Our work in voter engagement and voter activation is an endorsement of the idea that there is no systemic change and progress in Georgia without a kind of dramatic shift in who votes in this state.

Joe Thomas, Executive Director, Sapelo Foundation

The Sapelo Foundation strives for a just Georgia, through partnerships and solutions that increase environmental protection, social prosperity, and civic power. The foundation has invested in ensuring that the voting population reflects the actual population in the state in order to create better and more representative public policies that advance a more just future. 

While The Sapelo Foundation prioritizes voter access, education, and engagement within a distinct Voting Rights priority area, it views its support of voter engagement as core to building power to address issues across its two main portfolios, Social Justice and Environmental Justice & Protection. And part of that power building work means restoring faith in and creating access to the democratic process. The foundation has supported a number of organizations that sit at the intersection of environmental protection and voter engagement including: 

• Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) aims to break down how the issues that the local community cares about are connected to the decisions being made by elected officials. GCV connected with residents about their energy rate burden or the percentage of household income spent on energy costs. As residents shared their concerns about the cost of their energy bills, GCV helped them understand that their power bills were set by a utility company regulated by an elected body. Supporting the organizing work that enabled GCV to engage the community created a connection between the foundation’s work to fund environmental protection and ways to access the democratic process. 
• New Georgia Project and Black Voters Matter, which engage Black communities, particularly in rural communities and outside of Metro Atlanta, help generate information about who is voting throughout the state, find new ways to engage and activate Black voters, and build deep organizing programs.