La historia del origen

In 2020, The Miami Foundation launched Vote Miami (formerly known as Our Miami: The People’s Forums) to combat the limitations on access to information and political engagement opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond the pandemic, the Foundation recognizes that communities across Miami have unequal access to the opportunities and information that inspire civic engagement, specifically voting, including access to their candidates for public office. Through Vote Miami, the Foundation seeks to bridge those accessibility gaps, bring communities together, and spur engagement in political activities.

Enfoque

In partnership with a network of collaborators, Vote Miami has hosted virtual candidate forums focused on local elections in every midterm and national election year. We’ve also developed a comprehensive, streamlined, and approachable online voter education platform.

In 2024, we considered how to further engage with — and invest in — the nonprofit leaders who work year-round to improve civic engagement. In partnership with United Way Miami, we launched the Vote Miami microgrant program, which in 2024 awarded $1,000 to fifteen nonprofit organizations to support non-partisan in-person candidate forums and town halls.

Lo más destacado de 2024:

• Vote Miami hosted seven online forums featuring 16 candidates running for county office. In all, the forums engaged 1,361 viewers.
• In tandem, community partners hosted in-person watch parties for three of the virtual forums.
• In partnership with United Way, we awarded $15,000 in microgrants to support additional in-person candidate forums and town halls.
• Voter Turnout Map: we produced an interactive map allowing visitors to see district- and precinct-level voter turnout data, along with demographic data, from the 2020 and 2022 elections.
• We made the VoteMiami.org voter education platform more robust, including the addition of a municipal elections guide outlining what was on the 2024 ballot in 24 Miami-Dade municipalities.

Vote Miami by the numbers:

• Since its inception, Vote Miami has hosted 21 virtual candidate forums over three election cycles (four in 2022, and 10 in 2020).
• VoteMiami.org was accessed 18,822 times by 9,521 users during the 2024 election cycle.

Reflections from project lead Faith Grant, Collective Impact Officer (lightly edited for clarity):

“I’m proud that community leaders, as they always do, raised their hand once again to create a space for learning and engagement and discourse. I’m proud that community members showed up to events and to polls and elsewhere, because they know and understand that they have a stake in this community. I’m so proud of Miami.”

Las lecciones aprendidas y las oportunidades reconocidas:

1. We know that political engagement shouldn’t end with an election.
2. We see opportunities for more engagement: more forums, and more spaces where citizens can meet with elected officials on a consistent basis.
3. We want to see more investment in bridging the gap between elected leaders and their constituents, and we recognize the Foundation’s potential to be a connector.

For more information or questions on Miami Connected, please reach out to Faith Grant at fgrant@miamifoundation.org.