This year, the people of New Yorker City will elect a new mayor, comptroller, borough presidents, city council members and district attorney. These key governmental positions will affect our daily lives and determine how we address issues that matter most to us, including education, housing, jobs, how the City spends its money, and public safety. On June 22nd, in a citywide primary election, New Yorkers will use “ranked choice voting” for the first time, a new system of voting in which voters have the option to rank their top 5 candidates in order of preference. With so much at stake in local elections and the implementation of a new system of voting, public education on how ranked choice voting operates and our electoral system more generally is more important than ever this year.

Join Generation Citizen, along with DemocracyNYC, on Thursday, May 20 at 4:30 PM for a virtual panel that will feature government, advocacy, and nonprofit leaders and explore the mechanics of our voting system including the importance of voting in local elections, and the introduction of ranked choice voting to New York City.

Panelists:

Sandra Choi: Sandra is the Civic Participation Manager at the MinKwon Center, a community organization in Flushing, Queens. She is responsible for building power and visibility for the local immigrant community through MinKwon's civic engagement work. Her responsibilities include leading MinKwon's collaborative advocacy within local coalitions including APA VOICE. Prior to MinKwon, she served as the Director of Economic Development at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Born and raised in Queens, Sandra's first job was at 13, working to bridge language barriers for patients and doctors at Elmhurst Hospital. She is the first member of her family to attend college and earn a graduate degree. She is a former candidate for U.S. Congress and a second generation Korean American.

Sean Dugar: Sean is a political and non-profit consultant with nearly two decades of experience. Sean has worked with a number of nonprofit “Good Government” and social justice organizations organizing around issues such as police accountability, expanded access to the ballot box, and voting systems like Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). 
To date, Sean has worked on or managed over a dozen candidate and issue campaigns, including coordinating Democratic Party and African American outreach for California State Treasurer John Chiang, organizing faith conversations in support of marriage equality, rallying Bay Area communities in opposition to the death penalty and in favor of criminal justice reform, as well a campaign that registered over 10,000 new voters in Alameda County in 2004.

Shamaine Francis: Shamaine is a social worker and educator in NYC who has partnered with Generation Citizen since 2018. She believes that civics education is an important component of a comprehensive and empowering education. As a member of the Teacher Leadership Board, Shamaine is eager to connect students across the country to each other. This is in an effort to foster a curiosity about and a deeper understanding of regional issues. She is also committed to promoting the social and emotional benefits of a dynamic civics education.
A native of New York City, Shamaine currently resides and works on the Rockaway peninsula a burgeoning community that is directly impacted by environmental issues reflected in the rising tides and eroding beaches.

April Snape: April is an alumna of Hunter College where she studied Political Science with a concentration in Legal Studies. She currently serves on the Associate Board at Generation Citizen, in which she is committed to the organization's mission of ensuring that students from underserved communities are equipped with the necessary tools to participate in our democracy. April has dedicated her budding career to grassroots organizing and policy research in efforts to to amplify and uplift the voices of those that reside and operate in underserved communities. Her next steps are to become an attorney to advocate for the marginalized on a more substantive level.

L. Joy Williams: L. Joy Williams is a highly sought-after political strategist, public speaker, political analyst, and social justice activist. With  well over a decade of experience in politics, and over fifteen years in public speaking, L. Joy has made a name for herself  as a respected, intelligent voice in modern politics. Demonstrating a strong talent as a political planner and tactician, both  in political campaigns and government, L. Joy has been a regularly featured commentator on MSNBC (“Up with David  Gura”; “Melissa Harris-Perry Show”; “AM Joy”), and NY1 (“Inside City Hall”). 
L. Joy’s passion for political and community activism was instilled at an early age, stemming from a deep-rooted family  history and commitment to civil rights and social justice. In this tradition, L. Joy currently serves as the President of the  Brooklyn NAACP, one of the most generational diverse branches in the country. She is also the Legislative Coordinator for  the New York State NAACP Conference of Branches. Her outstanding leadership has increased chapter membership and  engagement, making Brooklyn NAACP one of the leading civil rights groups in New York City.

Moderated by:

Elizabeth Clay Roy, CEO, Generation Citizen

Elizabeth is a lifelong leader of civic engagement and social change initiatives, and the new Chief Executive Officer of Generation Citizen, a national nonprofit committed to providing youth with the knowledge and skills they need to actively participate in our democracy.  Leading Generation Citizen brings Elizabeth full circle to her childhood roots, when she campaigned door to door for candidates in Boston before she was old enough to vote. She was so active in voter registration drives that PBS’s show In the Mix chose her to lead youth coverage of the 2000 Presidential election.

Prior to joining GC, Elizabeth was Executive Director of TakeRoot Justice in NYC, Chief of Staff at Phipps Neighborhoods where she co-led South Bronx Rising Together, and founding Deputy Director of Opportunity Nation. She began her career working in participatory planning in India and serving Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as a Policy Advisor and the Director of Grassroots Governance.