Mandana Dayani and her household immigrated to the U.S. from Iran as refugees when she was six years previous. The transfer allowed her to “reside the American Dream,” Dayani tells Entrepreneur — and left her with a “profound sense of patriotism” for the nation that “saved [her] life.” Dayani says her gratitude is a part of why she’s performed “some model of activism” for so long as she will bear in mind.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of I Am a Voter. Mandana Dayani.
Then, about six years in the past, when she was at dwelling on parental go away together with her second daughter, Dayani was watching tv, seeing households in search of refuge within the U.S. being separated on the border.
“When you concentrate on what somebody has to endure to depart their dwelling and are available to our nation as a result of our Statue of Liberty advised them to, and in that second after every thing they’ve endured, to take somebody’s baby bodily away from them — it was the worst factor I would ever seen our nation do,” Dayani says.
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Dayani, who has a background as a lawyer and expertise agent with expertise in brand-building and advertising and marketing, met with members of the Senate and Congress and requested what she might do together with her experience to make an influence. They advised her that if she actually needed to enact long-term change, the nation wanted increased voter turnout.
What if we simply personal this identification as one thing that’s so integral to ourselves?
“I believe I had that Legally Blonde second of, What, prefer it’s exhausting?” Dayani says.
In spite of everything, entrepreneurs and brand-builders encourage folks to take motion on a regular basis: Convincing them to look at a Marvel film or purchase Justin Bieber’s newest album. Dayani thought the identical rules would apply to galvanizing voters. So she give up her job, and with the assistance of 25 different girls and The Artistic Artists Company (CAA) Basis, she based the nonpartisan group I Am a Voter (IAAV) in 2018.
The group’s first assembly centered on its new shopper: voting. IAAV wanted to determine get folks to attend in line in November and break freed from “the entire preventing and shaming that occurs in these areas.” Dayani learn concerning the hyperlink between voter identification and the probability of habitually casting a poll and resolved to lean into that idea: What if we simply personal this identification as one thing integral to ourselves and one thing that we might discover aspirational in others?
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Attaining that with youthful generations means assembly them the place they’re and tapping into the manufacturers, celebrities and sports activities groups they already know and belief, in line with Dayani. IAAV has partnered with celebrities together with Hailey Bieber, Kerry Washington, Steph Curry and types such because the NBA, the NFL, Tory Burch, City Outfitters, Rhode and tons of extra.
“Here is your PSA once you’re on the AMC theater,” Dayani says. “We’re in your Bumble app; we’re in your jumbotron once you’re watching a sports activities sport. Should you’re getting a bundle from Shopbop, there’s an insert. We went to so many of those manufacturers and simply requested them what they’d obtainable to contribute.”
“We’re not enjoying on this colour spectrum. We’re simply right here for everyone.”
IAAV can be intentional about making a model identification that is interesting and never divisive. To that finish, the group’s Instagram feed is fully black and white.
“We’re not purple, we’re not blue, we’re not purple,” Dayani explains. “We’re not enjoying on this colour spectrum. We’re simply right here for everyone. And we actually lean into information, which I believe additionally registers with folks as a result of we’re not attempting to persuade them of 1 ideology or one other or inform them suppose.”
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Moreover, the group strives to create enjoyable, dynamic campaigns that drive its mission. For instance, research present that communication between folks with pre-existing relationships can have a optimistic influence on voter turnout, so IAAV leaned into that with its “Register a Good friend Day,” trademarking “mates do not let mates skip elections” and enlisting the assistance of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow of Associates.
“Making use of a few of these rules of promoting and model constructing has been actually efficient.”
“It simply went so viral,” Dayani remembers. “It felt like such a enjoyable tradition second. And that was considered one of our highest days of voter registration. So I believe making use of a few of these rules of promoting and brand-building with these superb messengers has been actually efficient.”
At the moment, IAAV has reached greater than two million folks on social media. The group additionally partnered with HeadCount, a nonpartisan group that works with musicians to advertise participation in democracy. “Having the ability to leverage their experience and expertise inside the entire framework of the issues that IAAV is attempting to do is superb,” Dayani says.
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On the finish of September, IAAV introduced its inaugural “Democracy Heroes” listing in partnership with MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Rockefeller Middle and HeadCount. The listing options 25 civic leaders working to make sure their communities and marginalized voters have their voices heard on the polls.
“It has been 30 years since we handed the Nationwide Voter Registration Act, and voters in virtually half of our nation are going to face new voting restrictions on this election,” Dayani says. “So to have the ability to present folks all throughout the nation working to alter that — I believed it was such a hopeful and delightful means to enter this subsequent month.”
