UUJAZ’s strategy and partnerships unite our organizing efforts in Arizona state-wide, and focus us in engaging in values-based conversations in a virtual deep-canvassing model. Our work includes:

1) Supporting ballot initiatives aligned with our values. UUs are at the table for Outlaw Dirty Money, Invest in Ed, and Save Our Schools ballot initiatives, collecting and verifying signatures, serving as petition depots and notories, and pushing our state legislators to allow online signature collection.

2) Engaging candidates for city, county, and state seats based on the issues. The ACLU of AZ Smart Justice campaign leads us in recognizing the power of County Attorney candidates, a race which could see de-carceration by 50%, an end to cash bail, and elimination of private prisons. Equality Arizona raises the voices of LGBTQ+ Arizonans against the constant barrage of bad bills each legislative session, threatening to strip rights and limit protections, and looks to elect a State House and Senate that will affirm all people. During the legislative season, weekly updates from two of our UU policy leaders keep us informed on who in the state house and senate are proposing and voting for the bills we oppose, so we can vote instead for equity and justice. Sunrise Movement pushes candidates to commit to supporting Green New Deal legislation at the city, state, and national level.

3) Creating a UU youth and young adult led social media campaign. We are thrilled to welcome UUs Phoebe Dubisch and Chloe Stevenson-Brown to our team as paid staff, leading fellow youth and young adult UUs in creating an Instagram and Tiktok campaign for #VoteLove.

4) Defending our voting process from suppression and increasing turnout. From demanding a vote by mail ballot for all eligible voters, to partnering with Reclaim Our Vote to text, call, and send postcards, we know that a UU’d vote is one where everyone has a voice.

5) Resourcing historically marginalized communities to thrive. We know that there are endless barriers in place to voter engagement in our Black, indigenous, communities of color, incarcerated folks, disabled, and poor communities, now more than ever. UUs joined and formed Covid-19 Mutual Aid pods from Sedona to Bisbee, including a 5k member mutual aid network in Phoenix moderated by Black Phoenix Organizing Collective. We’re working to de-carcerate via “car”avan protests, calls and petitions, alongside Puente Human Rights Movement and Mass Liberation AZ. We pushed for and won civilian oversight of the Phoenix PD with a coalition of ten grassroots orgs. We supported the Black Mesa community on the Navajo Nation with food and Covid-19 supplies, led by Black Lives Matter Phx Metro, Food Not Bombs, Sunrise Movement, and others. 

We collected stimulus checks from UUs to distribute to undocumented folks, and to bond folks out of detention, for Keep Prescott Together, No More Deaths, and the Undocumented Workers Relief Fund. UUs volunteer to transport and feed asylum seekers released from detention with Phoenix Restoration Project, the IRCs Welcome Center, Casa Alitas, the Samaritans, People Helping People, and Fronteras de Christos. 

Last but not least, UUs followed Poder in Action in using their voices to their mayors and city council members to spend CARES relief funds to invest in mental health resources, shelter and health services for folks without homes, and not on increased policing. We know that leveraging privlege and redistributing resources means we all have the best chance at making it to the polls and using our voices for change.