Young people of Philadelphia, we thank you: You voted in 2020 in record numbers, proving to one and all that you do care about what happens to your country, and that you are willing to make an effort to shape it in your image.

And you were not alone: Nationally, around 55 percent of eligible voters aged 18 to 29 voted in November, compared to about 44 percent in 2016. 

But now that we’re on the other side of the bitter 2020 Presidential battle, how can we keep the civic engagement momentum going?

The Young Professionals Council of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia is hosting a virtual event Tuesday to answer just that question. (RSVP here.) Expect a robust discussion about everything civic engagement-related, from voting, to advocacy, to community involvement, to plain old do-good-for-Philadelphia advice from expert panelists in the know:

• City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the lone Republican in the city’s election office, who battled time, protesters, former Pres. Trump and the impatience of the nation in his role helping to oversee voting and vote counting in November.  
• Committee of Seventy Chief Program Officer Lauren Cristella, who has helped steer the government watchdog group’s efforts to people the polls, encourage mail-in-voting and get out the vote.
• City Councilperson Katherine Gilmore Richardson, a former aid to Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown and one of the youngest people elected to Council, who has also served as vice president of Philadelphia Young Democrats.

Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt will moderate the panel, with a particular emphasis on practical ideas and solutions for using citizen power to make a better city for everyone in it. Because, as Platt has said: “Democracy isn’t just an idea; it’s an act. And acts in pursuit of the common good, piled one on top of another, are how community forms and democracy survives.”

Find out more about the event and RSVP here.

Tuesday April 20, 2pm-3pm, free for Young Professionals Council members/$50 for non- members, virtual.