bold idea
Foster civic participation among high school students in the U.S. by conducting student-led voter registration drives backed by co-developed frameworks and research-driven strategies.
organization overview
New Voters is a youth-led nonprofit that mobilizes high school students to be heard in politics on the decisions that impact their generation most. New Voters mentors high school students to conduct voter registration drives and researches empirically validated methods of youth civic engagement. Its goal is to reach every high school in the country. Its vision is that every student who graduates from high school turns out to vote every year, finds their voice in politics, and becomes lifelong civic participants.
Personal Bio
Jahnavi Rao is the founder and president of New Voters. When she was a junior in high school, she felt voiceless. At 16, she was too young to vote. The 2016 election and decisions that impacted her peers more than any other generation occurred without her say. She founded New Voters as a school club to register eligible students to vote. She has grown the organization to a national 501(c)3 that has civically engaged tens of thousands of high school students across 500 high schools in 42 states, ensuring students don’t feel voiceless again. Jahnavi was named to the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Impact. She is a 2024 L’Oral Paris Women of Worth, a 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow, and a Rhodes Scholar Finalist. Her work has been featured by Teen Vogue, CNN, NBC, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, C-Span, HBO Max, and Bloomberg. Jahnavi has a bachelor’s degree in government and a minor in music from Harvard College.
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