The Policy
Blueprint
How did we get here?
Cleveland VOTES celebrated its 10 year organizational anniversary last year. We are incredibly proud of our journey to date and continue to reconcile with the road ahead to realize a more equitable democracy. We are often asked, ‘what’s the secret sauce’ for longevity? The reality is, there is no ‘secret sauce’ - we took our time and developed deep and trusting relationships. There is no linear path for organizational growth - we have found that having a solid framework and plan are essential, while also recognizing that adaptations and pivots are necessary along the way.
When we crafted our 2022-2026 strategy, we identified the need for our organization to strengthen our civic ecosystem and infrastructure, as well as craft our own policy agenda.
Participation and engagement must be paramount. Decisions should be made by voters and community members, not just by those with wealth and power. We will tear down old structures and create new ones centering community.
It’s not enough to participate, we need to move an equitable civic engagement agenda forward. We will create, build power and capacity around, and work to pass a policy agenda centered around our voices and our votes.
Shifting Power
Scaling up to meet our communities’ needs requires structure and flexibility.
We will pursue 501(c)(3) status and explore additional options to ensure that we have the tools we need.
The values behind who receives funding and who decides are important. We will explore social movement investment and restorative economic strategies.
Sometimes our strength is in the halls of power, and sometimes it is in the streets.
We will work intentionally to ensure that Clevelanders and their voices are the focus of our democratic structures.
Over the years we have supported dozens of ballot initiatives, campaigns. We have also advocated for legislation and/or stated our opposition for bills that have sought to harm Ohioans.
We’ve also worked in collaboration with fellow democracy builders to conduct research to better understand voters and the civic ecosystem. A few examples include:
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Analysis of Recent Elections in the City of Cleveland (2014-2020): In partnership with the Ohio Progressive Collaborative Education Fund and Clarity Campaigns, we examined the voting trends for Clevelanders between 2014-2020. There were some major shifts in voting patterns and turnout. This information was shared with partners to help them understand how best to target their voter engagement and outreach efforts.
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Low-propensity voters in Cleveland are ready to engage in order to improve their communities: In partnership with Policy Matters Ohio and HIT Strategies, we conducted a series of focus groups and text polls to assess and understand Celveland’s perspectives toward civic engagement. This research did not focus on a specific election, but more so helping us to understand the pulse of where there was tension and opportunity. The primary theme that emerged from this study was that Cleveland voters are not apathetic about voting, but instead lack information and trust in public officials.
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Understanding Cleveland’s Civic Culture: In partnership with the Cleveland Documenters, we sought to further understand civic culture in Cleveland as we were developing our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. While we had a lead consulting firm conducting this process, we felt it was equally important to hear directly from residents. These perspectives were incorporated into the development of our strategic plan.
State of Democracy 2022
The culmination of research noted above, along with increased staff capacity and programming have led us to craft our 2025-2029 Policy Blueprint. There’s no denying that our democracy is in one of its more vulnerable states, perhaps that our nation has ever seen or experienced. This is not a time for us to recoil, but instead dig in deeper! We must not only think and respond to the many immediate needs of our community, but also develop a long view for what can be in the future.
Big Picture
Cleveland VOTES seeks to Strengthen Cleveland’s Civic Infrastructure
As an organization, we aim to strengthen the civic infrastructure which means building and supporting the resources that allow the residents of Cleveland to continue having access to activate and participate in our democracy. The support for equitable civic engagement goes beyond the election cycles. At Cleveland VOTES, through the work of our Policy blueprint, we are asking for assistance in:
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Investing in civic education that will empower residents to have a deeper understanding of the democratic process, which will include voter rights and how one can influence public policy.
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Supporting the organizations and groups that directly connect communities to the issues, decision makers, and their neighbors.
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Improvement of accessibility by mitigating the barriers that affect voter turnout. Limiting the challenges Clevelanders face when looking to vote, issue a public comment, or attend public meetings.
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Garnering the trust through transparent and responsive action leveraging the needs of our participants.
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Openly sharing the data and stories to encourage collective impact and create strategies that lead to change
Our city is filled with residents that are ready to learn, lead, and advance the prospective growth of our city.
Overview + purpose
Purpose: Cleveland VOTES seeks to build a comprehensive strategy that will strengthen Cleveland’s civic infrastructure. The first phase of this strategy will focus on:
Community
Engagement
Equitable Participatory Practices
Issue-Based Research
Partner
identification
Political Ideology + Values Identification
Strategic Advocacy + Messaging
We seek to understand Cleveland’s policy and advocacy landscape, while determining which role aligns most for our organization’s capacity to foster a cohesive blueprint that catalyzes increased participation and shifts in power dynamics.
Phase 1: 2025-2026 Key Components:
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Define our Theory of Change:
Assess the Landscape:
Conduct Partner Outreach:
Cleveland VOTES will utilize the existing local policy landscape to identify intervention points, especially for marginalized groups. Collaborations with national and statewide partners like Liberation in a Generation and Ohio Voice will help shape a strategic and data-informed framework for future advocacy efforts.
We will conduct a deep dive into the local ecosystem of advocacy partners, including but not limited to base building, labor, organizing, research and policy organizations.
We will engage in a series of 1:1s with partners in Cleveland to understand their needs, as well as administer a survey to obtain feedback and insight on how best to respond to the current challenges.
Theory of change
While we believe in the power of the ballot box, we also know that is not the only way to engage. It is cultivated through sustained engagement, shared vision, and community-driven solutions. That’s why we are deepening our commitment to advancing local policy engagement as a core part of our mission.
As Cleveland VOTES works to convening diverse changemakers, fostering strong partnerships, bridging grassroots energy with more formal civic structures, while prioritizing the voices and experiences of those most disenfranchised, we will work to strengthen a more cohesive and impactful civic ecosystem citywide as its role in this work expands.
This work is not about speaking for communities, but about creating platforms where communities speak for themselves, and supported by the resources and relationships needed to drive meaningful change.
By aligning support and capacity across movements, we can begin to shift the underlying conditions that sustain inequity. This is how we move toward long-term, transformative change.
At the core, Cleveland VOTES’ Theory of Change embodies this belief:
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When communities are connected, properly resourced, and led efficiently, we grow closer to a Cleveland (city?) where every resident can live with dignity, agency, and real self-determination.
How will we get there?
Elections Unfiltered: Promises, Power+ Politics: In partnership with Signal Cleveland, these community events will engage voters directly, allowing Cleveland VOTES to gather insights on residents' priorities while educating them on upcoming elections. The focus will be on local concerns like housing, education, and public safety. The goal is to ensure that Cleveland voters are not only informed but also actively involved in shaping the direction of the city, equipping them with the tools and knowledge needed to advocate for the changes they wish to see as the city prepares for critical elections.
These key components + activities aim to transform Cleveland’s civic landscape by building stronger partnerships, amplifying marginalized voices, and driving equitable policy reforms.
At the heart of it, our theory of change is rooted in this belief:
When communities are connected, resourced, and leading the way, we move closer to a Cleveland where every person—especially Black, brown, and working-class folks—can live with dignity, agency, and real self-determination.
We believe in the power of the collective.
"Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be."​​
-Toni Morrison
The team
Jerry Peña
Senior Cultural +
Community Strategist
