2021 certainly presented its fair share of challenges, but Progress Michigan’s supporters showed up big time. In fact, we had our most successful year of online fundraising thanks to people like you who believe in the power of the work we do.
As we look to the year ahead, we’re hopeful. Our generous donors allow us to continue to build capacity, that means we can grow our team, work on more of the critical issues that we care about and support even more progressive partners across the state. It also means we have the resources we need to navigate the ever-changing world of digital communications so that we can be informed and strategic and utilize cutting-edge tools to help us develop winning campaigns for Progress Michigan and our partners. Thank you, again, for standing with us through these challenging times. We’re thankful to have supporters like you with us as we prepare for what we hope to be a victorious year ahead.
- NEW! Legislative District Maps.
In December the Michigan Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission finalized our new state and federal legislative district maps. Throughout the redistricting process Progress Michigan worked with partners across the state to advocate for fair, nonpartisan maps. Our final push for fair maps in December had us working with partners that represent communities of interest to develop ads to drive people to engage in the redistricting process, with great results. While the redistricting process was far from flawless, we took a major step forward from the partisan redistricting process of the past and showed what we can do when Michiganders decide it’s time for a change.
- There Ain’t No Stopping Our Research Now. The last quarter of 2021 was a prolific time for our research department! We churned out a round-up of Republican misinformation on COVID-19, a report on the Right’s Fight Against Fair Maps and a nonpartisan redistricting process, a report on how the Republican Secure MI Vote ballot initiative could eliminate 20 percent of polling places, and a memo on the Money Behind the Critical Race Theory Outrage Machine.
- Our Rural Michigan Work is On Fire. Rural Michigan may be
freezing right now, but our work in these communities is getting hot. We supported our food system partners in placing two OpEds in the Lansing State Journal about ending food industry consolidation and ensuring racial equity in farming. We also exposed Enbridge’s lies about their dangerous Line 5 pipeline by showing the misinformation campaign from right-wing groups and explaining why propane from Line 5 is so expensive for households.
- We’re still wrapping up the Great Lakes Beacon (GLB) second documentary – Aggravated – which explores the devastation caused by aggregate mining in Michigan. The documentary will be released in early February.
- This month, we’re gearing up to help several of our progressive partners expand their online presence with state-of-the-art digital ads. Our communications and creative staff will work with each partner to create ads that speak to their values and priority issues and assist in placing the ads to reach their target audience.
We hired three new staff members! We’re thrilled to see our team grow and recently brought on Teria J. Moore-Berry as our new brand manager, Myaia Holmes as our new gun violence prevention campaign manager and Ashleigh Little as our new designer. In the months ahead we hope to continue to expand our team so that we can better serve Michigan’s progressive community.
