Moving FOURward Together
🎉This month, Be The Ones turns FOUR! 🎉
Birthdays have a funny way of making you stop and pause. They invite you to look backward for a moment — to remember where you started, celebrate how far you've come, and reflect on everything that happened along the way.
I've spent the last couple of weeks doing exactly that.
Maybe it's because this birthday feels different or because South Carolina feels different than it did four years ago.
Or maybe it's because this past year has reminded me just how much moments like these matter. Our state is entering one of the most defining chapters in its history, and I've found myself thinking about the kind of organization — and the kind of community — that this moment requires. More than ever, I'm grateful we've spent the last four years building both.
Four years ago, I didn't know exactly what this moment would require.
I just knew South Carolina deserved a place where more people felt they belonged, where participation felt possible, and where communities had the support they needed to shape their own future.
I didn’t know where these four years would lead.
I didn't know the names of so many of you reading this.
I didn't know we'd register thousands of voters, work alongside extraordinary partners across the state, help launch young leaders, or find ourselves navigating one of the most consequential moments South Carolina's democracy has seen in decades. (If you missed my recent reflection on why I believe this is such a pivotal moment for our state, you can read it here.)
What I did have was hope (and maybe even a stubborn belief).
That if we invested in people, built real relationships, changed the way people experienced civic engagement, and kept showing up, even when progress felt slow, something bigger than any one organization could grow.
Looking back, that’s exactly what has happened.
Which brings me to what I’ve been wrestling with these last few weeks.
Sitting here today, looking backward and looking ahead at the same time, I’ve realized the only way I know how to move into this next chapter is the same way we've moved the last four years.
Together.
So this month, as we celebrate turning four, we're calling our birthday month Moving FOURward Together.
Yes, it’s a bit of a pun. (I couldn’t resist!)
But it's also the truest way I know to describe what's ahead. I don’t think this moment is asking us to move faster, rather, I think it's asking us to move together.
Together isn't just a value we hold; it’s a strategy. It’s how we’ve gotten here and how we’ll move into what comes next.
I realize Moving FOURward Togetherisn't just our birthday theme. It's part of the answer to the question I've been asking myself: What will it take to meet this moment?
These four years have given me four answers.
1. PEOPLE AREN’T APATHETIC. THEY’RE OFTEN DISCONNECTED.
I've never believed in the phrase "voter apathy."
I used this example recently on the Charleston Marketing Podcast. Imagine inviting someone over for dinner. You tell them you'd love for them to come, but you never give them your address. You don't tell them what time dinner starts, whether they should bring a side dish, how far they'll have to drive, or whether they even have enough gas in the tank to get there.
Then they don't show up.
Most of us wouldn't conclude they didn't care about dinner. We’d probably feel disappointed or frustrated (and maybe a range of other feelings). Maybe we’d even blame them for not showing up.
But eventually we’d have to admit that we never actually made it possible for them to get there. We didn’t give them the information, the tools, the support, the community to show up.
I think about civic participation and voting the same way. Too often we've designed systems that are confusing, inaccessible, intimidating, or simply difficult to navigate—and then we blame people when they don't participate.
Over and over again, I've watched that assumption prove itself wrong.
When people understand what's happening, when they have information they can actually use, and when someone they trust is walking alongside them, they show up. Not every time. But far more often than we've been led to believe.
That's why Be The Ones refuses to put the responsibility solely on the individual.
If people aren't participating, my first question isn't, "Why don't they care?" It's, “What opportunities have we failed to create?”
2. PARTICIPATION STARTS WITH BELONGING. AND NOBODY BUILDS POWER ALONE.
Before someone attends a meeting, testifies at the State House, registers to vote, or volunteers for the first time, something else has to happen first. They have to believe they belong.
Some of my favorite Be The Ones memories have nothing to do with legislation or elections or trainings.
They're watching someone walk into a room unsure if they belong…and leave feeling like they found their people. That’s also why I've come even more convinced that real change is always collective.
Some of the most meaningful things we've accomplished happened because organizations chose collaboration over competition. Young people invited their roomates. Neighbors brought their neighbor along to a potluck. Communities decided to build something together.
Power isn't something we hand to people. It's something we build together.
3. JOY BELONGS IN THE WORK
If you've spent any time around Be The Ones, you know we take our work seriously. You also know we laugh a lot. We turned mailboxes into dancing mascots to help with vote by mail. We use popsicles and lollipops to teach young folks about voting. Cut up our pizzas to talk about redistricting.
Some people have asked me over the years why we spend so much time talking about joy.
The answer is simple. Joy reminds us what we're fighting for. Not just what we're fighting against. Joy reminds us why this work is worth doing in the first place. Joy is how people find one another and how communities sustain themselves.
It's how democracy becomes something people want to come back to instead of something they feel obligated to endure.
Joy is revolutionary.
4. SOUTH CAROLINA IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR
I've lost count of the number of times someone has asked me, "Why South Carolina?" and those that have asked why I believe so deeply in South Carolina.
My answer has never really been about the state. It’s always been about the people. Those who continue choosing hope, choosing one another, choosing to stay, choosing to build, choosing possibility even when it’s easier to choose cynicism.
That’s why South Carolina is worth fighting for.
When I think about the next four years, I honestly don't know exactly what they'll ask of us. What I do know is that we will keep removing barriers, keep investing in young people, strengthening communities, choosing collaboration, making room for joy, keep believing in South Carolina, keep believing in each other.
And, most importantly, we’ll keep doing it together.
Thank you for believing in this work. Thank you for believing in one another. Thank you for believing that South Carolina is worth investing in.
And, most of all, thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for being the ones.
I’m so grateful you’re here.
Here’s to the next chapter. Moving FOURward together.
If you'd like to celebrate our birthday with us, we'd be honored if you would consider making a birthday gift. Every donation helps us continue removing barriers, investing in people, and building a stronger culture of civic participation across South Carolina. You can support this work by making a donation here.