17-2 Beyond the Ballot: Creating Space for Young Leaders to Use Their Voices

By Shardae Moss

Civic engagement is about more than showing up at the polls; it begins with helping people understand that their voices have the power to shape the issues that affect their lives. Through my work with Reinvest Toledo’s Power Tour, I have learned that meaningful engagement requires more than providing information. We must create spaces where people can explore issues, share their experiences, and feel empowered to speak. 

Power Tour began in 2024 as a four-part, all-ages multimedia production that brought together the arts and community conversation to explore issues affecting Toledo communities and the collective power of voting. Through feedback and debriefing with those who attended and participated, we learned that Power Tour needed to evolve into a youth-centered initiative that combined leadership development and the arts. Earlier this year, we conducted a survey asking young people what issues were most important to them and what art forms they were interested in.

At our July convening, “The Evolution of Leadership: The Unfolding,” young people participated in four creative workshops focused on painting, photography, songwriting, and poetry. The workshops were led by adult artists and community leaders who are already effectively using the arts as a form of activism and community engagement, allowing participants to learn not only creative skills but also to learn from people who are actively using their art to communicate ideas and create change. These workshops provided different ways for participants to explore ideas around the issue of safety while learning the fundamentals of expressing those thoughts through art. Rather than asking young people to simply listen to information about civic engagement, we invited them to become creators and contributors while learning from leaders who are already putting those principles into practice. 

That work will continue through a series of upcoming opportunities centered around community safety. In an upcoming workshop with a graphic designer, participants will design clothing representing their thoughts and perspectives on safety. They will also participate in, produce, and host a podcast where they can discuss issues that are important to them and engage with subject matter experts who can provide additional context and information.

At the end of next month, they will be given a platform to share what they have created and learned. At the Visual Arts Exhibition - The Visual, they will present visual art exploring their perspectives on safety. At the Performing Arts Showcase - The Expression, participants will use singing, spoken word, and interactive presentations to engage audiences in conversations about the issue. 

For me, these experiences demonstrate an important lesson about community engagement: people are more likely to participate when they have opportunities to see themselves in the process. Effective engagement means meeting people where they are, connecting civic issues to their lived experiences, and creating multiple ways for them to participate. Not everyone will want to speak at a town hall or stand behind a podium—and they shouldn’t have to. Someone may find their voice through a photograph, a song, a T-shirt design, a poem, or a conversation centered around their lived experiences. 

Engaging young leaders is also an investment in the future of our communities. Succession planning is not only about identifying who will lead next; it is about creating opportunities now for emerging leaders to develop the knowledge, confidence, relationships, and skills they need to lead effectively. If we want strong civic participation in the future, we have to prepare and make room for the people who will carry that work forward. 

Power Tour has shown me that voter education and civic engagement do not have to feel disconnected from people’s everyday lives. When we give young people the tools, information, and platforms to express what they care about, we are doing more than preparing them to participate in an election. We are helping them recognize that their experiences matter, their perspectives have value, and they have the power to contribute to—and lead—the future of their communities.

“Effective engagement means meeting people where they are, connecting civic issues to their lived experiences, and creating multiple ways for them to participate.”