Ooooof! What an election cycle!
My work with Forward Montana began in February, when I was hired for the position of Campus Tour Manager. I traveled to campuses all over this great state, empowering students to vote. I learned a lot during this experience: how to drive on the highway in the winter, how to communicate with students and inspire them to vote, and how to get professors and other staff members super excited about empowering their students.
When campus tour ended in April, I craved more work in the field. It was then I was offered the position of Six-Mill Levy Ambassador for Montana State University-Northern. At MSU-N, I was able to get over 100 people to pledge to vote for higher education funding — that’s nearly 10% of the whole student body.
This opportunity not only gave me more skills to continue in this field, but the 6-Mill Levy motivated me more than any candidate race that took place this November. After a couple of months off this summer, I had the opportunity to manage the new Six-Mill Levy Ambassadors for the fall. This gave me the unique, exciting opportunity to both develop professionally by supervising a team of organizers for the first time and continuing to work on the campaign I was so passionate about.
During this last position at FMT, I was challenged a lot. This fall was also my first semester at college, and I am a first-generation college student. I learned a lot about how to balance school and organizing, thanks to my co-workers! I am so thrilled that we had two ambassadors at UM, an ambassador at MSU, and a traveling ambassador this fall.
That being said, none of this would have been possible without your kind support. I cannot thank you enough— whether it be funding these positions so that I could learn from this experience or literally fueling me to get to campuses all over the state (gas is pricey!) — I know we are all so thankful for your support here at Forward Montana.
In Solidarity,
Hannah Pate
6-Mill Levy Lead Ambassador