With Friends & Family: Carri Urbanski

By Carri Urbanski
Ohio Team Lead

I’ve been a team lead with Common Power since 2021, but it wasn’t until recently that I brought along loved ones on fieldwork travel. Voter activism adds purpose and fulfillment to my life, and I wanted them to share in that joy. So, when I traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the primaries this year, I brought along my husband, our 10 year-old son, and a friend.

In addition to being a volunteer, I’m a busy mom with a career and lots of responsibilities. Trying to make it all work while separating out all those identities (mom, wife, employee, volunteer, etc.) gets overwhelming. However, when I can blur the lines and combine some of those roles, as I did in Columbus, I’m able to fully live in the moment and focus on what matters most. And, since they are already structured towards multigenerational fieldwork, Common Power was able to offer me the flexibility and support I needed to balance out my personal commitments, even while serving as a team lead.

During the trip, my husband, Chris, was canvassing with a CP staffer when a woman stopped them to ask what they were doing. After they explained, she told them she was interested in getting involved and asked for contact information to help in the general election.

This is the kind of ripple effect we have on others. My work brought in Chris, who paid it forward by bringing in another volunteer, and so on.

One of my favorite memories of the trip was when my friend and I canvassed the home of a 78 year-old woman who recounted her first voting experience. She has cast her ballot in every election since then, despite voter suppression tactics in her way. She was so grateful for the work we’re doing that she gave us each a hug. We’ll win some elections, and we’ll lose some, but it was a reminder to stay in the fight for people like her. My friend just signed up for her second CP trip.

If you’re ready to bring loved ones into fieldwork, remember that they may need extra support at first. Common Power is intentional about cultivating an inclusive, respectful community based on core values and principles, and they do it through awareness and education. Even if they’ve canvassed before, volunteers who are new to Common Power can benefit from the (free!) training series to help them do fieldwork in the CP way.

As a parent, it’s my job to create a better future for my son through civic duty, while at the same time teaching him to proactively stand up for his own ideals. And when he sees both parents doing this work together, the importance is compounded. It made me proud to show them my leadership on this trip, and in turn I was proud of them for getting involved. There is no better way to learn than through action, and there is no better way to act than together.