From the president
Our 2024 nominee is Ava Pallotta in recognition of her work on voter engagement on our campus and beyond. Ava is also a regular volunteer at Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and has conducted community-engaged research as a Mindich Fellow with Government Prof. Danielle Allen. In 2022, she oversaw all voter outreach on campus and created the “Harvard Voting Bootcamp,” a now-annual virtual voting boot camp that shared Harvard Votes’ organizing strategies with high school and college students from across the country. Ava led 8 teams and more than 75 volunteers in a variety of civic engagement initiatives: a 'Rock the Vote' student-artist concert where "tickets" were reserved by registering to vote, thank-you cards written for poll workers, and tabling events at Harvard and beyond. The Institute of Politics has recognized her work by bestowing the Changemaker Award, awarded to three out of more than 700 eligible students who "exemplify public service at Harvard" and "have had the greatest community impact". We look forward to supporting Ava in her efforts to increase the capacity of student activists across the country.
Personal Statement
In my first semester of college, I began knocking on student dorms and registering my peers - even though I was seventeen and couldn't register to vote yet myself. I quickly learned the power of peer-led relational organizing and saw how student volunteers can help alleviate barriers to other students casting their ballots. Ever since, I have been passionate about ensuring all students have the opportunity to promote civic engagement on their campus, regardless of their campus size or resources. I founded the Harvard Voting Bootcamp, a now-annual virtual programming series aimed at connecting organizers and facilitating dialogue around civic engagement on campuses across the country. As the 2023 Co-Chair of the Harvard Votes Challenge, I am proud to have helped execute a variety of on-campus voter outreach initiatives, including a "Rock the Vote" concert which brought student artists together to perform to promote voter registration, the development of a relational organizing digital tool called 'Votable', and weekly tabling and door-knocking events. I also serve as the Deputy Political Director for Voters of Tomorrow, a 501(c)4 non-profit focused on promoting the youth vote, where I helped lead efforts to contact 8.4 million young voters in the 2022 midterm elections.