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Scholarship Application Public Information
Emma
| Name: | Emma |
| Location: | Brooklyn, NY |
My personal volunteering highlight:
I was working for an organization concerned with poverty and it was my job to solicit and manage all of the volunteers for our big fundraising event. Within four weeks of posting my ad, I received over 400 responses. It was overwhelming. I had no idea that so many people would clamber over each other in order to take unpaid time out of their lives to help their fellow human beings.
I then had the task of processing, training, and supervising those volunteers. I was terrified. But it turned out to be easy. There are so many unrecognized leaders out there, just waiting for the opportunity to shine.
What motivates me:
I am planning on reproducing sometime in the near future. I know that I, at nearly 30 years old, still blame my parents for all kinds of things. When that happens to me, I want to be able to say to my future children that I tried to create a better world for them (for the record, so did my parents. They tried hard. I love those two. They are also my motivation. They named me after progressive radical Emma Goldman, for Pete’s sake! That’s a lot to live up to.).
How I try to motivate others:
It’s all about listening, finding common ground, and empowering other peoples’ leadership.
Also, I don’t normally quote Dale Carnegie but I believe he was absolutely right on when he said: “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” In my organizing, I try to ensure that whomever I am working with, volunteers or other participants, has as much fun as possible. For example, I like to provide candy. But there are other ways.
Where I see myself in five years:
In 5 years, I see myself having worked with at least one state that has achieved death penalty repeal.
Blogging
Participation in the blogosphere is important because...
Like Thomas Paine and the early pamphleteers, blogging allows ordinary people to communicate with the world around them. It is an avenue to express your citizenship, to participate in conversations spanning states, countries and the whole world, and, perhaps, to affect change in those places.
A Little Bit About Emma
I am working full-time (and beyond!) towards the repeal of the death penalty in the United States. I find the death penalty so egregious and harmful. It makes me determined to plug away at it until it is over, until I get the invitation to go to the party celebrating the very last state that decides to stop executing people. I am excited for that party. I like parties.
I have worked for many causes in the past – hunger and poverty in the developing world, trade issues, women’s empowerment, and access to the arts. My main focus in those issues has always been communications (because I like to sit at my computer and write), organizing (because I also appreciate human contact), and youth mobilization (because I like to go to their parties and, of course, because they are our future).
Why I Deserve a Scholarship to Attend
The capital punishment system in America is beyond repair. It allows lawyers to sleep through the trials of their indigent clients, puts innocent people on death row, and drags victims’ families through a nightmarish process. And all of this inaccuracy, ineffectiveness, and pain costs taxpayers a fortune. This issue is one that is left and right, religious and secular, North, South, and West.
I want to refine my abilities to reach a wider audience more effectively. I work side by side with a variety of state-based groups that are fighting to repeal the death penalty in their states. The skills I learn at the Netroots Conference, I will be able to share with all of the groups with whom I work. The effect could be exponential. Together, we can fix the country’s broken system.
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Voting has closed for this years Netroots Nation Scholarship Competition
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