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HISTORY
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It all began 6 years ago when young people from Parkland demonstrated their power, inspiring American youth to act. Some activists learned about events only by happenstance, leaving out countless of us who would have attended events if only we had known about them. Many young people were frustrated because there wasn't a simple place to find resources, events, and information because they were posted across hundreds of websites. This made it more difficult for young people to become activists.
SOLVING THE PROBLEM
After the March for Our Lives walkouts, young people became energized! Some wanted to build community while others led walk-outs that ultimately spanned into climate action. As for Zev Shapiro, he had the idea to create an app to serve as a hub and social network for youth activism - TurnUp.
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Zev was on a mission to create an app that would provide a nexus to propel youth activism into the future - a free hub and social networking platform with the power to drive change, made for 21st-century activism. And that he did.
After years of hard work and dedication, our app is now the fastest way for young people to get involved with the issues and causes they care about and become a force for change in their community.
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We’ve enabled organizations, campaigns, and individuals across the country with the tools needed to collaborate, organize, and effect rapid social change. We’ve harnessed the energy of young people into real, impactful action. We’ve revolutionized the way young people communicate while facilitating new coalitions unbound by proximity (over 47 THOUSAND new connections have been made through the app already!)
And we didn't stop there...
The app was successfully developed and launched… but that wasn’t all!
TurnUp expanded naturally and spectacularly all while creating the app, and all in time to impact the 2020 elections. The app arrived on the scene in the hands of thousands of eager users around the country who came from our outreach and our revolutionary training program of over 700 interns who were both galvanized and outfitted with the app, supported by our program, and poised to volunteer for GOTV efforts. Adding to the power of TurnUp was our digital ad campaign bringing about registrations and GOTV efforts in 2020, and the special election in Georgia.
Our youth volunteers worked in unprecedented ways and with amazing efforts to launch the TurnUp app and to make their impact in the 2020 elections and social justice landscape. We used revolutionary strategies such as the invention of DM canvassing, and mapping every progressive and civic organization, college club, government professor, civics teacher, and youth leader in America.
Working together in scores of teams across the country, organized in our training program, the TurnUp youth developed their own brand and marketing strategy and made a historic splash upon the state of youth voter turnout in America.
2020...
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Since
TurnUp has continued its expansion and dramatically increased its reach and impact. TurnUp now has four integrated programs focused on increasing youth voter registration and turnout: Physical Registration & Turnout Drives, Relational Registration & Turnout Drives, Grassroots Organizing, and Digital Campaigns.
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TurnUp began in 2018 under the backdrop of mounting social injustices, and we felt the call to see that the youth would no longer have to wonder… How can I encourage my friends to engage? How do I register to vote? Now, four years later, the backdrop has only become even more dire, and our society is in more need of the passion and energy of our youth to help strengthen our imperiled democracy. TurnUp’s powerful trajectory is rising to this occasion as we aim to make civic engagement accessible to every youth in the country.
WE WANT ALL
YOUTH READY TO ACT!
Youth volunteers have worked in unprecedented ways and with amazing efforts to launch TurnUp. These have included revolutionary strategies like the physical high school voter registration drives, a pioneering relational voter registration and turnout program, and an internship training program.​
More About
ZEV SHAPIRO
Zev Shapiro started as a community activist in fourth grade by advocating for equal access to healthy food at his public school. At age nine, Shapiro launched his political career by volunteering for the senate campaigns of both Elizabeth Warren and served, at 10, as the campaign manager for a Cambridge, Massachusetts School Committee candidate.
At the end of 8th grade, Shapiro interned for the Chief of Staff at MA Attorney General Maura Healey’s office; at the end of 9th grade, he interned for the State Director at U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office. He was Elizabeth Warren’s special guest at the State of the Union Address in 2014, and he introduced Elizabeth Warren at the 2017 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.
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Shapiro worked for three years as a leader of the Massachusetts High School Democrats and one year as their liaison to the Democratic Party. He has been featured on NPR, The Boston Sunday Globe, The Boston Herald, WGBH, NECN, and other television networks.
Zev lives in Cambridge, MA, and has two younger brothers. He is an avid cycler and tennis player and plays the violin, viola, and piano. Zev is a 2024 graduate of Harvard College.