voter Engagement Fellow at the Alliance, exploring and implementing tactics to reach underrepresented voices in the community, specifically Latinos and younger voters.
Our local and state elected representatives literally shape the future of our community. They decide how we address the housing emergency that’s destroying our middle class and threatening the fabric of our community, the transportation challenges tearing into our quality of life, the nearly 400 animals struck and killed on our roads every year, the big money special interests trying to privatize our American public lands, and the many other big challenges facing our community. If we don’t vote, we have no voice in how (or if) our elected representatives address these challenges. For these reasons, Maggie and her team are working on increasing voter turnout in Teton County to ensure our entire community engages in the civic process.
Maggie just wrapped up the first phase of her project yesterday with the local primary election. She and her team of ten committed volunteers were able to get 183 first time Teton County voters to commit to vote in 2016. And in fantastic news, in part because of Maggie and her team’s efforts, yesterday’s primary saw the highest turnout in Teton County primary history. She’ll continue to lead a team of volunteers and talk to even more voters before the general election in November.
Keep up the great work, Maggie!
To support people like Maggie, please remember the Alliance during Old Bill’s. Click here to give today.
