Celebrating Women Making History

YCV Coordinator excited to vote for the first time after becoming a US Citizen.

Doreen Kaphalanya credits You Can Vote for becoming a registered voter after her naturalization ceremony. In 2020, Doreen signed up to assist voters with YCV during the 17 day early voting period, her first civic engagement activity! 

“As soon as we took the oath as citizens, the judge told us we could register to vote,” she said of the March 2021 ceremony in Charlotte, “and that got me so excited.” Doreen credits You Can Vote for the reason she registered to vote so quickly after becoming an American Citizen.

Then the native of Malawi became a Community Coordinator for You Can Vote in its Triad office. She links donations to the organization with education and empowerment of voters. “Because of donations, I was educated and empowered to vote right after I became a citizen,” she said in a recent interview. “I am a product of YCV because you decided to give.”

My dad passed away when I was 11 when there were no legal protections for women's rights to inherit their deceased spouse's possessions. This horrible experience transformed Idah, my mother, who became an  advocate for empowering people and mobilizing them for civic engagement and human rights for girls and women. She put herself through college and became a high school English teacher. Our first advocacy work, alongside many others, was lobbying the Malawi parliament to pass legislation, laws and policies that were in line with the UN's Convention on the Rights of a Child. When I was in college she inspired me to start a Girls Empowerment Program which focused on preventing school dropout and reducing early arranged marriages. The program is still active, with one of my first students in 2009, leading it now. 

Idah's favorite saying is "Education is the best investment we can make in other women's lives, because education empowers, and empowerment creates great female advocates who can strategically change the world." She continues to educate and inspire students beyond the classroom as a high school principal in Malawi. She lives by example and goes after her dreams without letting gender limit her. She recently has ventured into commercial real estate, hiring women in a male dominated industry. I continue to draw from her energy and inspiration as I educate, register and empower voters a million miles away from her.