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Malia Lazu
Former Executive Director, Mass Vote

Malia Lazu is the National Field Coordinator for the Young Voter Alliance a progressive 527 targeting youth voting in 5 states throughout the country. YVA is a coalition of the League of Pissed Off Voters, Hip Hop Political Action Convention, Young Democrats and Stonewall Democrats and Clickback America.

Ms. Lazu was the project director for Democracy Action Project, a national youth electoral reform organization, focusing on rebuilding trust in government and ensuring that every vote counts. Democracy Action Project has a signature annual event called "Democracy Summer". Last year over 300 youth activists from 30 states participated in the week long training school.

Ms. Lazu is the founding Executive Director for Mass VOTE, a statewide non-partisan coalition of community-based organizations, faith-based institutions and neighborhood associations working to increase voter participation in urban neighborhoods. She has been recognized by the Massachusetts State Senate and House for her role in the rise in voter turn out in the state. Ms. Lazu was named "Activist of the Month" by MTV in June 2000, and is a board member of the Youth Council of The Partnership for Excellence in Government as a representative of MTV. Ms. Lazu currently sits on the following boards; YouthVote, Dunk the Vote, Council for Excellence in Government, Declaration Generation and the Center for Voting and Democracy-education committee.

Ms. Lazu moved in 1995 from her home in Honolulu, Hawaii, to enroll in Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. While pursuing her undergraduate degree she interned in the Women and Politics program at the Commonwealth Coalition, a statewide progressive politics organization. While there she played a key role in helping to elect the first Haitian-American to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the highest elected office in the country for a Haitian-born elected official. Ms. Lazu went on to become a statewide college organizer for the Clean Elections campaign, winning a landmark statewide ballot question in 1998 for sweeping campaign finance reform in Massachusetts.


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