User Profile for Jessy Tolkan (jtolkan)

Bio: Jessy Tolkan is an 8-year veteran of the youth organizing and voting movement. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, She got her start as a student activist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned her degree in Political Science and African-American Studies. While at UW-Madison her work included organizing student vote coalitions in 2000 and 2002, helping to make higher education more accessible to all young people, and engaging students in local politics through her own bid for the Madison City Council at age 19. After graduation, Jessy worked as the Wisconsin State Director for the New Voters Project, registering over 130,000 18-24 year old voters across the state and helping to produce one of the highest youth voter turnout rates in the country, a historic 11% increase in youth voter turnout in the US, the largest increase since 18 year-olds got the right to vote. Continuing her commitment to amplifying the voice of young people, Jessy work with the United States Student Association as an advocate on higher education issues, helped build the young democratic vote in Virginia in 2005, and was a founding board member of the Young Voter Pac, a political action committee committed to supporting candidates that make young voter a key part of their campaign strategy. In 2006, Jessy was recently named one of the "Real Hot 100," an award given to women making real change in their communities. Jessy currently serves as the Executive Director of Programs for the Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of more than 40 youth organizations united in their fight for the clean energy future.

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