NEW YORK, N.Y., April 12, 2021 – New York City FC (NYCFC) and New York Liberty are proud to announce the launch of 2021 POWER the Vote a sports coalition that uses the power of sport to educate and create access to online tools to increase civic engagement. The coalition will help New Yorkers – and residents throughout the Tri-State Area – register to vote, understand registration status, find a polling place, and more.
2021 POWER the Vote follows last year’s inaugural campaign, NYCFC’s first youth-led voting campaign power in partnership with Vote.org, the largest 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan voting registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) technology platform in America. POWER the Vote builds on the more than 4.5 million new voters Vote.org has already registered. With even more sports teams participating, the hope is to reach even more fans and increase participation.
As an extension to last year’s work, the 2021 POWER the Vote coalition will continue to implement a critical Vote.org tool that allows people under 18 to sign a “pledge to register” which will send a text the young person on their 18th birthday with a link to register to vote.
Importantly, 2021 POWER the Vote will also extend a series of power education campaigns for local youth. A series of “City Halls” and workshops with invited special guests will give local youth a platform to access and learn about the election process. Previous City Hall guests include District Attorneys of New York City, NYCFC First Team players Sean Johnson, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sky Blue FC player Margaret “Midge” Purce, ACLU New York and Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Attorney General’s Office of New York Timothy Tapia.
In addition to educational sessions, the coalition will help mobilize communities and encourage locals to exercise their civic right to vote by hosting voter registration drives throughout the Tri-State Area – and focus on neighborhoods with low voter turnout.
2021 POWER the Vote activations include:
- City Halls and Workshops – A series of virtual townhalls for an audience of young Tri State Area with voices from diverse speakers around civic engagement with representation from NYCFC and NY Liberty.
- Voter Registration Day Volunteering –NYCFC will host voter registration events in May and on September 28 to recognize National Voter Registration Day.
- In-Game Recognition – NYCFC and NY Liberty will integrate 2021 POWER the Vote messaging into in-game presentation.
Vote.org CEO, Andrea Hailey, commented:
“Now more than ever, we need leaders who defend democracy and invest in civic engagement. Vote.org is proud to partner with New York teams and their Power the Vote campaign. We congratulate the athletes and their organizations for their commitment to serving their communities and working to increase voter turnout.”
NYCFC CEO, Brad Sims, added:
“Last year, NYCFC made public commitments to help address injustice—including doing our part to help increase civic engagement. We will continue this important work with this new coalition. Change cannot occur overnight and change certainly cannot occur alone. We are proud to team up with New York Liberty to expand on our year-one commitments and use our platform to empower young people and our fans by giving them tools to practice civic engagement and educating around the importance of voting. We are proud to align with our sports friends across the City as we fight for the shared goal of equity.”
New York Liberty CEO, Keia Clarke said:
“In 2020, we witnessed firsthand the power of our collective voice to enact change. The Liberty organization is proud to join the 2021 POWER the Vote coalition and continue our long-standing commitment to mobilizing communities and providing resources to help improve civic engagement.”
For more information, visit: NYCFC.com/powerthevote.
About New York City Football Club
New York City Football Club (NYCFC) is an American professional soccer team that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference of the League. It was announced as the League’s 20th franchise on May 21, 2013 and is the first and only MLS Club located within the five boroughs of New York City. NYCFC kicked off its inaugural MLS season in March 2015 and is majority owned by City Football Group (CFG). In 2019, the Club finished top of the Eastern Conference and qualified for the 2020 Concacaf Champions League for the first time in franchise history. NYCFC’s Academy features teams from the U-12 to U-19 age groups and became the first Academy in the country to win back-to-back national titles at the U-19 level. NYCFC proudly supports City in the Community (CITC) foundation to use the power of soccer to uplift communities; one of the programs, New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI) is a first-of-its-kind public-private community partnership to open 50 mini-soccer pitches in underserved NYC neighborhoods in five years.
Website: NYCFC.com | Twitter: @NYCFC | Instagram: @NYCFC | Hashtags: #NYCFC | Facebook.com/NewYorkCityFC
About New York Liberty
The New York Liberty was founded on October 30, 1996 and is one of three original franchises remaining in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Liberty have made four WNBA Finals appearances in its 25-year history. Owned by Joe and Clara Tsai, owners of the Brooklyn Nets, the Liberty will play its home games at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. For more information, please visit NYLiberty.com.
About Vote.org
Vote.org uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout and strengthen American democracy. The organization helped more than 34 million Americans vote in 2020.