Our Time (nonprofit)

Our Time (corporately style OUR TIME) is a membership group for Americans under 30 leveraging strength in numbers in the name of "greater representation of young Americans in all segments of society."^[1] The organization descends from Declare Yourself and the Student Association for Voter Empowerment, and began operations as a 501(c)(3) in March 2011.^[2] Matthew Segal is the president and co-founder of Our Time.

History

Declare Yourself

Declare Yourself began during the 2004 United States presidential elections to encourage young people to register to vote. It began as the "Declaration of Independence Road Trip", a 50-city cross-country tour of a rare Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence lasting three-and-a-half years.

Up to its merger with the Student Association for Voter Empowerment, Declare Yourself registered almost 4 million young people to vote using online tools, on-location efforts, and an Ultimate College Bowl contests.^[3]

Student Association for Voter Empowerment

Founded in 2006, the Student Association for Voter Empowerment was an association of students that worked to bring young Americans into the political process by breaking down barriers to electoral participation and encouraging youth-led policy solutions. The organization's initiatives included attempted Congressional passage of the Student Voter Act and 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs - a coalition of youth groups to address unemployment issues for young people during the Great Recession.

Campaigns

N/A is Not OK

In April 2011, Our Time released a petition identifying underrepresentation of 18-34 year-olds in national opinion polls. The campaign began in response to CNN poll results on social issues that cited the favor/oppose percentages of this age group as "N/A."^[4] "N/A is Not OK" generated a response from CNN who mentioned, "The data for the 18-to-34 age group is listed as 'N/A' in the breakdown of age groups because the sample size was too small for statistically valid analysis."^[5] OUR TIME responded by recommending that the polling industry innovate and adopt new technologies to reach younger Americans.

F%&K, I Need a Job

To address the high youth unemployment rate, Our Time called on the media to focus more attention on the issue, pointing out that the economic issues surrounding the 2011 riots in the Middle East were not dissimilar from the problems facing American youth.^[6]

Buy Young

Buy Young -- the newest initiative of Our Time -- offers exclusive deals from companies founded by Americans under 35. The campaign encourages Americans to purchase products from young companies and support youth job creation.^[7] OUR TIME uses profits from its Buy Young campaign to fund non-partisan voter registration and consumer education activities.^[8]

On July 13, 2011 Our Time convened more than 125 young CEOs and executives in Washington, D.C. at the White House, the Chamber of Commerce and Capitol Hill to launch the campaign and push for greater job creation and economic opportunities for young Americans.^[9][10]

News About You

News About You is for the under 30 on the go, who wants to stay informed and up to date on the most pressing issues. Five days a week, Our Time curates the top headlines about the economy, education, politics, employment, as well as a lifestyles and comedy section.

References

1. ^ "About Us". OUR TIME. http://www.ourtime.org/page/about-us/. Retrieved July 29, 2009. 
2. ^ "'AARP For Under 30 Set' Aims to Get Fair Share For Millennial Generation". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/aarp-for-under-30-set-aim_n_840851.html. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
3. ^ "About Us". Declare Yourself. http://www.declareyourself.com/about_us/about_us_73.html. Retrieved April 15, 2011. 
4. ^ "Group pushes for polls to include Millennials". Chicago Tribune RedEye. http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/ct-red-youthpoll-20110425,0,5706005.story. Retrieved April 25, 2011. 
5. ^ "CNN: N/A is Still Not OK". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-segal/cnn-na-is-still-not-ok_b_852671.html. Retrieved April 22, 2011. 
6. ^ "New Nonprofit Lets Youth Fight Back Against AARP". The Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-04-24/business/bs-bz-hancock-aarp-for-youth-20110424_1_youth-fight-aarp-youth-vote. Retrieved April 24, 2011. 
7. ^ Gray, Noah (July 18, 2011). "'Buy Young' wants you to vote with your wallet". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/07/18/buy.young.initiative/index.html?hpt=po_t2. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
8. ^ "Why Buy Young?". http://www.buyyoung.com/pages/whybuyyoung. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
9. ^ Ribitzky, Romy (July 13, 2011). "It's Our Time to Buy Young". Portfolio. http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/2011/07/13/our-time-entrepreneurs-set-out-to-buy-young. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
10. ^ Tozzi, John (July 12, 2011). "Buy Young' Movement Supports Gen Y Entrepreneurs". Bloomberg Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/running_small_business/archives/2011/07/buy_young_movement_supports_gen_y_entrepreneurs.html. Retrieved 20 September 2011.