2024 was full of interesting political and civic developments. From the presidential election to statewide ballot measures and local levies, Cleveland VOTES worked hard to improve our democracy. There are many things that are worth celebrating, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for growth. See how the CV team is pledging to continue to work for a equitable democracy in 2025!
Well friends, it’s a new year. And there’s nothing wrong with starting 2025 with a resolution to join a gym, spend more time with family and friends, eat healthier, or travel to a new place. But the team at Cleveland VOTES decided to put our own spin on this tradition, making democracy resolutions instead.
What’s a democracy resolution? It’s essentially a commitment, action, or principle that strengthens democratic values, processes, and engagement in one’s community. There’s no rigid rules, but they typically focus on fostering civic participation, protecting rights and freedoms, encouraging informed and equitable discourse, and ensuring that democratic institutions remain accessible, transparent, and accountable.
Check out what our team pledged for 2025 and join us by making your own democracy resolution for 2025! Share them on social media by tagging us (@clevotes) and using #DemocracyResolution2025.
Erika Anthony
Co-Founder + Executive Director
New Year's resolution: My democracy resolution this year is to ensure that our programs are meeting the needs of the community. Related, it's important that our organization is willing to be nimble and responsive to the needs of our ecosystem. As such, I'm looking forward to engaging in more conversations with our community around how together we may create an equitable democracy that is serving the needs/values of our community.
How I will achieve this goal: I will continue to work with our Senior Strategist, Lique, to conduct internal benchmarking, as well as ensure everyone on the team is collecting data (e.g. post-event surveys) from participants after events/programs. Being present in different community spaces is important to ensure we have a strong pulse on what Cleveland residents are concerned about and what they desire for themselves. I remain committed to showing up for community meetings, participating in collective/collaboratives, as well as engaging with folks on a 1:1 basis.
Brianna Zgodinski
Communications + Narrative Strategist
New Year's resolution: My democracy new year's resolution is to pay closer attention to judicial races. Judges are often the decision makers for a range of issues that impact us. For example, at the local and county level, judges might hear cases on tenant rights, criminal charges, and child advocacy. At the state level, judges have the final say on how the Ohio Constitution and law are interpreted, and they make sure the legislature and governor don't overstep their authority (similar to the U.S. Supreme Court).
While judges are supposed to be impartial when it comes to their cases, some still have a tendency to be biased towards a particular political agenda. So it's important to research all judicial candidates that will appear on your ballot and consider their case history.
How I will achieve this goal: There are lots of ways to see what judicial races will be on your ballot. For example, Ballotpedia and League of Women Voters both allow you to create a sample ballot. Locally, Signal Cleveland also puts out an annual judicial guide for local judge races, which is super convenient!
Lique Gates
Senior Strategist
New Year's resolution: My democracy resolution this year is to continue prioritizing the needs of our community, both locally and nationally. So many issues tie into one another, yet they are treated very differently.
How I will achieve this goal: To effectively understand those needs, I strive to be in the community that the conversation focuses on, and listen to those impacted. This means more power shifting and including voices outside of the identified change makers.
Jerry Elias Peña
Senior Strategist
New Year's resolution: My democracy resolution for 2025 is to help build a powerful base that helps move and engage Cleveland residents around the city-wide elections and gives them a voice that can lead to transformational change.
How I will achieve this goal: I will help build this base by engaging our grantees, partners and residents in deep conversations about our city, collaboration and building a relationship blueprint that transcends 2025 and leads to a multi-year plan to build together.
Moses Ngong
Democracy Fellow
New Year's resolution: I want to get involved in (or run!) a campaign for local elected office.
How I will achieve this goal: I plan to get involved by researching candidates across Cleveland and seeing if there's anyone I feel strongly about throwing my support behind. From there, I plan to knock on doors around the city to get to know the communities' needs better so we our elected officials can be held accountable to the concerns of their constituents! I strongly believe that local politics deserves all the attention it can get, as our local politicians are easier to engage with than national figures.
Kirby Broadnax
Democracy Collective Facilitator
New Year's resolution: I aim to build my capacity for having AND facilitating conversations when there is a difference in belief, perspective, or politics. We will not have any kind of future to look forward to if we cannot learn how to build meaningful connections when difference is present, and I want to get better at that.
How I will achieve this goal: A first step towards this goal that I plan to take is to read more! Learning from people who have experience and wisdom in this will help me build a stronger foundation. I'd like to start with "Loving Connections" by Adrienne Maree Brown, "Another Way" by Stephen Lewis, Matthew Wesley Williams, and Dori Grinenko Baker, and "Transformative Scenario Planning" by Adam Kahane. (This will help me with a bonus resolution of not buying any more books until I read what I already have, lol!) The next step is to put myself in positions where I can actually have more of these conversations!
Gloria Craig
Civic Engagement Strategist
New Year's resolution: My democracy resolution this year is to learn more about the connection between storytelling, policy/legislation change, and systems change.
How I will achieve this goal: I plan to achieve this by gaining knowledge on what policies and legislation have been passed as a result of powerful storytelling. Learning more about different methods of storytelling and strategizing ways to connect those different methods of storytelling to equitable civic engagement.
Gloria Craig
Operations Administrator
New Year's resolution: I think the best resolution for democracy is for me to be resilient. I believe walking into the new year we should be ready to pivot at any time things are changing and fast.
How I will achieve this goal: I am keeping an open mind and also heart. I am willing to sit with anyone that is looking to do better regardless of where they are in their journey.
2025 is the perfect time to reflect on how we can all contribute to a stronger, more equitable democracy. By setting democracy resolutions, we take meaningful steps toward fostering civic engagement, protecting democratic values, and ensuring our communities thrive.
We hope you’re inspired by the Cleveland VOTES team’s commitments and feel encouraged to make your own democracy resolutions. Don’t forget to share it with us on social media using #DemocracyResolution2025.
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