Vote Now for an Unsung Progressive Hero

Washington, D.C. – Voting is now open for the sixth annual Maria Leavey Tribute Award. Every year, the Campaign for America’s Future honors an unsung progressive hero with the Maria Leavey Tribute Award at the annual Take Back the American Dream Conference.

A panel of Maria Leavey's friends and colleagues selected five progressive champions to be the award finalists:

• Samantha Corbin: The Occupy and 99% Spring activist who helped spark a movement with her years of experience in non-violent creative direct action.

• Peter Wagner: The prison reform advocate who exposed the practice of counting prisoners when drawing congressional districts, even though most prisoners cannot vote.

• Jonathan Westin: The New York community organizer who forged powerful coalitions between labor, communities of color and Occupy Wall Street.

• Jay (Jhatayn) Travis: The Chicago community organizer who has stopped mass school closings, blocked policies designed to evict the poor from public housing and helped create 5000 summer jobs.

• Lee Slaughter: The lifetime activist who hasn’t let four surgeries in the last three years stop her from launching local “Move Your Money,” “Rebuild The Dream” and “March for Women’s Health” campaigns.

Vote for the 2012 Maria Leavey Tribute Award, before May 15, 2012 11:59 PM ET.

The Campaign for America's Future created this award to honor the memory of Maria Leavey, the quintessential unsung progressive hero. Maria Leavey was an organizer with extraordinary talent.

Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future said, “she was a behind-the-scenes force with an uncanny ability to connect rising young talent with Washington leaders; a tireless advocate who often worked without claiming credit or even compensation. Sadly, after years of selfless service to the progressive movement, Maria passed away on December 31, 2006, at the all-too-young age of 52. Maria rarely received the recognition she deserved during her influential life.”

The award winner will receive the award at the June 18-20 Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, DC.

Vote here for the Maria Leavey Award for 2012: http://action.ourfuture.org/content_item/marialeavey2012

# # #