What We Do

Ohio Voice is the “c3 table” or “civic engagement table” in Ohio – an affiliate of State Voices nationally since 2008. Our mission is to support and grow the ecosystem of non-profit, non-partisan organizations doing year-round civic engagement with underrepresented communities in order to win progressive governance that will improve people’s lives.

We achieve our mission by developing shared strategies, regranting resources, and providing tech, data, comms, training, and strategic support to our partners and the broader Ohio progressive ecosystem. 

We provide capacity support to Help our partners grow their impact

We give our partners access to critical tools and technology like VAN and offer trainings to equip them with the skills they need to optimize their programs. We provide updated data analysis about demographics, voter registration, and voter turnout to help partners reach their target audiences with tactics such as canvassing, phonebanking, or sending texts.

We help our partners effectively communicate their message and vision to their base and beyond to mobilize communities, shift the narrative, and enact change. We support pitching earned media stories, writing and placing LTEs and op-eds, developing communications/digital strategies and storytelling practices, and building statewide narrative power.

We connect organizers with new tools, ideas, and strategies through our monthly Lunch & Learns and regular trainings on organizing concepts such as the Social Movement Ecology. We have also held leadership development programs that train the next generation of organizers.

In 2020 and 2021, our Vision for Ohio Fellowship included 24 and 15 emerging leaders, respectively — almost all of whom are BIPOC. 

In 2022, we worked in partnership with the Ohio Transformation Fund and Liberation in a Generation to hold the Ohio Public Safety Transformation Studio, working with leaders from 16 organizations.

​​In 2023, we partnered with SpadeWork for a two-part organizing program with 5 fellows.

We raise money for ecosystem goals and collective plans, then regrant resources to partners based on available funds. By moving resources to invest in added capacity, we’re building progressive power year-round and giving organizations the funds they need to scale up.

Between 2018 and 2023, we regranted over $2 million. In 2024 alone, we regranted more than $1.6 million!

Ohio Voice offers financial incubation services to the progressive c3 ecosystem to set organizations up for success.

Through fiscal sponsorship, we provide organizations with low cost-of-access accounting and organizational development support. In 2024, we also launched our fiscal management program for new 501(c)(3) organizations to bring them to the next level without having to navigate the nitty-gritty of financial management.

We work in coalitions to build power

The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition (OVRC) is a network of non-partisan local, state, and national voting advocates dedicated to ensuring that our elections are modern, secure and accessible to all Ohioans.

OVRC runs Ohio’s Election Protection program and specifically works to advance proactive voting reforms, voter education and empowerment, voter registration, jail voting, fair district maps, and campaign finance reform.

The Ohio Fair Courts Alliance is a partnership between Ohio Voice and Common Cause Ohio to build a court system that treats all people with dignity, respect, and fairness with a diverse bench of knowledgeable judges who decide cases on their merits. In order to achieve this vision, Ohio needs and deserves independent, impartial, and ethical courts.

We’ve created a speakers bureau in order to explain in everyday language how our court system works in Ohio. This bureau also provides a forum for members of the legal and non-legal community to exchange views about common concerns about our justice system. Finally, this organization motivates citizens to take action to strengthen our courts.

In 2020, Ohio Voice participated in the Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition to ensure a fair and accurate count in Ohio. We funded 35 organizations, and provided resources, digital tools and platforms, and meeting space for all organizations doing Census work across the state.

We Build On new ideas and Experiments

As part of our work around landscape analysis, we work to identify and support ballot initiative efforts that can further our mission of progressive governance. We help lay a strong foundation for statewide or local ballot initiatives, running initial polling and mobilizing partners for a broader coalition or campaign. 

Beyond ballot incubation, we also support campaigns through every phase of the process, from clipboard to ballot. 

Recent campaign support includes: Issue 10 (Akron, 2022), One Person One Vote (Ohio, 2023), Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom (Ohio, 2023), People’s Budget Cleveland Issue 38 (Cleveland, 2023), Citizens Not Politicians (Ohio, 2024), and the Columbus Safety Collective Campaign (Columbus, 2025).

Ohio Movement Builders are monthly donors who fund and support BIPOC and working class organizations building progressive power in their communities. By using organic relationships to create a progressive grassroots ecosystem of giving, we’re building a network of monthly small donors who believe in our mission and the work of our partners to help fund the movement.

The What’s Good Ohio?! podcast is a project of Ohio Voice and Policy Matters Ohio. Each episode, we tell the world what’s good, here in Ohio, uplifting the work and stories of organizers and activists around the state building collective power year-round. Listen to What’s Good Ohio?! wherever you find your podcasts!