Soft Power Vote

Est. 2020

Soft Power Vote (SPV) is a civic engagement initiative working to make voting more accessible in NYC. By leveraging a mix of social media, printed matter, and community events, SPV works to empower Millennial and Gen Z voters—the largest and least inspired voting bloc—to make their voices heard at the ballot box. Born out of a lack of transparency in the political process and a lack of independently produced voting materials in the Big Apple, Soft Power Vote strives to engage New Yorkers through art, design, and activism to demystify the political process and invigorate civic engagement by making voting as easy and accessible as possible. We produce voter guides for every election, Primary and General Elections, as well as digital content via social and newsletters, podcasts and printed one-sheets.

Coined in the 1980s, soft power refers to a country’s ability to influence people through culture and politics, in contrast to hard power such as the military and brute force.

SPV is currently produced by Melissa Sáenz Gordon and Molly Salas. It was founded by Melissa Sáenz Gordon, Glenn Robinson and Yojaira Alvarez in 2019, launched in 2020. SPV is currently a member of NEW INC, the cultural incubator of the New Museum in NYC. To learn more about Soft Power Vote’s origin story, watch our main stage talk from NEW INC’s annual symposium, DEMO2025: HERE.