Voters Not Politicians, along with Voters Ed Fund, launched a number of new programs last year, and our volunteers had more options than ever before to help strengthen Michigan’s democracy. That’s why we brought on a new staff member who is more than capable of keeping up with all the moving pieces of this pro-democracy machine.
Mariah Bryant, a rock climber, marathoner, and youth soccer coach, was more than ready to take on the task of running our volunteer army as our new Director of Democracy Engagement!
While she hadn’t worked directly with VNP before, Mariah was very familiar with our reputation even before she joined our staff last August.
I wanted to work with Voters Not Politicians because of the wonderful reputation VNP has with volunteers and within the Michigan political arena.
And even before she joined the team, Mariah was working to advance the pro-democracy mission of Voters Not Politicians.
My background is in running political campaigns and during those campaigns, many of my volunteers were also VNP volunteers. The campaigns that I’ve run have always been supportive of VNP’s initiatives, so I have been operating parallel to VNP for the whole time.
Now, Mariah serves as the Director of Democracy Engagement for Voters Not Politicians, leading volunteer engagement and coordinating activism across programs for Voters Not Politicians and Voters Ed Fund. Mariah is the first staff member to serve in this role, and already has ideas for how this position can advance VNP’s pro-democracy mission.
My favorite part about working for VNP is the fact that we are such a volunteer-centric organization and that players across the state recognize the power we have because of our robust volunteer program. In the next year, I’m looking forward to growing our statewide impact by increasing and diversifying our volunteer base and deepening our grassroots partnerships.
Mariah has already seen the impact Voters Not Politicians has had on Michigan’s democracy, and she’s looking forward to doing even more now that she’s part of the VNP team!
Keep your eyes on Voters Not Politicians. We have always done big things that change the course of Michigan’s political trajectory and that is only going to increase in the coming years.
