Voters Not Politicians relies on all types of supporters to do the difficult work of protecting democracy. That includes donors, board members, volunteers, and more. And some supporters, like Jeff Padden, do all of the above!
Jeff first got started with Voters Not Politicians back in 2016, before it even was Voters Not Politicians! In December of that year, he attended a meeting that connected some long-time activists to a group of impassioned volunteers, and joined the campaign to end gerrymandering.
Since that fateful meeting, Jeff has continued to support the work of Voters Not Politicians to protect democracy, from helping pass Proposal 2 in 2018, to collecting over 600 signatures for Promote the Vote 2022! On top of that, Jeff supports Voters Not Politicians as a donor and a member of the Board of Directors.
Jeff wears a lot of hats for the organization, which requires a lot of time and effort on his part. But for Jeff that time is well spent.
Voters Not Politicians works to preserve, defend, and improve our democracy. That will help us to achieve public policy results that are in the interest of all Michiganians. It will also restore confidence in our system of elections and governance that has been so relentlessly attacked and seriously undermined in recent years. I am happy to be a part of that work.
As a long-standing and extra-engaged member of of the Voters Not Politicians family, Jeff understands more than just the importance of VNP’s work. He also knows the secret that sets Voters Not Politicians apart that other people might not realize: our amazing volunteers.
Voters Not Politicians has a huge base of committed volunteers who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals: make calls, send emails and texts, write postcards, knock on doors, attend events, make speeches, and, of course, gather petition signatures. The group can accommodate any volunteer regardless of what they prefer to do or how much time they can commit. We are eager to involve as many Michiganians as possible in this important work.
That pool of committed and passionate volunteers is the fuel for VNP’s people-powered movement and the key to the organization’s success. More importantly, they demonstrate that we can still make a positive change in our government.
Many believe that citizen action cannot work, that The Powers That Be will always prevail. In Michigan, though, citizens hold the political power. When we organize and work hard, we prevail.
