Chicago Votes educates young people with the leadership skills, civic knowledge and hands-on experience to have a lasting impact on democracy in Chicago. By creating pathways to engagement for a diverse generation of Chicagoans, we have helped young leaders build a stronger democracy with increased participation and greater ownership over the political process. Our training programs are known for their innovative, empowering and in-depth approach. We have established ourselves as a recognized civic organization that inspires and empowers young people to be leaders in their communities and throughout our city. Chicago Votes is expanding our leadership training programs, growing our base and deepening our work in diverse communities and with underrepresented youth across Chicago. With the support of The Bus Federation Civic Fund, which offers one of the nation’s leading models for youth engagement, we will continue to build our infrastructure, curriculum and programming so our work will be more innovative, impactful and fun than ever before. Chicago Votes’ Successes: In the last two years, Illinois has made significant progress in election modernization, passing three of our bills for Early, Online and Same-Day Voter Registration. In 2015 alone, we registered more than 20,000 Illinoisans to vote. Most of these are new, young voters from communities of color in Chicago. Since our launch, more than 75 organizers, fellows and interns have mobilized hundreds of volunteers, registered thousands of voters, all while educating and organizing other young people around the democratic process and issues that matter most to them. Young people from across Chicago have come to our events that educate young people on the electoral process and government. This includes a panel discussion on the 2014 governor's race, a debate between state local representative candidates in the 2014 primaries, and a statewide youth conference with Young Invincibles (Next Gen Illinois).