What We Do
Who We Are
The Arizona Democracy Resource Center is dedicated to empowering community members and encouraging civic participation. The Resource Center advocates for equitable representation for all Arizonans and work closely with community leaders to protect our democracy. We are committed to dismantling structural barriers to democratic participation, supporting community self-determination, and investing in local leadership.
Our
Commitments
We work to model the electoral justice framework driven by the Movement for Black Lives, including sustainable investment in local leadership and a multiplicity of strategies in order to win true abolition and liberation for Black communities, and therefore all people.
When we witness attacks on our partners and staff, particularly when it's based on race or gender identity, we will actively speak out to support them. This includes carefully considering the way we show up in coalition meetings and in the media.
We believe that conflict is a necessary part of the process of growth and change. We must have the courage to directly confront areas of tension or discomfort, the humility to question our own perspectives, and the active engagement needed to seek out the best approaches and ideas.
We actively practice democratic values in our internal decision-making, relationship-building, and program implementation with transparency, collaboration, and accountability.
We are committed to struggle for democracy, but not at the cost of those closest to harm and directly impacted - instead of through solidarity and the dissemination of organizational resources. Our work will publicly and transparently prioritize and center communities that have been historically marginalized and systematically excluded from the democratic process.
To understand the role we are called to play in this struggle, we have the responsibility of continued learning and transformation, both personally and professionally.
Get Involved
We'd love for you to join us!
Projects
Arizona Democracy
Collaborative
The Arizona Democracy Collaborative (AZDC) is a strategic hub for planning proactive pro-democracy work. The AZDC is made up of seven member organizations - including Arizona Coalition for Change, All Voting is Local, Arizona Center for Empowerment, Chispa Arizona, Mi Familia Vota, State Innovation Exchange, and the Arizona Democracy Resource Center, where it is housed. Our goal is to collaborate around critical opportunities to advance democracy in our state.
Election Protection Arizona (EPAZ) is a nonpartisan effort led by a coalition of local organizations that aims to ensure voters are able to participate in our democracy without threats of intimidation, overly burdensome and purposely confusing policies, or long lines. It works to tear down barriers to civic participation and to modernize outdated election rules that keep citizens from voting.
We are approaching our 2022 Election Protection program knowing that effective voter protection doesn’t just mean serving as a resource at polling places on Election Day, which we saw play out time and time again throughout early voting and Election Day in 2020. These instances of voter suppression, most often directed towards BIPOC voters, were bolstered or accompanied by misinformation and disinformation, inadequately trained poll workers, and law enforcement presence. We are ensuring that Election Protection Arizona will be a force in alleviating these additional barriers to the voting process. < Our Work >
