About Us: Progressive Turnout Project is the largest voter contact organization in the country, specifically dedicated to mobilizing the Democratic Party and defending democracy. Our mission: rally Democrats to vote.

At Progressive Turnout Project, we take pride in the community of organizers who help power our programs. We hire passionate people and then equip the folks we hire for long and impactful careers in the progressive movement.

To support our alumni on their professional journeys, we welcome them into our Alumni Network — a nationwide network dedicated to fostering connections within our community of change-makers.

This cycle we recruited over 900 Campaign Fellows, more than 500 Field Representatives in our Distributed Organizing program, and just under 3,000 Community mobilizers. Together, they knocked more than 1.3 million doors and had more than 275,000 conversations with voters.

To do that, we needed a lot of help. Luckily, we were able to draw from our Alumni Network of over 2,000 and bring dozens of Alumni back on board. We spoke to 3 of those alums about their work between stints at Progressive Turnout Project and how organizing skills come up at other jobs. Here’s what they had to say:

Ebenezer

Formerly: 2020 Campaign Fellow with Rev. Warnock

Re-hired as: Field Representative Organizer

In 2020, Ebenezer worked with us as a Campaign Fellow. He was embedded with the Warnock for Senate campaign, knocking doors and talking to voters in Georgia. He was excited to be able to do his part to shift Georgia blue. After his Fellowship was over, he worked at the Georgia Capital as Chief of Staff. There, he found that his work as a Campaign Fellow helped him stay on top of his tasks.

“Being a Fellow helped reinforce my organizing skills, and ultimately, organizers are the best in any other position,” Ebenezer said. “Anytime a director says, ‘hey, I started off as an organizer,’ you’re in pretty good hands.”

Ebenezer worked with us as a Field Representative Organizer this cycle, recruiting and supporting the Field Representatives who knocked doors and talked with voters. He was drawn back to Progressive Turnout Project by our emphasis on direct voter contact. He understands the importance of reaching out and connecting with voters who may not be hearing from other organizations.

“I like that we care about really focusing on voters that other people don’t necessarily talk to,” Ebeneezer said.

He also believes our culture of data-driven innovation helps us stand out among the many voter contact organizations.

“We go about things differently than some of these other organizations that continue to hit the same targets and do the same messaging,” Ebeneezer said. “I hope that other organizations take note and change up some of their tactics as well.”

Whitney

Formerly: Field Representative in Arizona

Re-hired as: Field Representative Organizer

In 2020, Whitney worked with us as a Field Representative in Arizona. But, since we had already shifted to a fully remote program she was writing letters, sending postcards, and calling voters all over the country. After the cycle, she spent over a year working in local politics. She noted that her work as a Field Representative helped her when she was doing things like collecting signatures for ballot initiatives.

“Phone banking definitely helped me be more adaptable to talking to different kinds of voters, and not taking it personally when somebody’s not too nice,” Whitney said.

Whitney said she came back to work with us as a Field Representative Organizer because she aligns with our organizational values — and appreciates that we do the same.

“Progressive Turnout Project is an organization that lives by the values that they proclaim,” Whitney said. “It’s an organization that truly cares about people.”

She said that our focus on data-driven innovation has the added benefit of adding variety to her work.

“It’s interesting to be with an organization as it grows and learns,” Whitney said. “Especially one willing to say, ‘this didn’t work that well. we’re going to try this now.’”

Miracle

Formerly: Regional Field Director for Montana, Kansas, and Alabama

Re-hired as: Georgia Fellows Program Coordinator

In 2020, Miracle worked with us as a Regional Field Director, traveling between the three states organizing and knocking doors pre-COVID. Later in the campaign, he led a remote phone program across the three states.  After his first cycle working with us, Miracle worked with the Service Employees International Union in Chicago. 

“I was a union rep and a union organizer for security officers, predominantly Black folk,” Miracle said.

Working as a union representative, like canvassing, is based heavily in conversation, which Miracle found rewarding.

“It helped me to look at the system’s inner workings, and I made some great relationships,” Miracle said. 

Although Miracle enjoyed his work with the union, he was drawn back towards electoral politics. He was at a point in his career where he wanted to see immediate and lasting results.

“It felt like unions don’t have the same electoral and cultural power that they did pre-Reagan,” Miracle said.  “And so for me, being 27 at the time, I wanted to see change.”

Miracle rejoined PTP as the Georgia Fellows Coordinator for the 2022 Election cycle. He helped to train and guide the 68 Fellows in Georgia through their campaigns. He’s enjoyed his time back with us, and is excited by the growth of our programs. 

“I feel like operations are bigger,” Miracle said. “We’re definitely tackling more states than we were.” 
We love helping people do their part to contribute to the progressive movement and rally Democrats to vote. You can help us further this mission by volunteering, working with us, or contributing to support our efforts.