FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [email protected]
Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote’s ‘Culture of Democracy Summit’ will bring together industry leaders across sectors for a national conversation about protecting and expanding democracy ahead of the midterms
(Washington, DC): Today, When We All Vote announced that Co-Chair Bretman Rock, Chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises Magic Johnson, Actor Jay Ellis, NBA Guard and NBPA President CJ McCollum, WNBPA President and WNBA MVP and Champion Nneka Ogwumike, Co-Founder of March For Our Lives David Hogg, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign Rev. Dr. William Joseph Barber II, Voto Latino President and CEO Maria Teresa Kumar and more will join the organization’s inaugural Culture of Democracy Summit June 10th-13th in Los Angeles, CA. When We All Vote Co-Chair and Founder Michelle Obama will serve as the keynote speaker.
Last week, When We All Vote announced that Nikole Hannah Jones, Eric Holder, Common, Alexis McGill Johnson and more are among the speakers at the event. This nonpartisan convening will bring together artists, athletes, academics, artists, grassroots organizers and leaders in technology, civics and corporations to discuss the role different industries play in protecting and strengthening democracy through voter registration, education, mobilization and culture change.
When We All Vote announced the following speakers today:
- Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Executive Vice President, National Wildlife Federation
- Alexis Anderson-Reed, Executive Director, State Voices
- Tamieka Atkins, Executive Director, ProGeorgia
- Daryl Atkinson, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Forward Justice
- Towalame Austin, Executive Vice President, Philanthropy and Social Impact, Sony Music Group
- Rev. Dr. William Joseph Barber II, President and Senior Lecturer, Repairers of the Breach; Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival
- Ari Berman, Author and Journalist
- Andy Berstein, Co-Executive Director, HeadCount
- Judith Le Blanc, Executive Director, Native Organizers Alliance
- Graham Brookie, Senior Director, Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab
- Brianna Brown, Co-Executive Director, Texas Organizing Project
- James Cadogon, Executive Director, National Basketball Social Justice Coalition
- Cari Champion, Broadcast Journalist
- Michelle Colón, Executive Director, SHERo Mississippi
- Sonja Diaz, Founding Director, UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative
- Juanica Fernandes, Executive Director, Florida C3 Table
- Deja Foxx, Founder, Activist, Gen Z Girl Gang
- Jada Gomez, Executive Editor of Style and Entertainment, POPSUGAR
- Andrea Hailey, CEO, Vote.org
- Astead Herndon, National Politics Reporter, New York Times; Political Analyst, CNN
- David Hogg, Co-Founder, March For Our Lives
- Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel Emeritus, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- Bishop Reginald Thomas Jackson, Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Presiding Prelate
- Charles D. King, Founder and CEO, MACRO
- Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO, Voto Latino
- Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Joshua Graham Lynn, Co-Founder, RepresentUS
- Alencia Johnson, CEO, 1063 West Broad
- Magic Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Chairman of Magic Johnson Enterprises
- Jacquelyn Mason, Director of Programs, Media Democracy Fund & Disinfo Defense League
- CJ McCollum, NBA Guard & NBPA President
- Chelsea Miller, Co-Founder, Freedom March NYC
- Nneka Ogwumike, WNBPA President and WNBA MVP and Champion
- Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, President, NextGen America
- Louis L. Reed, Senior Advisor, REFORM Alliance
- Doc Rivers, Head Coach, 76ers
- Bretman Rock, When We All Vote, Co-Chair
- Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, Award-winning Author, Educator and Producer, Chairperson, The Shabazz Center
- Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, President, Prairie View A&M University
- Christina Soliz, Political Director, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
- Nikhil Swaminathan, Interim CEO & Editor in Chief, Grist
- Mini Timmaraju, President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
- Leah Thomas, Founder, Intersectional Environmentalist
- Nsé Ufot, CEO, New Georgia Project
- Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Summit will include virtual programming on Friday, June 10th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT and in-person convenings and experiences on June 11th and 12th in Los Angeles, CA. On Monday, June 13th a final series of conversations will kick off at 9 a.m. PT on the main stage at the Banc of California stadium. The all day experience will culminate in Mrs. Obama’s keynote speech that evening with an afterparty to follow.
The virtual day of the Summit will be open to the press, and reporters interested in attending in-person on June 13th should email [email protected]. A limited number of in-person press passes will be available. The Summit is being produced by Live Nation Urban and MKG, and ticketing is being supported by When We All Vote partner, Eventbrite. All Summit events, with the exception of a smaller gathering, will be held outside and all events will follow all CDC Covid-19 protocols. More announcements about speakers and the agenda are forthcoming. Tickets and more information are available here.
ABOUT When We All Vote:
When We All Vote is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Created by Michelle Obama, When We All Vote brings together individuals, institutions, brands, and organizations to register new voters across the country and advance civic education for the entire family and voters of every age to build an informed and engaged electorate for today and generations to come. We empower our supporters and volunteers to take action through voting, advocating for their rights, and holding their elected officials accountable.
In 2020, When We All Vote ran a robust, multifaceted campaign and reached more than 100 million people to educate them about the voting process and get them registered and ready to vote. The initiative also led in voter education, registration, and volunteer engagement and as a result, 512,000 people started or completed the voter registration process, and nearly 500 media, corporate, and nonprofit partners joined its efforts.
Michelle Obama launched When We All Vote in 2018 and is joined by fellow Co-Chairs Stephen Curry, Becky G, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, H.E.R., Liza Koshy, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul, Megan Rapinoe, Shonda Rhimes, Bretman Rock, Kerry Washington, and Rita Wilson.
When We All Vote is an initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization, and works with Civic Nation Action, a 501(c)(4). Learn more here.
ABOUT Civic Nation:
Civic Nation is a nonprofit ecosystem for high-impact organizing and education initiatives working to build a more inclusive and equitable America. Civic Nation shifts culture, systems, and policy by bringing together individuals, grassroots organizers, industry leaders and influencers to tackle some of our nation’s most pressing social challenges. Civic Nation is home to seven national initiatives and campaigns: ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, Change Collective, It’s On Us, Online for All, SAVE On Student Debt, We The Action, and When We All Vote. Learn more here.