2024 Award Recipient
AaronZevin-Lopez
Project Virginia Chapter of Voters of Tomorrow (VOT-VA)
Project Virginia Chapter of Voters of Tomorrow (VOT-VA)
In Aaron’s family, political activism goes back generations. His father’s family is from Venezuela, and his mother’s family fled the Holocaust and antisemitism in Russia. For as long as Aaron can remember, relatives and friends have filled his family’s home with vibrant debates about current events.
When Aaron saw how politics were impacting his own generation, it felt natural and critical to him to take action. In 2021, he partnered with a fellow youth activist to take leadership of the Virginia chapter of Voters of Tomorrow (VOT-VA), an organization whose mission is to uplift young voices in the political arena, increase Gen Z civic participation, and enact legislation and policies important to young people.
In just over three years, with Aaron’s leadership, VOT-VA has grown to be the second largest VOT chapter with more than 200 volunteers. It helped pass three bills, including Voter Pre-Registration for 16-17 year olds; led 10 “teach-in” webinars; distributed more than 900 banned books and helped organize more than 12 student protest rallies on issues ranging from banned books to reproductive rights.
Voters of Tomorrow, Virginia Chapter (VOT-VA) works to uplift and engage young voices in the political debate by increasing Gen Z civic participation and advancing policies that are important to young people in the Commonwealth. Since its founding in 2021, the chapter has achieved major civic milestones, from organizing student protests around book banning, reproductive rights, and critical race theory, to initiating the first youth-focused election endorsement process in Virginia history. As a result of VOT-VA’s endorsements and extensive outreach efforts, 100% of VOT-VA’s “Youth Choice”-endorsed State Senate candidates and 85% of State House candidates were elected.
