About us
Empowering grassroots volunteers to send personal, heartfelt letters encouraging fellow Americans to vote.
What we do
Vote Forward is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that empowers grassroots volunteers to send handwritten letters encouraging fellow Americans to vote. The majority of our letter-writing campaigns are nonpartisan campaigns, supporting our core 501c(3) and 501c(4) social-welfare mission, which focus on mobilizing potential voters in historically marginalized communities—such as people of color, women, and young voters. We also support 501(c)(4) partisan campaigns to encourage likely-Democratic voters to turn out in strategic states and districts.
285k+
Volunteers powering this work
40M+
Handwritten letters sent to voters
25+
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted & publicly shared
Our approach
Volunteer-powered
Our volunteers are a mix of experienced activists and new volunteers inspired by letter writing: In 2020, more than one-third of surveyed letter writers had never volunteered for a civic or political cause before Vote Forward.
Collaborative
We’re making letter writing available to the broader pro-democracy movement. Vote Forward has powered efforts by a diverse coalition of 100+ organizations—nonprofits, faith-based organizations, companies, political groups, and more—providing our platform and support at zero cost to them.
Evidence-driven
Vote Forward has tested the effectiveness of its letters on voter turnout more than 25 times over the past six years, and measured a positive impact nearly every time. Learn more about our experiments here.
Scalable
Our team can quickly launch and grow impactful letter writing campaigns—targeting anywhere from thousands to millions of potential voters—while supporting the thousands of grassroots volunteers who power them.
Our Partners
Our origin story
Vote Forward began in 2017 as an experiment conducted by Scott Forman in Alabama, where he sent 1,000 letters to encourage voters in the special U.S. Senate election.
Encouraged by the success of that test, Scott and a small group of friends and colleagues built the first version of this platform to allow volunteers to take easy and effective action in future elections. We’re so proud of how this community has grown over the years—and the impact we’ve achieved together.
Program Staff
Yasmin Radjy
Executive Director
she/her
Yasmin has more than 15 years of experience as a visionary leader in elections, advocacy, organizing, and outreach. Before Vote Forward, she served in the Biden administration as Senior Advisor for Recovery Program Outreach at the Department of Treasury, leading efforts supporting the implementation of the American Rescue Plan. Previously, she was National Political Director at Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF), Director of Organizing and Training at PPAF and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Virginia State Director at Mobilize during the 2017 election. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She is based in D.C.
Andrea Riveron
Chief of Staff
she/her
Andi has more than 10 years of experience as a team leader and project manager at mission-driven organizations. Before Vote Forward, she held managerial positions where she oversaw client accounts for media production companies. In her role as Chief of Staff, she directs and organizes multiple cross-functional departments and provides strategic advice and counsel to the Executive Director and other senior leaders. She holds a BA in Cinema-Television Production from USC.
Emily Wasserman
Sr. Director of Voter Contact
she/her
Emily Wasserman leads our data and research team, and is responsible for designing, executing, and assessing our grassroots voter contact programs. She’s worked in educational technology at the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and in social psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. She graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Cognitive Science and is based in San Luis Obispo, California.
Phong Le
Data and Research Analyst
he/him
Phong Le manages the data and science for our experimental campaigns. His background is in mathematics and statistics, and he’s interested in the community applications of data. He has a Ph.D in theoretical mathematics from U.C. Irvine, and is based in Baltimore.
Nia Bentall
Sr. Director, Mobilization & Partnerships
she/her
Nia leads our national-scale mobilization and partnerships strategies. She created the inaugural Swing Left College Fellowship in 2018 and has expanded her role to support mobilization and partnerships for both Swing Left and Vote Forward since then. She has over 10 years of reproductive rights and electoral organizing experience, previously holding positions at Planned Parenthood. She graduated with a BA in American Government from the University of Virginia and is based in D.C.
Technical Staff
Sam Hall
Development Director
she/her
Sam oversees our mid-tier fundraising program, institutional giving, and special events. She led nonprofit fundraising at several other organizations before joining our team. She earned her MA in Social Policy from UPenn and lives in Philadelphia.
Anna Langer
Sr. Director, Product
she/her
Anna leads our efforts to strategically harness digital platforms. With deep experience in the tech start-up space, she firmly believes in the power of UX as a positive change catalyst. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota and a BA from Carleton College, and is based in the Bay Area.
Michelle Alwardt
Head of Operations
she/her
Michelle leads our financial, compliance, legal, administrative, and people programs. She has spent over 10 years managing the operations needs of mission-driven organizations including Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Victory Fund. She’s driven by a deep passion for the advancement of intersectional and progressive causes, and calls Atlanta home.
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Support our work
To make a contribution to Vote Forward, please donate online via ActBlue or contact Sam Hall, Development Director, at [email protected].
Want to learn more?
For questions about letters, check out our help site or chat bot. If you are unable to find an answer, you can email [email protected] for support.