Dear Changemakers,
I was born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana, a city shaped largely by car manufacturing. I remember as a kid seeing then-Delco (GM) on the right and Chrysler on the left as we rode up US31. My grandma worked at the factory her whole life, and then my brother, and now my niece, does too. In the summer, I went to the open houses to see what it was like inside those huge structures, a peek behind the scenes of how we make something we use every day. Growing up, all my friends’ families had one connection or another to those factories.
Why am I talking about factories? Sometimes when you see words like Economic Mobility, which is one of Women4Change’s issue areas, it can feel abstract. But economics is embedded in almost every part of our lives and communities, and it is affected by the decisions made by our elected officials. Decisions about taxes, tariffs, imports and exports, gas vs. electric, the cost of doing business, of health care, of child care; it is all interconnected.
I co-hosted a Warm Drinks, Hard Talks session in Kokomo last winter. The women shared their concerns about everything from having enough money to survive in retirement to managing child care when working third shift. They shared stories about friends who had to choose between going to work and staying home to care for a sick child, and between saving for the future and putting food on the table today.
So what can we do?
Start by getting curious about the issues that matter most to you. If child care is stretching your family, learn more about the policies and decisions that shape access and affordability. If pay equity, housing, health care, or retirement security keeps coming up around your kitchen table, follow that issue. Ask questions. Join conversations like our Cold Drinks, Hot Topics sessions (September tickets will be released on Eventbrite soon!). Understand not only what is happening, but who has the power to influence it.
Then, carry that knowledge with you to the polls.
Find out who will appear on your ballot and research where candidates stand on the issues you care about. Use TurboVote to double-check your registration and get prepared to vote on November 3.
We don’t have to know everything about every issue. But we can know what matters to us, understand who is making decisions about it, and use the power we have to participate.
The issues we talk about around our kitchen tables matter. This November, let’s carry them with us to the polls.
