Zoe Perles

My name is Zoe, and I have been a politically active citizen my whole life. I volunteered for my first political campaign at age eight, although “volunteer” is a strong word. I mostly made “Obama 2008” and “Yes We Can” posters to decorate the campaign office and followed my parents and other volunteers around to learn what it meant to be part of a campaign. Since then, I have worked for countless campaigns. Most recently, I was a Field Organizer for a Councilmember running for re-election in Lower Manhattan during the spring of 2023. This kind of work is something I find vitally important to being an engaged and involved citizen. But it has always been hard at the end of an election season to know that there was nothing to be done until the next important election. I look forward to this internship because I am thrilled that I will get to learn all about what happens behind the scenes between elections. I hope it will help me unlearn my perception of political work as something temporary rather than constant.

A person who wants to vote should never be denied that right. It is our responsibility as engaged citizens to help eliminate existing barriers that keep people from the polls and prevent them from exercising one of our most essential responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.