In a state with a deep history of voter discrimination and voter suppression, Nsé Ufot’s organization has registered more than half a million people to vote in the last seven years, including many young people and people of color. Ufot, who has been called “a powerhouse lawyer turned top voter engagement strategist,” helped ensure that a record number of voters cast ballots in Georgia, which proved critical in deciding the 2020 presidential election as well as two races that determined the balance of the U.S. Senate.
Ufot is chief executive officer of the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, where she combines digital technology, research, and the arts to help expand the electorate. Her team has designed apps and platforms to reach different populations; used census data and demographics to target their programming to the right audiences; and merged voter engagement efforts with everything from art shows to video games. Ufot, a longtime human rights advocate, is not afraid to speak up against legislation that aims to suppress Americans’ fundamental right to vote.
“I tell folks, we’re protesting and organizing precisely because we love America — because we are patriotic,” she told BlackHer.
A native of Nigeria and a former labor lawyer, Ufot said helping her mother study for the U.S. citizenship test and becoming a naturalized citizen herself were instrumental in shaping her career.
“When I took the oath of allegiance, I swore to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” she avowed in the New York Times. “I took the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to heart.”
