EQUITY ALLIANCE
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Mission Statement
The Equity Alliance proactively advocates for African Americans and other communities of color to have a fair and just opportunity at realizing the American dream. We are a Nashville-based 501(c)3 nonpartisan, non-profit organization that seeks to equip citizens with tools and strategies to engage in the civic process and empower them to take action on issues affecting their daily lives. We believe in using our voting power as a weapon in the fight for social and economic justice.
About This Cause
The Equity Alliance proactively advocates for African Americans and other communities of color to have a fair and just opportunity at realizing the American dream. We are a Nashville-based 501(c)3 nonpartisan, non-profit organization that seeks to equip citizens with tools and strategies to engage in the civic process and empower them to take action on issues affecting their daily lives. We believe in using our voting power as a weapon in the fight for social and economic justice. Through civic engagement, leadership development, grassroots organizing, and issue advocacy, our work centers on creating a more inclusive, informed, and stronger democracy. We believe that democracy works best when everyone has a chance to participate, has equitable access to the voting booth, and is empowered to be self-determining in making their own choices on who represents their values, interests and issues. We achieve this using the following tactics; Expand the electorate by engaging low propensity voters and disenfranchised communities to participate in the democratic process. Educate communities of color about the political process, about relevant economic, social, and political issues, and how impending legislation will impact their lives. Engage and empower citizens to take civic action, disrupt, resist, make their voices heard, and most importantly, vote. Create policy, monitor legislation and hold our state and local elected officials accountable. Promote Civic Leadership by encouraging people of color to take leadership roles in shaping policy on the local, state and national level. Create alliances with individuals and groups in order to present a united front against any economic barriers that seek to marginalize, disenfranchise, or discriminate against people of color and vulnerable populations. In a state with the lowest voter participation rates in the nation, The Equity Alliance is the only nonprofit organization promoting intentional, bold and unconventional, year-round civic engagement among black communities in our state. Six black women founded this organization a week after the 2016 presidential election because we were frustrated with the lack of investment in the black community and we wanted to build political power to end oppressive policies and achieve black liberation. We started this organization with very little political experience, no seed money, no strategic plan, and no shadow investors; just pure passion and motivation for being the change we want to see. Little did we know that we would spark a citizen-led movement over the past three years that has catapulted the organization into an award-winning, nationally recognized powerhouse that delivers results. The Equity Alliance has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Associated Press, Huffington Post, Vox, The HIll, Vice News, Pew Charitable Trusts, The Tennessean, Commercial Appeal, and many other news publications. TEA was a leading partner in the statewide Tennessee Black Voter Project to register 91,000 Tennesseans to vote during the 2018 midterm elections. As part of our electoral organizing program, we engaged over 400,000 voters of color statewide in 2018; we knocked on 654,932 doors and made over 230,000 contacts statewide; sent 130,419 text reminders to low-propensity black voters; hosted three #VotingIsLit community block parties at polling centers; and deployed 50 poll watchers to four Tennessee counties on Election Day. We published three editions of the Nashville Voter Guide, a free, nonpartisan public resource to help voters make informed decisions in the voting booth, which has had over 6,500 downloads and 2,660 hard copies distributed in targeted communities. As a result, black voter turnout increased by 413% after the 2018 midterms. Six months later, we have been at the forefront of media attention and advocacy in response to voter suppression efforts by the Tennessee State Legislature. Secretary of State Tre Hargett proposed legislation in retaliation that would enforce the country’s most aggressive civil and criminal penalties on third-party organizations that submit deficient voter registration forms during large-scale registration drives. After the law passed in May 2019, The Equity Alliance filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality, and a federal judge ruled in favor of a preliminary injunction until 2021. For the past three years (until Sept 2019), we have done this community organizing work in an unpaid capacity as board members. We’ve run this organization with 100% volunteer capacity and delivered real results while holding down full-time jobs, families, and other community leadership roles.