Who we are

Working class communities of color have been shut out, silenced and ignored in Virginia, fueling widespread injustice in the state. New Virginia Majority builds the power of marginalized communities to change the political systems that aren’t working for us.

We organize within Latinx, African American, Asian American Pacific Islander and youth communities, centering the leadership and demands of working class women of color. Together, we vote, mobilize and engage to end mass incarceration, build just economic policies, protect immigrants and preserve the environment.

New Virginia Majority is a leader in the movement for transformative change. Since 2015, we have registered more than 200,000 Virginia voters and knocked on over 1 million doors. Last year, we brought in a more representative legislature, which helped us to finally expand Medicaid to nearly 400,000 people. And 2016, we succeeded in restoring voting rights to thousands of formerly incarcerated people in Virginia.

History

After nearly 30 years of local organizing as Tenants and Workers United, we decided to expand to the state level. New Virginia Majority was founded in 2007 in response to the failure to pass federal comprehensive immigration reform, sought to engage “new Americans” in a more deliberate and strategic way by combining targeted voter organizing with an ideological approach to community organizing that has evolved over decades.

New Virginia Majority works to create a powerful multi-issue, multi-racial movement to transform Virginia through large scale civic engagement, issue advocacy, and strategic communications and community organizing.

New Virginia Majority organizers have knocked on over 1 million doors, engaging not only immigrant voters, but people of color, women, working class people, and youth -- and has grown to be a statewide organization with particular focus along Virginia’s urban crescent--Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads -- as well as on college campuses.

New Virginia Majority's Hubs

Central to New Virginia Majority’s effort to build transformative governing power is our emerging “hub” approach. Populations who are distinct because of their histories, culture, race, nationality, geography, age or station in life are constituted and organized as a hub -- or semi-autonomous project/organization. This allows those groups to benefit from central support from New Virginia Majority while simultaneously remaining deeply aligned politically and strategically and developing their own particular organizing model to build power.

Tenants and Workers United (TWU): Latinx and immigrant organizing in Northern Virginia.

Virginia Student Power Network (VSPN): Public university students organizing on 6+ campuses across the state.

Virginia Black Organizing Collaborative (VA BLOC): Black-led organizing in Newport News and Hampton Roads.

Asian Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Collaborative (ACE Collaborative): Organizing Asian groups and communities

Victories

Currently being updated.

• 2020 - Reached out to voters with 269,809 texts, 701,295 phone calls, 141,544 doors, and 760,581 mail pieces
• 2018 - Part of leading the effort to pass Medicaid expansion in Virginia, restoring affordable healthcare to nearly 400,000 Virginians
• 2016 - After nearly a decade of organizing, celebrated the restoration of voting rights to thousands of formerly incarcerated people in Virginia who continue to be registered, and expand the electorate
• 2015 - We have registered more than 200,000 Virginians to vote since 2015
• November 2013 - Led a non-partisan, voter protection initiative in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Norfolk. We trained 58 poll monitors and staffed three regional command centers, with two attorneys at each location.
• August 2013 to November 2013 -- Reached out to 31,000 voters in Norfolk City, Richmond and Northern Virginia. We identified voters who supported issues close to our organizational mission and moved them to the polls.
• July 2013 -- Organized a candlelight vigil in support of immigration reform in Herndon. Over 250 supporters turned out for this event.
• May 2013 -- Celebrated May Day by organizing an immigration rally in Herndon. Over 200 supporters came out for this event.
• April 2013 -- Launched the New Majority Academy, where we trained 30 activists from Virginia and around the country in our approach to community organizing.
• March 2013 -- Worked with Wellstone Institute to train the next generation of community activists, campaign managers and progressive candidates.
• January 2013 -- Delivered over 18,500 signatures challenging a surprise Senate redistricting plan.