“I wouldn’t call myself an activist but I woke up one day and saw an angry woman in the mirror and knew I needed to do something.” 

A nurse by trade, Agata Stemplewska started volunteering in political activism in 2015 after being fed up with the state of politics in Poland, her home country. She decided to become a member of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, also known as KOD, and was very active in their work in her region but was hoping to do more. While having coffee with her best friend Kasia Maciąga one morning, the two women decided they “must do something for [their] country” which lead to the creation of Twój Głos, Twój Los (Your Voice/Vote, Your Future).

In the creation of Twoj Glos, Twoj Los, they recruited a small team of eight leaders from around the region to help with the work. The team met once a week, worked to set a goal, and made a strategic plan to accomplish said goal. Their goal is to “increase voter turnout and civil awareness” in Poland with a key focus on remaining a non-partisan organization. Right now in Polish politics, Agata sees a large divide between “us and them” and hopes that the work of the organization can help make that divide smaller and turn into a “we” mindset where politicians and citizens work in a symbiotic relationship, relying upon one another to be healthy. 

The first step in this work began just in time for the local elections of 2017. After getting advice from professors who were experts in psychology, philosophy, and political science, the team developed a plan but quickly realized they would need financial support. They reached out to the European Community Organizing Network in hopes of getting a grant to assist them in their political organizing endeavor. 

The financial assistance from ECON helped the organization create meeting stations in each city through the purchasing of chairs, tables, signs and the printing of tens of thousands of leaflets with information about voting. These leaflets were passed out by site coordinators and teams of volunteers in various cities around the region to over 38,000 potential voters. Voter turnout increased by anywhere between 9-14% since the previous election in each of the cities. 

The team is already looking toward the next election this fall and is hoping to continue their work indefinitely, or until a healthier political environment is in place for people in Poland where they feel their voices are heard. Now their movement is growing and they are holding large educational meetings to gain more volunteers. They are grateful for the support of the network and wanted to highlight that “thanks to ECON’s help [they] can do everything [they] imagined for the project” and were able to make it a huge success.

Follow Agata and Kasia’s work at https://www.facebook.com/Twoj.glos.Twoj.los.idz.na.wybory.