#7: Activating the Vote w/ Sara Gifford

What if every big, sweeping change was the result of many small actions? Sara Gifford is the Co-Founder and COO of ActiVote, a company on a mission to empower every voter to feel confident and informed in every election. During this episode, she joins us to discuss how incremental changes can act as the engine for real, far-reaching results.

To launch our conversation, Sara explains how her background in supply chain optimization has informed her understanding of business and politics as a force for good. Delving into her early experiences with B Corp, she shares how the movement influenced the inception of ActiVote. Our conversation also explores the psychology of voting, how to motivate more people to engage with politics, and why marginal voters have become so significant. 

Hear Sara’s perspective on the role of social media in shaping public sentiment, how she has integrated B Corp principles into her life following the COVID-19 pandemic, and how you can support her mission to improve public participation in the lead-up to the upcoming elections. Join us for an informative, hope-filled conversation with this inspiring leader and Co-Founder. Thanks for listening!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Sara Gifford’s background in supply chain optimization leading up to her role as COO at ActiVote.
• Introductions to the B Corp movement and starting ActiVote.
• Her experiences with B Corp so far and how it helped to codify the identity of her initiative.
• The essence of what ActiVote aims to do.
• Sara’s perspective on why people don’t vote and why it has nothing to do with apathy.
• Encouraging voters to prioritize incremental change over sweeping change. 
• Leveraging the psychology of voting to encourage more people to participate.
• Why Sara believes the best messenger for most Americans is someone they already know and trust. 
• Her perspective on why marginal voters have become so significant.
• The role of social media in determining public sentiment.
• Examples of policies that B Corps can focus on to empower voters. 
• Sara’s efforts to live B Corp values in her personal life. 
• What she needs from listeners: support for the upcoming elections.
• Her book recommendation: Team of Rivals.

Quotations: 

“Part of [taking] collective action is to start small.” — Sara Gifford

“Small change isn’t no change, and many of the big things that have happened have come through thousands of small changes.” — Sara Gifford

“Sometimes it’s the tiniest little actions for you that make a big difference for someone else. That is part of what that B Corp spirit is.” — Sara Gifford

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

• Sara Gifford on Medium: https://medium.com/@activote
• Sara Gifford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-gifford-qda/
• ActiVote: https://www.activote.net/
• ActiVote App for B Corps: https://acti.vote/BaVoter

We Want to Hear from You

We want to hear from you! Text us by clicking here or email us at beyond@lifteconomy.com with requests for content, suggestions for future guests, and feedback about our episodes.

Help Us Grow the Show!

We are trying to grow our audience and wanted to ask you a huge favor.

Try to think of one person that might like this show. Then, pull out your phone, and text them something like:

Hey, I think you might like this new podcast Beyond the B. Check it out at lifteconomy.com/beyond. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Seriously! Take out your phone and try it right now! Then, follow up with them to see how they liked it.

This would be super helpful for us. We deeply appreciate your support. 😊

Gratitude:

Thank you to Corey Lien and Nozomii Torii for being our first monthly contributors at Beyond the B!