Montgomery County Students For Change (MoCo4Change) is a student-run organization in Montgomery County, Maryland. The organization was founded by a group of students from Montgomery Country in 2018 after the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The members of this organization advocate for issues that arise in the county; this organization encourages students to voice their opinions.
MoCo4Change decides what topics to prioritize as a group. They work on advocating for ongoing social issues at the local, state, and national levels. To maintain an educated and open-minded organization, the team is willing to listen to opposing perspectives and incorporate them into what they fight for. Although it is difficult to avoid controversy, by keeping an open mind and being respectful, team members are able to build connections with people, rather than causing conflicts.
In the past, the team has been able to successfully organize multiple voter registration drives; the most recent of which was the “MoCo to 100” project. The project aimed to register all eligible high school juniors and seniors to vote in national elections. Through increasing registration, they were able to impact the youth’s political efficacy and interest in participation. Along with influencing elections and democracy, the organization has also worked on gun violence, racism, the issue of having school resource officers (SROs) in schools, and more. They continue to work on influencing elections and democracy and continue to advocate for various socioeconomic, gender, racial, and societal issues in the nation.
Due to COVID-19, members had to make adjustments to operate in the uncharted online environment. However, with the decline of the coronavirus pandemic this year, more in-person advocacy events such as protests are anticipated. “Because we will have that in-person aspect in our advocacy this year, we hope to be able to testify and meet with our legislators in person, host public artivism displays, and be able to do a lot more outreach this year. I think that this year, a lot of our advocacy will be focused on educating students on various issues, and aiding students in COVID-19 recovery, rather than constantly bombarding our legislators on various issues,” said MoCo4Change Communications Director Maahe Kunvar.
This year, the organization’s goal is to strengthen its central organization and recover from changes that were made during the coronavirus pandemic. For this upcoming year, they plan to work on redistricting and boundary analysis, along with other ongoing social issues. You can learn more about and join MoCo4Change via their website to have your voice heard.
Written by Ashlesha Dhakal of Northwest High School.
Photo courtesy of MoCo for Change Facebook