About:

 

A shift in the North Carolina legislature to a more conservative stance in 2013 made a group of people desire to push back -- today they are known as Ignite NC.

 

The Durham-based group helps to build the skills of young people from the ages of 18-30, by training them to become leaders and mobilize their community to tackle issues of inequality.

 

The group focuses their efforts by semester, but their four focus points are election protection, gender justice, higher education and expanding sanctuary. People that become Fellows begin projects under one of these fields and create work plans in the hope to begin correcting an issue.

 

Each group has their own issues to advocate. Higher education groups create Board of Governor's workshops, gender justice holds Trans 101s and focuses on building more gender-neutral restrooms, election protection train people at the polls, while expanding sanctuary strives for DACA renewal and safe and affirming spaces.

 

One of many major achievements for both Ignite NC and partnering groups are assisting in ridding the voter-suppression law, through the use of exit-surveys. Through the process of asking many people about the voting process, the group and others found many people of color and other minority groups were being affected by the bill. Information from the surveys was compiled and the NAACP went through a litigation process and won.

 

Holden Cession, once a fellow of Ignite NC, now a Co-director, believes strongly in the group’s work. He said there are not many groups that do what Ignite NC does, and that their group can be considered a model for how to build power and leadership in the south.

 

“We just want to be a launching pad for people to get some skills, and once you’ve got those skills it’s like ok, you’re solid, you’re good to go and we will always be here to support you and network with you,” said Cession about the success of Ignite NC’s training programs.

 

However, the group is not exclusive to their Fellows; others can take part in local universities and colleges.

Many Fellows create student organizations at local colleges and universities. Some groups include UNCG’s Defund Racism, Guilford College’s Integrity for Guilford, East Carolina University’s ECU Resist and UNCC’s Customer 49. Though these groups do not run under Ignite NC's supervision, the knowledge and skills engrained in former Fellows have formed a network of people sharing the same goal.

 

“We are touching a lot of areas and a lot of people even if we are not directly connecting with them,” Cession said.

 

Find out more about Ignite NC by visiting their website.