OFFICE Maison Jeanne Sauvé 1514 avenue Docteur-Penfield Montréal, QC, H3G 1B9 MAILING CP 42071 CSP Roy Montréal, QC, H2W 2T3 CONTACT 514.844.2472 [email protected] apathyisboring.com youthfriendly.com Follow us on Twitter @apathyisboring Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/apathyisboring Ce rapport annuel est aussi disponible en français. APATHY IS BORING ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 2015 FEDERAL ELECTION ISSUE LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD Dear friends and supporters, 2015 was a big year for Canadian democracy. A record 57.1% of youth showed up at the polls in Canada’s 42nd federal election, a significant increase from 38.8% in 2011. Apathy is Boring’s federal election campaign #5MMV focused on the power of the 5.5 million millennials across the country to have their voices heard. The campaign focused on raising awareness about the power of numbers, the power of youth across the country to mobilize and have a meaningful impact on their communities and in Canada at large. Through partnerships with Elections Canada, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations and others, our campaign reached over 3 million voters in only 78 days. This same year, Alberta had a provincial election and we kicked off a four-year partnership with Elections Alberta to encourage youth to vote by conducting outreach, developing resources with our non-profit partners across the province, and rallying the charitable sector around electoral youth engagement. In 2015, we reached nearly 100,000 Albertans. We were also engaged at the municipal level, as we completed a Municipal Youth Engagement Audit of the City of Kitchener and were featured in Municipal World Magazine. Thanks to the Laidlaw Foundation, we continue to assess youth-engagement best practices at the municipal level and encourage meaningful engagement of youth in their cities. We are tremendously grateful to every donor, funder, partner, artist, participant and volunteer who has supported our efforts this year. Building off the success of our federal election campaign, we are already planning our next national campaign for Canada’s 150th anniversary. This milestone in our country’s history provides an opportunity to reach out to youth nationwide and empower them to be engaged within their communities. Our 2017 goal of repaving the path to youth engagement in Canada will leave an important legacy for young Canadians in decades to come. We dream of a Canada where every young Canadian is an active and empowered citizen, and youth are meaningfully engaged in all aspects of the democratic process. Join us in making that dream a reality. Sincerely, Caro Loutfi Niamh Leonard Executive Director Chair of the Board 80 70 Overall Voter Turnout 60 Youth Voter Turnout 50 40 30 1965 1974 1984 1997 2006 2015 THE CONTEXT 2015 was a very exciting year for Apathy is Boring, and represents a great opportunity for the organization moving forward. In previous years, youth voter turnout was seeing a steady decline. The 2015 federal election, however, saw an 18% increase in youth voter turnout since 2011, and represents a promising trend in youth civic engagement. 57.1% of youth between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in the federal election, the highest voter turnout among that demographic in two decades. Many of those voters were first time voters, and most Canadians, during the first two elections after they become eligible, continue to be voters for the rest of their lives. Apathy is Boring is excited to ride this wave of momentum into 2017, when we will be celebrating Canada 150, a unique and non-partisan opportunity for youth engagement and empowerment. VISION A Canada where every young Canadian is an active and creative citizen, and youth are meaningfully engaged in all aspects of the democratic process. MISSION Apathy is Boring is a non-partisan charitable organization that uses art and technology to educate youth about democracy, with the aim of increasing youth voter turnout, increasing youth engagement in the democratic process, and building a sustainable dialogue between youth and decision-makers. METHODOLOGY GATHER KNOWLEDGE Every activity undertaken by Apathy is Boring begins with a discussion of the research that we need to do. Starting with this “homework” has two benefits: it ensures that we’ve correctly identified and analyzed the problems we’re tackling, and it helps us be efficient. We draw on knowledge from both practitioners and researchers. If there’s a lack of information, we start by conducting our own research. EXPERIMENT + INNOVATE Apathy is Boring is not afraid to experiment and innovate. Before we commit to a new activity, we test different ways to accomplish our mission. We also gather program level and strategic level data for each of our activities and programs. This data is used not only to evaluate the performance of each activity and program, but also allows us to identify high-impact solutions for the problems we’re tackling. MAXIMIZE IMPACT Apathy is Boring is a social innovator in the field of youth engagement. After testing and refining an activity, our next step is to maximize its impact. When we have the capacity to do so, we expand the reach of our own programs. Otherwise, we give our ideas away. By taking this “open source” approach and sharing our knowledge and strategies with other youth engagement stakeholders, Apathy is Boring can affect far more youth than any one organization could ever reach directly. ABOUT OUR PROGRAM AREAS YOUTH-FRIENDLY We give civil society and government the concrete tools they need to engage youth in decision-making through workshops, organizational audits, and other services and resources. VOTING + RESEARCH We increase youth voter turnout through campaigns during federal, provincial and municipal elections and conduct research projects which focus on improving youth mobilization tactics. GETTING INVOLVED We encourage youth to get involved in the democratic process and create opportunities for dialogue through online channels, workshops, street teams and live events. 13 165+ 3 000 000 + SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS VOTERS REACHED DURING OUR 78 DAY FEDERAL ELECTION 40 720 PLEDGES TO VOTE AND CAMPAIGN 2662 SURVEYS COLLECTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CASA 91 900 TWITTER USERS REACHED DURING OUR CAMPAIGN FOR THE 2015 ALBERTA PROVINCIAL ELECTION CONCERTS AND EVENTS ATTENDED 14 000+ ACROSS CANADA WHERE WE SPOKE TO AND ENGAGED YOUTH UNIQUE VISITORS 40 TO APATHYISBORING.COM INCLUDING GLOBAL NEWS, CTV NEWS, CBC NEWS, CBC RADIO, 224 800 MONTREAL GAZETTE, BREAKFAST TV AND VISITS TO OUR ONLINE VOTING RESOURCES IPOLITICS 37 HOW TO VOTE GUIDE & VOTING INFOGRAPHICS MEDIA APPEARANCES CIVIC ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOPS CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, JOHN ABBOTT COLLEGE, FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES CONFERENCE, CJE NDG, WE ARE CITIES ROUNDTABLE YOUTH-FRIENDLY PANELS AND PRESENTATIONS + THE CANADIAN ALLIANCE OF STUDENT 43 ASSOCIATIONS, THE SAUVÉ FOUNDATION, PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS CANADIAN ARAB INSTITUTE YOUTH FORUM, ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS NATIONAL CONFERENCE DISSEMINATED OVER 12,800 HARD COPY CIVIC LITERACY TOOLS 600+ GET OUT THE VOTE CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUTH IN CALGARY AND EDMONTON DURING THE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL ELECTION GETTING OUT FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN The #5MMV campaign was all about the power of numbers. We empowered youth across the country to mobilize and have their voices heard in a very important election cycle. Our online campaign was matched with an active campaign on the ground. Street Teams attended concerts from coast to coast, handing out election resources and answering questions their peers had about when, where and how to vote. Overall, we reached over 3 million voters in only 78 days. After a long term downward trend, this year’s federal election youth participation was 57.1%, showing close to a 20% increase. Great momentum! STREET TEAMS AND CREATIVE INSTALLATION In an effort to create an interactive way for young people to commit to voting, Apathy is Boring got crafty and built a wooden 5MMV installation, bringing it with us to festivals and concerts like POP Montreal and Piknic Electronik, where our volunteers were on hand to give out voting information. Through a partnership with Plus One, over 20 street teams were on the ground having one- on-one conversations with youth at various events including Patrick Watson and Braids Concerts, Passovah and MRCY Festival just to name a few. CANADIAN ALLIANCE OF STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS We partnered with CASA, who represents 22 universities and 250,000 students, on a non- partisan get out the vote campaign. This included Apathy is Boring facilitating and conducting a day-long training session in Ottawa for student union representatives from across the country, and a pledge to vote campaign that saw over 40,000 commitments to vote. ELECTIONS CANADA We partnered with Elections Canada to distribute non-partisan how-to-vote information to youth. We shared over 12,500 hard-copy resources at concerts and events across Canada. After the campaign, we conducted research evaluating the Pledge to Vote campaign and Election Canada’s on-campus VOTING election offices through data analysis of interviews with student unions as well as 2662 surveys that were gathered. THE YOUTH VOTE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL ELECTION: CREATING A SUSTAINABLE DIALOGUE AROUND ELECTIONS Apathy is Boring and Elections Alberta have partnered together for a four year project to encourage youth to vote by conducting peer-to-peer outreach, providing young voters with elections information, developing resources with our nonprofit partners across the province, and rallying the charitable sector around electoral youth engagement. In 2015, we conducted a Get Out the Vote Campaign with our Street Team volunteers. We had 600 face-to-face conversations with youth across Alberta about where, when and how to vote. We shared 300 hard-copy election information tools and reached over 91 900 Twitter users in 7 weeks. In 2016, we are developing a toolkit for community organizations across the province that service or work with youth 18-25 who are not in school.