• Press Release

Rock the Vote, the nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and building the political power of young people, today announced its new leadership team through the 2016 general election and beyond. Carolyn DeWitt, who has served as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer since October 2015, will serve as President of Rock the Vote, leading the organization’s robust campaign to engage and mobilize Millennials across the country through November.

“Across the country, Millennials have become increasingly engaged in the 2016 election, recognizing our ability to speak truth to power and create change on important issues that impact our lives,” said Rock the Vote President Carolyn DeWitt. “Rock the Vote is committed to building on our success during this year’s presidential primaries and mobilizing millions of Millennial voters to come together and fight for bold, progressive change in November.”

Before joining Rock the Vote as Chief Operating Officer in 2015, DeWitt recently served as chief of staff for Pivot, a political communications firm, during the 2014 election cycle and coordinated surrogate media appearances for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. DeWitt has also spent time working with democracy building efforts in South Africa and Kenya, and served as a senior international advisor to a youth political movement and potential presidential candidate in Madagascar. Additionally, DeWitt spent three and a half years as a financial and management consultant with Development Specialists, Inc., where she managed the firm’s civic and government affairs in addition to her consulting responsibilities.

Rock the Vote has also hired Luis Calderin, who previously served as Director of Arts, Culture and the Youth Vote for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, to serve as Vice President of Marketing and Creative.

“I’m excited to join Rock the Vote and participate in this bold campaign to continue building the political power of young people in this election and I look forward to continuing that work through November and beyond in my new role,” said Calderin.”I’m proud of the work we did on the Sanders campaign to really focus on engaging young people in the process and uniting Millennials to make our voices heard, and I look forward to continuing that work through November in my new role. When all of us come together — across race, gender, family background, sexual orientation, gender identity — and participate in elections, we can change our country for the better.”

During this year’s presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders was widely recognized for inspiring young people across the country to register to vote and join his”political revolution” by focusing on issues like college affordability, environmental protection and eliminating the influence of large corporations and powerful special interest groups. A recent report showed that the Vermont senator won more than twice as many votes from young people in the 21 states that voted by June 1 as either of the presumptive presidential nominees. But as the Sanders campaign winds down its operations, his enthusiastic young supporters are looking to continue the Millennial-driven movement for progressive change that he started.

“We are excited to welcome Carolyn and Luis into their new leadership roles at Rock the Vote, in which they will lead our general election campaign to register and turn out Millennial voters across the country,” said Jon Rubin, Rock the Vote Board Chairman. “Their experience and expertise in mobilizing young people to come together and fight for progressive change make them uniquely qualified to lead Rock the Vote through an election in which so much is at stake.”

About Rock the Vote:

Rock the Vote is the largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization in the country driving the youth vote to the polls. Since 1990, Rock the Vote has fused pop culture, music, art and technology to fulfill its mission of building long-term youth political power. During the past six Presidential elections, Rock the Vote ran the largest voter registration drives for young people and has partnered with more than 25,000 partners through its online, multi-lingual voter registration tool. Rock the Vote is dedicated to mobilizing the vote, protecting voting rights and advocating for an electoral process and voting system that works for the Millennial generation, America’s largest and most diverse population in history. To get Rock the Vote updates on upcoming events, election reminders and candidate, visit RocktheVote.com. Engage on social media, by following Rock the Vote on Facebook and on Twitter at @rockthevote.