ACTIVIST SPOTLIGHT: JOSI RIEDERER

Josi Riederer with Center for Common Ground Founding Board Member Andrea Miller (right) and Northern Virginia Regional Organizer Roxane Rucker (left) at the Selma Bridge Crossing in 2022.

My name is Josi Riederer, and I work as Deputy Policy and Communications Director at the Center for Common Ground, a nonpartisan, Black-led voting rights organization founded to educate and empower under-represented voters in voter suppression states.

At the Center for Common Ground, I coordinate with our members and partner organizations, such as the Workers Circle, to build get-out-the-vote phone banks, postcarding, and texting campaigns to mobilize BIPOC voters and create call-to-action campaigns against anti-voter legislation in our target states. Because of these partnerships, we have reached over 21 million BIPOC voters since 2020!

Before I joined the Center for Common Ground, my journey as an activist began as an undergraduate at NYU. I got involved in climate activism through NYU Divest, We ACT for Environmental Justice, and Food & Water Watch. I spent a night on the stairs at NYU’s student center demanding our school divest from fossil fuel investments and many afternoons picketing at events of Governor Cuomo to fight against a proposed fossil fuel pipeline. My climate activism led me to work at a voting rights organization because I understood that without the freedom to vote, we won’t see action on climate change, gun reform, universal healthcare, abortion justice, and more.

I am so grateful to the Workers Circle for their unwavering commitment to protecting our freedom to vote. I look forward to continuing the fight together as we get ready to mobilize voters for 2024!