Mobilize.org

Welcome to Mobilize.org

by Maya Enista
Welcome to the new Mobilize.org website; a place where Millennials can share their stories and work collaboratively (online and offline) to build the democracy that we (my generation and yours) wants to inherit. I have the honor and privilege of serving as Mobilize.org’s Chief Executive Officer. I’ve “done” Mobilize.org longer than I’ve done anything in my 26 years – including college, high school, dating my fiance, playing lacrosse or practicing the piano. On July 11, 2010 I’ll celebrate five amazing years and as that date quickly approaches, I’m reminded of a saying that my mom used to tell me when I was younger: “Maya,” she’d say, “if you find a job you love you’ll never work a day in your life.” I feel as though I’ve not worked a day in the past 1,825 days.

I hope this website, and this blog in particular, will be an opportunity for us to share our stories with each other and weave together the narrative of a powerful generation who will revolutionize our democracy, our society and our world. I’d like to start by telling you my story and sharing with you the story of Democracy 2.0.

I am the daughter of Romanian immigrants. Almost 30 years ago, shortly after my parents had married, my mother had a dream of a young girl playing on a playground, dressed in bright purple pants and wearing pigtails. She woke up from her dream, sobbing, with the realization that her children, if born in Romania in the early 1980’s, would not have the opportunity to wear those bright purple pants. She shook my father awake and said, “We must go to America.” And to America they went. They began to build their life in New York City, in the democracy that they believed would give their daughter the opportunity to wear purple pants, speak freely, practice a religion of her choice and get involved in the political process. I grew up with a deep appreciation of the opportunities that I had here, as an American citizen, and a realization for how different my life might be, had my mom not had that dream. With that, I felt that my involvement was always, as the Romanian saying goes, ‘written on my forehead’. I wanted to share my story and work in a democracy that, whether good or bad, cared about my thoughts, ideas for improving it and had built in mechanisms for citizen involvement and input.

The struggle that my parents went through to give me these opportunities is my main source of inspiration but I recognize that the democracy that welcomed her was built with the blood, sweat and tears of so many leaders who had a vision for what a fair and just world should look like, and the hope and perseverance to live their lives in a way that would make it so. I am often asked what I want to do ‘when I grow up’, as if I’m still playing in a playground – just one that’s more expensive to maintain, and that has me on the merry-go-round for 10 hours a day. If I can continue to do this work, to share my story and to encourage other people to find the power of their voice within their communities, I will count myself as lucky and fulfilled and hopefully, having made an important contribution to building a movement.

On a professional level, I am most defined by our work with Democracy 2.0. Since October 4, 2007 I’ve been working to build Democracy 2.0, a concept that began as a campaign for the network of Mobilize.org and has turned into a movement that empowers Millennials to build the democracy that we want to inherit. It is the work that I am most proud of, and paradoxically, it is the work that I have had the least to contribute to. I view my abilities as a leader through the lens of what I am able to encourage and inspire other people to build, create, solve and dream.

Almost two years ago, 1,181 Millennials responded to a survey that asked them the following; what’s working and what’s not working within our democracy and what are the unique characteristics that define us as a generation, and which ones are essential in creating the change that we want to see? 47 of the respondents were randomly selected to come to DC for a day long Summit, utilizing interactive keypad voting technology to ensure transparency, accountability and voice, and they were asked to sift through the results, theme them and create a document that spoke to our collective vision. It was a long day, beginning at 8 AM in a room in the Rayburn Building and by 6 PM, I was well aware of the potential for abusing the time of my participants and I stood up in front of the room and said “Thank you so much for all of your hard work. My staff can take your thoughts and go from here.” The answer I was met with was a resounding “we aren’t done yet”, so we invited the participants back to our crammed office space, ordered them pizza and then the Mobilize.org staff sat in our offices, responding to emails and playing solitaire. At 4 minutes past midnight, a participant came to my office and said “We’re ready for you” and I gathered my staff and we walked into the conference room. The remaining participants took turns, each reading a line from what they called the Democracy 2.0 Declaration. Whether it’s because of how tired we were, or how much pizza I ate, I cried as I listened to these people I had just met that morning, describe the intangible thing that I had been working for for so many years – building Democracy 2.0. Three years later, we have a growing network of Millennials who are committed to building that reality they dared to dream, and it’s my privilege to work for and with them, every day.

Follow Maya on Twitter @Menista.