Archive for category: State of the Union

Political Updates

Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts

• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in June: 222
• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2020: 513
• Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2020: 710

Advocacy Emails

• Total # of Advocacy Emails in June: 41,666
• Total # of Advocacy Emails in 2020: 87,838
• Advocacy Emails Goal for 2020: 120,000
• % of Congress Emailed Year to Date: 99%

Congressional Office Meetings and Live Events

Warren’s Address

Listen to the latest from Warren about the goings-on in D.C.

Content Team Updates

Articles of the Month: Providing Affordable Refrigeration in Developing Countries by Natasha Nath, Mushroom Farming by Jonathan Helton and The Impacts on Poverty In Lesotho by Chatham Kennedy.

Recognition

Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition

• • • Honors Award (raised $3,000 or more): 
      • Political Affairs Team: Jacob Boehm
    • Capital Achievement Award (raised $2,000 or more):
      • Content Team: Anita Durairaj, Melina Stavropoulos
    • Chief Closer Award (raised $1,000 or more):
      • Content Team: Anita Durairaj, Jonathan Helton, Annie Lezzi, George Hashemi, Natasha Nath, Maxwell Karibian, Isabel Corp, Hannah Roberts, Sydney Stokes, Aiden Farr, Lucia Kenig-Ziesler, Rachel Powell, Paige Musgrave
      • HR Team: Keira D’Amico, Chloe Marshall, Zhane Spates
      • In-Office Team: Leah Caragol
      • Nonprofit Leadership Team: Heeyoung Son, Haven Barton-Knabe, Gillian Friend, Omar Iniguez, Haven Barton-Knabe, Grace Hoagland
      • Political Affairs Team: Leila Mosteika, Arushi Singh, Sarah Fuller, Olivia Pistella, William Scheffler, Grayson Timoner, Sofia Siegel, Jacob Boehm, Brandon Stoll, Daina Stinnett
      • PR/Marketing Team: Camila Lavadenz
    • Bird Dog Award:
      • Content Team: Aishwarya Thiygarajan
      • Political Affairs: Ava Singh, Amanda Elena Sarmiento
      • PR/Marketing Team: Sumiran Nigam
    • President’s Circle:
      • Nonprofit Leadership Team: Noor Mchallah (5 meetings), Heeyoung Son, Haven Barton-Knabe, Grace Hoagland, Noor Mchallah, Yesha Shah
    • Public Outreach Award (50 or more people mobilized): 
      • Nonprofit Leadership Team: Omar Iniguez
      • Political Affairs Team: Natasha Nath, Arnie Bennett, Elizabeth Dassow (163 people)
      • PR/Marketing Team: Jamie Yeh

Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.

Getting the Word Out

Informational Events

PR/Marketing Team member Danielle Zbodula held a Borgen Project Info Event on Zoom. The event received a fantastic turn out!

PR/Marketing Team member Sophia Neubaum created a powerpoint to accompany for Informational Event

One-Mile Campaigns & Mobilizing

Content Team member Sydney Stokes

Left: PR/Marketing Team member Stephanie Orea in Texas; Center: PR/Marketing Team member Julia Lupariello hung flyers in New Orleans, LA; Right: Political Affairs Team member Cory Dudka in Madison, WI

Content Team member Madeline Zuzevich

PR/Marketing Team member Siyu Liu

Left: Content Team member Emma Benson; Center: Advocate Venus Wang; Right: Regional Director Omara Castillo

Left: PR/Marketing Team member Sarah Tucker; Right: Content Team member Rachel Hernandez

PR/Marketing Team member Jonathan Roberto

HR Team member Danyell Chupp repping The Borgen Project!

Political Affairs Team members completing their One-Mile Campaign; Top left: Esau Carpenter; Top right: Irma Alonso; Bottom left: Meredith Kahan; Bottom right: Payton Little

PR/Marketing Team members Sophia Neubaum (left) and Samantha Martinez Hansen (right)

Political Affairs Team member Katherine Gagnon in Glastonbury, CT

HR Team member Minerva Ramirez

Julia Andersen, Political Affairs Team, painted rocks for her One-Mile Campaign in Point Pleasant, NJ

Swarms

Advocate Venus Wang held a virtual swarm with 25 people

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Omar Iniguez utilized Snapchat, a multimedia messaging app, to create a swarm of 53 people

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Zachary Leven in Atlanta, GA created a swarm to call and email Congress

More than a swarm! Nonprofit Leadership Team member Seth Duval in Philadelphia, PA had friends and families call their congressional leaders, created a bingo game to fundraise for the cause and held a Zoom call with people to mobilize Congress

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Anna Gwin created a swarm to call and email Congress

Letters to the Editor

Political Affairs Team

• Arushi Singh in the Chicago Tribune: U.S. must take more steps to end world hunger and illness
• Elizabeth Dassow in the Herald-Times Online: Global Health Security Act Needed
• Alek LaShomb in the Winona Daily News: When others do better, we do better
• Max Glennie in The Cap Times: Baldwin could be the right pick for Biden’s VP
• Sophie van Leeuwen in the Portland Press Herald: Letter to the Editor
• Daina Stinnett in the Idaho Statesman: Global Health
• Jordan Larson in the Minnesota Daily: The importance of recognizing global poverty in light of the COVID-19 crisis
• Rachel Levine in The Cherry Hill Sun: We need to help contain COVID-19 globally

PR/Marketing Team

• Sanjana Jain in the Lake County Journal: Global impact of COVID-19 on our community

Nonprofit Leadership Team

• Rachel Hull in the Erie Times-News: Fighting global poverty strengthens U.S. security
• Dalia Nazzal in the San Francisco Chronicle: Letters to the Editor
• Nitan Shanas in New Jersey Local News: Make COVID-19 relief a worldwide mission
• Kylie Jabjiniak in the NW Florida Daily Journal: Our role in uniting the world

Outreach & Mobilizing Materials

Left: Created by Content Team member Madeline Zuzevich; Right: Created by PR/Marketing Team member Avery Fletcher

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Elizabeth Gierhart

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Samantha Martinez Hansen 

PR/Marketing Team member Laura Barriga Fernandez designed graphics for Instagram Story. Laura shared her stories to various influences and was able to get @geografans (18.7K followers) to repost on Instagram

Created by Nonprofit Leadership Team member Elise Kwan

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Madeline Agner

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Penelope Moreno

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Jamie Yeh

Left: Created by PR/Marketing Team member Sara Holm; Right: Created by Content Team member Karin Filipova

Outreach materials created by PR/Marketing Team member Riley Cronin

Interactive templates for social media created by PR/Marketing Team member Madison Kilpatrick

Created by Content Team member Rachel Hernandez

 

Fundraising

Political Affairs Team member Nelly Harb made cookies and walked throughout her neighborhood to raise money for the cause. Nelly raised $25!

Content Team member DeAndre Jakar Robinson fundraised in front of a GNC in Kalamazoo, MI

Content Team member Natascha Holenstein held a bake sale to contribute to her fundraising goal. Natascha has sold delicious treats, such as cookies, cake pops and brownies to neighbors, family and friends

Not only did Political Affairs Team member Amanda Sarmiento participate in a swimathon to downsize poverty. Amanda also made and sold apparel and face masks for her fundraising campaign

PR/Marketing Team member Parnaz Hojjati sold her artwork on Ebay to fundraise for the cause

Content Team member Sydney Stokes found a creative means to both fundraise AND mobilize her followers to take action

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Melanie Ipyam designed an Instagram Bingo to raise small donations

 

#HackingHunger

“He Developed His Dream on a Fishing Boat. Now, It’s an Anti-Poverty Movement.”

World Food Program USA spoke to Borgen Project Founder and President, Clint Borgen, in their June episode of #HackingHunger, Creating an Anti-Poverty Movement with Clint Borgen.

World Food Program USA · Episode 40: Creating an Anti-Poverty Movement with Clint Borgen

 

Virtual Series

The Borgen Project is working hard to shine a spotlight on the concerning threat that COVID-19 poses in countries that were already experiencing dire humanitarian crisis. Our latest virtual series event featured Borgen Project Founder and President, Clint Borgen. The conversation addressed why it’s more important than ever to activate and advocate for what’s right in this pivotal time in our nation’s history.

World Refugee Day

On June 20, we acknowledged the overwhelming adversity faced by the nearly 80 million displaced people worldwide. World Refugee Day offers a chance to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world and of the efforts to protect their human rights.

“Today, there are more than 70 million displaced people around the world, and nearly 90% of the world’s refugees live in developing countries that often struggle to provide basic services, let alone combat a global pandemic. “
– USGLC

 

Media Outreach

 

Interviews

Political Affairs Team member Sofia Siegel featured in an Alumni Spotlight interview for the Putney Student Travel to discuss The Borgen Project.

Alumni Spotlight: Sofia Siegel

 

TikTok

The Borgen Project is now on TikTok! Give us a follow @theborgenproject.

Learn more on our website. Link in bio. ##poverty ##world ##101 ##fyp ##foryourpage ##foryoupage ##foryou ##global ##hunger ##electricity ##for ##you ##page ##help♬ Intentions (Instrumental Version) [Originally Performed by Justin Bieber & Quavo] – Elliot Van Coup

Have an idea for a TikTok? Please email them to Nonprofit Leadership Team member Sharon Shenderovskiy at [email protected].

Instagram

Team members took to Instagram to voice support for the cause. Don’t forget to tag @theborgenproject in your content on Instagram:

Stories:

Featured on The Borgen Project’s Instagram: A multi-series post on the End TB Not Act created by PR/Marketing Team member Siyu Liu.

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Devorah Gurevich educated her following about The Borgen Project and urged them to email Congress.

PR/Marketing Team member Kelsey Lu created a series of graphics on the crisis in Yemen that were featured on HerCampusUW’s Instagram Story

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Bernadette Dwyer in O’Fallon, IL spreading awareness about The Borgen Project on her Instagram Story

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Sharon Shenderovskiy created and shared an interactive graphic to her Instagram Story.

Influencer Outreach:

PR/Marketing Team member created a video in support of the Keeping Girls in School Act, which she shared on her Instagram. The Girls Room, an entertainment and multimedia hub for women, by women. (21.3K followers) happened to watch and interact with her IGTV video.

PR/Marketing Team member reached out to feministastic (189K followers), an organization advocating for equity, about The Borgen Project. The organization shared Sara’s graphic series to their Instagram.

Right: Content Team member Ashley Parks persuaded lifestyle influencer, Katy Belotte, to give The Borgen Project a shoutout on her Instagram Story.
Left: PR/Marketing Team member Alison Weldon messaged, Jessica Sulhee, a lifestyle content creator who found success through TikTok. Jessica shared Alison’s infographic to her Instagram Story.

Left: PR/Marketing Team member Renee St.germaine found success reaching out to a number of well-known Instagram accounts, including equalitymeansall, who shared the Keeping Girls in School Act to their Story.
Right: PR/Marketing Team member Laura Barriga successfully pitched to @ro54d on Instagram. With nearly 1 million followers, Rodrigo Garduño, posted a video about The Borgen Project on his story and saved it to his highlight “54 Donate.”

Additional Resources:
Why we need to support International COVID-19 Relief by: Elizabeth Lewis, Political Affairs Team
Global Health Security Act by: Lilya Hadab, PR/Marketing Team
Keeping Girls in School Act by: Amanda Garcia, PR/Marketing Team
Girls Lead Act by: Alexis Woodruff, PR/Marketing Team
Fast fashion: The dangerous underside of the fashion industry by Amonn Mitchell, PR/Marketing Team
How to Contact Congress by Allison Wojtowicz, PR/Marketing Team
5 ways you can contact Congress by Penelope Moreno, PR/Marketing Team

Radio and Podcasts

PR/Marketing Team member Sophia Neubaum featured in a radio interview with KUAF

 

Videos

PR/Marketing Team member Dennis Mavia on how to get involved:

Louisa Hallett, Political Affairs Team, asking the guest speaker a question in regards to the Global Health Security Act:

Will Scheffler, Political Affairs Team:

Brianna Budelli, Political Affairs Team:

Grayson Timoner, Political Affairs Team:

Nicholas Thurston, Political Affairs Team, highlighted COVID-19 and foreign affairs in his call on C-SPAN:

Elizabeth Manning, Political Affairs Team, called into C-SPAN to discuss the Global Health Security Act:

Political Updates

Reminder: The Senate and House are in recess next week March 16th until 20th.

Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts

• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in February: 50
• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2020: 76
• Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2020: 710

Advocacy Emails

• Total # of Advocacy Emails in February: 6,825
• Total # of Advocacy Emails in 2020: 12,276
• Advocacy Emails Goal for 2020: 120,000
• % of Congress Emailed Year to Date: 66%

Congressional Office Meetings

Political Affairs Team member Natalie Coyne secured meetings with Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA-14th; left) and Sen. Pat Toomey’s staffer (R-PA; right).

Natalie then managed to secure her fourth lobbying meeting with Harry Johnson II (Sen. Bob Casey’s Regional Director), where they discussed the Keeping Girls in School act.

Political Affairs Team member Lindsey LeBaron met with Rep. John Curtis (R-UT-3rd) to discuss the Reach Every Mother and Child Act.

Political Affairs Team member Emily Daly met with Rosie Driscoll, the Outreach Specialist for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), to discuss the Keeping Girls in School Act.

Political Affairs Team member Kristine Gonzalez met with Larissa L. Bailey, Central Regional Manager for Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA).

Political Affairs Team member Edward Taylor met Molly Cole, Foreign Affairs Legislative Assistant for Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA-11th).

Political Affairs Team member Alexis Page met with a staff member at Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) office in Columbus, Ohio.

Regional Director Morgan Harden completed her first lobbying meeting with Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC-9th)!

Town Halls

In-Office Team member Iris Thatcher had the opportunity to meet Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at a Town Hall in Seattle, WA

Political Affairs Team member Diego Tambazidis bird dogged at a Town Hall meeting in California.

Political Affairs Team member Dana Kit seen in attendance at Rep. Tom Malinowski’s (D-NJ-7th) Town Hall meeting.

Lindsey LeBaron, Political Affairs Team member, attended a legislative networking meeting

Warren’s Address

Listen to the latest from Warren about the goings-on in D.C.

Content Team Updates

Website traffic continues to be strong, thanks to the content created by our Writers, Journalists and Editors.

Recognition

Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition.

• • • Chief Closer Award (raised $1,000 or more): Hannah Gabrielle White, Content Team member and Jordyn Garrett-Green, PR/Marketing Team member.
    • Bird Dog Award: Alexi Santiago, Dana Kit and Lindsey LeBaron, Political Affairs Team members. YoungJu Moon, Regional Director.
    • President’s Circle: Kristine Gonzalez, Max Warren, William Butts, Lindsey LeBaron, and Natalie Coyne, Political Affairs Team members. Morgan Harden and Ashely Strand, Regional Directors.
    • Public Outreach Award (50 or more people mobilized): Dhruv Bhardwaj and Kristine Gonzalez, Political Affairs Team members.
    • Articles of the Month:  The Rise and Empowerment of Female Farmers in Nepal by Taylor Pittman and  Eradicating Menstrual Huts in Nepal by Minh-Ha La.

Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.

Getting the Word Out

One-Mile Campaigns

Political Affairs Team member Javier Salgado disbursed flyers in local barbershops in Kissimmee, FL.

Pragya Nagpal, Political Affairs Team member, posted posters outside houses in Irving, Texas.

HR Team member Arthi Lokaiyan took a quick selfie while posting flyers around campus.

Swarm

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Chase Smith from Seattle created a swarm in support of the Global Health Security Act.

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Rebecca Collins created a swarm in support of the Keeping Girls in School Act.

Ashley Strand, Regional Director, ordered The Borgen Project stickers and pins for her mobilization activities.

Letters to the Editor

Regional Director

• Morgan Harden in USA Today: Invest in health abroad to prevent U.S. outbreaks.

Political Affairs Team

• Anabel Paco-Cano in The Miami Times: Group aims to decrease poverty around the world.
• Natalie Coyne in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Support budget & in The Butler Eagle: A plea to support girls education.

PR/Marketing Team

• Joseph Endler in The Register-Guard: Seeking to help the world.

Outreach & Mobilizing Materials

Nonprofit Leadership team member, Avery Barela’s posters for her branding campaign.

PR/Marketing Team member Jordyn Garrett-Green.

PR/Marketing Team member Onastacia Roe created a flier to use for an upcoming information event.

Created by PR/Marketing Team member Jordyn Garrett-Green.

Created by Political Affairs Team member Lorryn Murray.

Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act by PR/Marketing Team member Rhea Ferrer.

 

Fundraising

PR/Marketing Team member Onastacia Roe used Instagram to create an online thrift store as a part of her fundraising campaign.

Political Affairs Team member Frankie Gaynor created Borgen Project t-shirts for her fundraiser.

HR Team member KaLee Roberge sold military patches for her campaign, each priced at $1.00. KaLee ended up selling 510 patches!

HR team member Krity Deb created paintings for her fundraising campaign.

Media Outreach

Videos

Political Affairs Team member Francesca Gaynor spoke on behalf of TBP to a community access TV program.

Political Affairs Team member Natalie Coyne presented at a city council meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Instagram

Nonprofit Leadership Team member Mayaka Wimberley created a graphic to share on social media.

PR/Marketing Team member Onastacia Roe created infographics to share information about The Borgen Project for her branding and fundraising campaigns on Instagram.

Memes

Meme created by Content Team member Treya Parikh.

 

Best of 2019

Content Team, Brena Stanski 

This brilliant writer mobilized over 50 people to fight global poverty and fundraised over $1,500 for the cause. Breana said her motivation in the internship was realizing the impact one can make on the world. 

“Writing articles pertaining to poverty reduction efforts, reaching out to my friends and family about supporting U.S. aid legislation, as well as receiving positive responses from my congressional leaders through correspondence, has resulted in me feeling as though I can truly making a positive difference in the world.”

Advocacy Team, Kristina Pecora 

As a part of the Advocacy Team, Kristina made great strides with lobbying meetings and fundraising. During her 12 weeks with The Borgen Project, Kristina secured 3 meetings and fundraised over $900 to end global poverty. “What motivates me? In addition to the cause itself and that warm, fuzzy feeling when one is doing good, is feedback. “What really motivates me is feedback […] [It] lets me know I’m making some kind of impact.” 

In-Office Team, MacKenzie Dougan 

During her time with us, MacKenzie raised $754 and attended a group meeting with Senator Murray’s office. All this whilst ensuring that all team member’s fundraising letters were sent out, donations tracked as well as being the face of the organization, speaking with visitors to the office and answering questions about the organization. “The Borgen Project’s mission to advocate for the United States to address poverty worldwide is a worthy and valuable pursuit. This goal was very motivating because it allowed me to be involved and to advocate for something close to my heart. I have seen poverty first hand in South Africa and appreciated the chance to feel empowered to make real change through this internship. Each day, I reflected on how much time I had been able to put into fighting for the world’s poor, and that motivated me to work even harder the next day.” 

Top Fundraiser: Sophia Wanyonyi

As an intern for the Content Team, based in Kenya, Sophia became the top fundraiser in the organization’s history, raising more than $5,000 (508,000 Kenyan shillings) for the cause! Sophia sought out creative means to fundraise, organizing both a dance party and a whiskey party for friends and family to attend: “I thought that the best way to get people to give would be by making it fun for them […] I always strive to go the extra mile in all I do. It is a lesson that was taught to me pretty early on in life, by my parents and at school. Everything I do, I try to give it my all.” 

None of these achievements would be possible without your advocacy and dedication to the cause. Congratulations!

Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts

• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in December: 23
• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2019: 762
• Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2019: 775
• Bills passed in 2019: 2

Advocacy Emails

• Total # of Advocacy Emails in December: 3,007
• Total # of Advocacy Emails in 2019: 98,249
• Advocacy Emails Goal for 2019: 80,000
• % of Congress Emailed in December: 99%

Congressional Office Meetings

Regional Director Gaytri Riya Vasa met with Rep. Van Taylor (R-TX-3rd) to discuss the Malala Scholarship Act which passed in the House soon after.

Political Affairs Team member Robert Contraction met with Hannah Benson, New Bedford Staff Rep. to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The two discussed the International Affairs Budget and the End Tuberculosis Now Act.

Volunteer Team member Hannah Reznik met with John Hollinrake, Regional Director to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).

Content Team Updates

Thanks to all the hard work of our Content Team members, we smashed our goal of having 5 million visitors to borgenproject.org in 2019. A grand total of 6.9 million people visited the site. Well done everyone. 

Recognition

Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition.

• • • Chief Closer Award (raised $1,000 or more): Chace Pulley, Content Team member
    • President’s Circle (held 3 congressional meetings): Defne Ersoy and Marcus Hunter, Political Affairs Team members
    • Articles of the Month: All As One is fighting child poverty in Sierra Leone by Emily Joy Oomen and The importance of HIV/AIDS treatment in eSwatini by James Turner

Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.

Getting the Word Out

The Borgen Project on Twitter

We received a shoutout tweet from Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala Yousafzai’s father, in support of The Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act. The legislation will ensure that the next generation of Pakistani women have the chance to receive an education and provide for their families, communities and country.

The Borgen Project on Buzzfeed

6 Myths About Poverty, Busted
PR Team member Alina Meletta addresses the most common preconceptions and myths about global poverty in a December feature on Buzzfeed Community

Letters to the Editor

PR/Marketing Team

• Courtney Palmersheim in Times-Republican: World poverty is real
• Timothy Linton in the Cheney Free-Press: Take the time to contact your representatives
• Venus Nguyen in The Daily Journal: Grow and Prosper

Nonprofit Leadership Team

• Margo DeKoch in Caller Times: The importance of educating women worldwide

One-Mile Campaigns

Political Affairs Team member Mehak Rajpal completed her 1-Mile Campaign in Los Angeles, CA

Political Affairs Team member Louisa Whitaker also completed her campaign in Los Angeles, CA

In-Office Team member Grace Whitten completed her campaign at the University of Washington in Seattle

Political Affairs Team member Kyle Coburn posted QR codes on the campus of the University of Delaware’s main street

Tabling Events

HR Team member Michael Nguyen of Austin,  TX took a one-mile radius around the UT Tower near the center of his campus and posted flyers on the provided billboards. Michael also created a swarm with his friends.

PR/Marketing Team member Hannah Pennant held an End Global Poverty event.

Other  Ideas

Political Affairs Team member Louisa Whitaker wrote in pizza boxes for the delivery drivers she works with to take to customer’s houses.

HR Team member Juan Gonzalez of Rexburg, ID printed out QR codes and placed them around campus. The QR code led to The Borgen Project website.

Outreach & Mobilizing Materials

Created by HR Team member Michael Nguyen

Content Team member Michelle White created a business card to garner donations for The Borgen Project.

 

Fundraising

 

Over the holiday season, Political Affairs Team member Mahzarin Mistry held a “Thanksgiving Throwdown” fundraiser with family and friends: “The premise of the fundraiser was to dish out the same amount of food on everyone’s plate. The last person to finish, or not finish at all, had to donate to my online fundraising campaign. Most people tried to finish, but to no avail.”

Political Updates

Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts

• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in October: 65
• Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2019: 696
• Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2019: 775

Advocacy Emails

• Total # of Advocacy Emails in October: 5,917
• Total # of Advocacy Emails in 2019: 90,754
• Advocacy Emails Goal for 2019: 80,000
• % of Congress Emailed in October: 99%

Congressional Office Meetings

Content Team member Trey Ross completed her first lobbying meeting! Trey met with Jaci Winship, the Senior Community Liaison for Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO). The two discussed The Borgen Project, increasing funding for the International Affairs Budget and the Keeping Girls in School Act.

Content Team member Susan Niz met with Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) office to lobby on behalf of the world’s poor.

 

Warren’s Address

Listen to the latest from Warren about the goings-on in D.C.

Content Team Updates

Year to date our website has had 6 million visitors!  With a 2019 goal of 5 million visitors, we have smashed it! Well done everyone.

The Borgen Project received a shoutout in an article on Bustle featuring Harry Styles. Take a look: Harry Styles Tweeted A Link To This Mysterious Website & Twitter’s Experiencing A Collective Moment

Recognition

Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition.

• • • Capital Achievement Award (raised $2,000 or more): Olivia Heale and Sophia Wanyonyi from the Content Team; Michelle Dickson from the Political Affairs Team member.
    • Chief Closer Award (raised $1,000 or more): Sophia Wanyonyi, Content Team member; Angus Gracey, Political Affairs Team member; Ryan B. Holman, Content Team Member; Angus Gracey Political Affairs Team member and Madison Botsch, PR/Marketing Team member.
    • President’s Circle (held 3 congressional meetings): Marisa Anopolsky, Jacob Lang and Isabelle Pinzon from the Political Affairs Team.
    • Bird Dog Award: Mahzarin Mistry, Political Affairs Team member.
    • Public Outreach Award (50 or more people mobilized): Alina Shivji, PR/Marketing Team member (55); Maggie Aulman, PR/Marketing Team member (50). Elisabeth Drabkin, Political Affairs Team member (50).
    • Article of the Month: The Importance of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 by Sarah Frazer

Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.

Getting the Word Out

One-Mile Campaigns

HR Team member Jie (Caroline) Jing completed her 1-Mile Campaign around the Minnesota State Capitol.

HR Team member Taryn Woodburn’s 1-Mile campaign took place around Ted Cruz’s office in Houston, TX.

HR Team member Ariel St. Claire held her 1-Mile Campaign in Spokane, WA.

Political Affairs Team member Kevin Chiang

PR/Marketing Team member Courtney Palmersheim

PR/Marketing Team member Chika Okoye

Political Affairs Team member Anthony Dolmat

With a little help from her sons, HR Team member Sherice Banks completed her 1-Mile Campaign at a city park in Oklahoma.

Letters to the Editor

Political Affairs Team

• Emily Kerr in The Athens News: Trump wrong to cut our country’s International Affairs Budget
• Sarah Clark in Social Policy: A Letter from The Borgen Project: We Got Mail!
• Kyle Coburn in Delaware Online: Foreign aid benefits Delaware
• Roberto Consuegra in The Gainesville Sun: Untapped Markets

PR/Marketing Team

• Timothy Linton in The Spokesman-Review: Communicate on Issues
• Venus Nguyen in The Mercury News: Congress should increase aid to end world hunger

Advocates

• Emily Klein in The Gonzaga Bulletin: True power of change lies in reaching out to representatives

Outreach & Mobilizing Materials

Political Affairs Team member Mehak Rajpal created a flier as an aid to hand out during presentations to classes and student organizations.

PR/Marketing Team member Jeanne Alix: “The bill will cut child deaths by 50 percent. Education is one of the most valuable resources when it comes to saving children’s lives. Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of death for children under five largely due to many mothers’ lack of education on proper hygiene, health and nutrition. According to UNESCO, if all women received secondary education, it would cut in half the number of child deaths and save three million lives. When provided with an education, mothers are able to raise their children in a healthier way because they have the knowledge necessary to provide them with a higher quality of life.”

“The good and the bad: The progress we’ve made and where we can do better” by PR/Marketing Team member Timothy Linton

PR/Marketing Team member Ashley Strand highlights stats around the world.

Information Events

PR/Marketing Team member Ashley Strand tabled at HTC to fundraise and inform individuals about the organization.

PR/Marketing Team member Cindy Mendoza held an info event in Seattle on the University of Washington’s campus.

Fundraising

PR/Marketing Team member Madison Botsch raised over $300 from her cookie sale.

Content Team member Trey Ross hosted friends in her backyard for a dinner party and summit to discuss The Borgen Project. Trey raised $840 from combining two of her biggest passions – sharing the message for bipartisan efforts to downsize global poverty and throwing a big party! “It was awesome getting to tell my closest friends how lifting communities out of poverty can actually benefit us here at home, since they had never thought about it that way before. I made a ton of delicious appetizers and served cocktails.”

PR/Marketing Team member Ashley Strand hosted a trivia night to fundraise for her campaign. Ashley has also created an Ebay account to sell inventory. A portion of the funds will go to The Borgen Project.

Content Team member Sophia Wanyonyi, based in Kenya, held a dance party in October. Sophia raised $1,188 by selling drinks and snacks as well as collecting donations. Way to go, Sophia!

Political Affairs Team member Jacob Lang fundraising. His caption was: ‘There’s nothing “sweeter” than working to solve global poverty.’ A donation of $1.50 = one guess in this jelly bean raffle!

Political Affairs Team member Rupkatha Banerjee organized a concert as a part of her fundraising campaign.

Political Affairs Team member Mehak Rajpal held a bake sale on-campus. Mehak shared the photo to her Instagram story to help spread the word.

Media Outreach