Deepening Democracy through Civic Engagement

The Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) was established in 2002 as a non-partisan effort to increase voter participation in Boston and Chelsea's most disadvantages communities. Since its inception, the CEI has funded over a dozen community-based organizations (Community Partners) to increase voter registration and turnour as a vehicle for creating change on issues such as affordable housing, quality public education, job creation and city services.

Over the last four years, through the financial support of a collaborative of foundations (Funding Collaborative), the CEI has played a significant role in boosting voter participation in targeted neighborhoods. In Boston's 2005 municipal elections, the ecity experiences an increase of over 3,000 new voters casting a ballot  in neighborhoods served by the CEI. In 2004, there was a 17% increase in voter tournout in Boston's CEIU targeted precincts.

Please read the 2008 report "Deepening Democracy through Civic Engagement - the Boston Experience 2002-2008" to learn more about the outcomes, experiences and challenges of this important initiative.
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