Combating Political Cynicism in Black Communities
Session Type(s): Panel, Streamed Session
Starts: Friday, Jul. 14 2:45 PM (Central)
Ends: Friday, Jul. 14 3:45 PM (Central)
Room: Salon A-1
Young people and BIPOC communities are now the majority in the U.S. They are the political powerbrokers of the future, but cynicism with a system that has ignored their interests threatens their full participation. In 2020, 73% of Black voters felt their vote was ‘very powerful’. Today that number has dropped to 43%. This session brings together a diverse panel of experts at the forefront of polling, advocacy and media to discuss new messaging and power frames that civic leaders must employ to effectively mobilize BIPOC communities in politically divisive times. In an actual field test, their messaging was 49.53% more effective than conventional tactics.
Moderator
Katrina Gamble
Katrina Gamble is founder and CEO of Sojourn Strategies, an all women run social impact consulting firm. She is a researcher and political strategist who brings more than 15 years of experience working at the intersection of social justice policy and elections. Katrina has deep and extensive relationships with grassroots organizations across the country and has combined that network with her campaign experience to support successful pro-democracy campaigns
across the country.
Prior to founding Sojourn she served as the Political Director at the Center
for Popular Democracy where she created and launched a national Voting Rights & Democracy Program. Before moving into the social advocacy space, Katrina was an Assistant Professor at Brown University where she researched and taught classes on congressional politics, social movements, and race and ethnic politics. She has a PhD and MA from Emory University and BA from Smith College.
Panelists
Ranada Robinson
Ranada Robinson is the Research Director at the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund. Ranada is responsible for designing and moving forward NGP and NGPAF’s mission-driven research agenda and transforming research findings into strategic insights that inform the organizations’ strategic efforts. She also is an economic development consultant, who spent 12 years working for a holistic economic development strategic planning firm that has worked in 35 states and over 150 communities. Ranada’s overarching goal for everything she does is making historically disadvantaged communities better for future generations. Ranada holds a Master of Science in Urban Policy Studies with specializations in policy analysis and economic development and planning and a Master of Science in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. Ranada is also a graduate of Tougaloo College, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and computer science.
Deeply involved in community service, Ranada is active in several organizations, including New Leaders Council. A 2017 alumna of the NLC Atlanta Institute, Ranada has served as the chapter’s Finance Chair and Alumni Co-Chair. She was also the 2018-2019 President of Outstanding Atlanta and currently serves on the organization’s Board of Trustees. She also serves on the Tufts University CIRCLE Advisory Board and The People’s Uprising Board of Directors. In 2017, she was featured in Who’s Who in Black Atlanta. She served as president of Tau Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and its nonprofit arm, The Twenty Pearls Foundation, Inc. In 2016, she was inducted into the Tougaloo College Inaugural Class of 40 Under 40 for her career achievements as well as her alumni leadership, which includes president of the Atlanta Alumni Chapter, Southeastern Regional Representative for the national alumni association, and currently Membership Chairman of the national alumni association.
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Terrance Woodbury
Terrance Woodbury is a founding partner and chief executive officer of HIT Strategies.
Terrance’s research focuses on people of color and millennials who have become the driving force of rapidly evolving consumer and electoral trends in both the United States and abroad. Prior to starting HIT Strat, Terrance was the Research Director at the public opinion research firm Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies where he conducted polling and focus groups for candidates in local, state, national, and international elections and for companies like Uber and Google. Before Brilliant Corners, Terrance worked at the Brookings Institution, where he researched and studied economic and demographic trends shaping the fast-growing urban communities.
Before deciding to become a data scientist, political work consumed Terrance professional life. He worked numerous campaigns at the local, state, national, and international level, holding every position on a campaign except the candidate. Terrance has been featured in a variety of publications and media outlets including CNN, The Hill, and Bloomberg News for his expertise on the attitudes of young, diverse voters and the best messages to mobilize them.
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