Why we’re here Strategy

Voting
3- Distribution
11 -
4 - The Illinois Policy Institue Revenue
12 -
5 - Ameya’s Race
The Leadership Team
What we’re doing 13 - Ameya Pawar
6 - We Need Disruption Sam Hobert
7 - A New Model Neal Sales-Griffin
Katelynd Duncan
One Illinois
8 - Why We’re Different The Creative Team
9 - Types of Content 14 - Ted Cox
Zachary Sigelko
Our Goal Cher Vincent
10 - Shaping a Narrative

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VOTING is a visceral experience. Study after study confirms this basic fact.
People vote based on a feeling and a narrative; they tend to vote their emotions rather
than a detailed accounting of the issues.

In sum, voters don’t always fit into an ideological box – Democrat or Republican.

The far-right media understand this dynamic and exploit it. They understand that if you
stoke division and anger through narrative, you can shape an election by creating a
coalition of disaffected people.

Need proof? Look no further than the last presidential election.

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The ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE has mastered this divisive
effort.

Their sole goal is to keep people from uniting around income inequality and the common
uncertainty most people feel by turning natural allies against one another and convincing
people to vote against their own self-interest and the issues they share with others.

Over the last decade, IPI has shaped a visceral narrative opposed to government, unions,
minorities, and progressive policies and politicians in order to drive a wedge within the
largest political base: working families. To be specific, the IPI pits poor white working
families from rural areas against black and brown working families in urban areas.

Today, people across Illinois feel divided and angry, thanks to IPI’s work.

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AMEYA PAWAR entered the race for governor to call out and combat this
false narrative.

More important, he sought to unite poor white and rural communities with black and
brown communities to compel progressive change. While his campaign ended last
October, Ameya and his team pledged to push on with that cause: to continue their work
to unite communities around issues which transcend race, class,
geography, and conventional political divides.

As has been said many times before, you don’t fight racism and prejudice with more of the
same; you fight it with unity and solidarity.

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 WE NEED DISRUPTION

The Illinois Policy Institute has spent the last decade creating a false narrative around
progressive policies, labor groups, and public institutions. The IPI produces news content
with far-right-wing policies embedded within the stories. By shaping the narrative around
far-right policies, the IPI shapes public discourse and elections.

To date, there hasn’t been a progressive response to the IPI. One Illinois has the
opportunity to disrupt the marketplace of ideas by countering the IPI narrative with a
contrary story line based on empathy and unity.

One Illinois will disrupt the IPI market ownership by spotlighting the human impact
its policies have on voters and by putting a face on those who suffer the consequences.
What does the right fear, and how does it spread that fear among the electorate on issues
such as right-to-work, the minimum wage, lost health care and other benefits, a tattered
social safety net, and the environment? We’ll shine a light on their lies and let Illinois’ own
citizens tell the truth on them.

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 A NEW MODEL
The IPI has built a large following (325,000 on social media) through vitriol and anger. Yet the
Facebook algorithm for news sites has changed to focus more on community and positive
interactions.

One Illinois’ mission is to create a more unified state and a more rational, truthful narrative by
simply letting those affected tell their stories. As such, we believe we are uniquely positioned
to disrupt IPI’s brand and link their audience with progressives to build a broader, more robust
audience of working families across Illinois — a coalition that can defend itself and fight for
what’s right.

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WHAT MAKES ONE ILLINOIS DIFFERENT?
OUR CONTENT
One Illinois will feature long-form and short stories on the people of Illinois. No vitriol or
anger. The stories will focus on people’s common humanity and the hopes, dreams, and
concerns Illinoisans share. Most working people — regardless of race, class, and where
they live — struggle with the same issues: finding and keeping good jobs, achieving the
American Dream in the face of disinvestment, hanging on to what they have, and creating
a better future for their children and generations beyond.

One Illinois will tell their stories and link them together.

In addition, One Illinois will highlight Illinois and its communities by spotlighting poten-
tial tourist destinations, talking up opportunities for investment and jobs, and magnifying
each community’s resilience. The state’s bicentennial has thus far been overlooked as a
campaign issue, but it can serve to remind Illinoisans of what united our common purpose
two centuries ago and what continues to unify us today.

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 WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE:
One Illinois will use journalism and storytelling to emphasize our common humanity. That
inlcudes:

×× Long-form articles with in-depth reporting

×× Short-form stories perfect for social media sharing
×× Mini documentaries and video explainers
×× Podcasts and audio breakdowns
×× Live events, including interviews, town halls, and live-streamed shows

To give each piece a solid policy backbone, One Illinois has entered into Memorandums of
Understanding with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the New America Foundation.
These partnerships will help One Illinois develop more robust content by drawing on policy
expertise to round out and fully explain what’s really going on in struggling towns and cities.

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 Our goal is to build a broad-based audience

ACROSS PARTY LINES,

ACROSS RACE AND CLASS,
AND ACROSS ILLINOIS
to help shape a more positive and unified narrative.
 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
One Illinois will distribute content primarily via social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram. To increase distribution, One Illinois will leverage existing relationships
with organized labor, Illinois progressive advocacy groups, and national groups to push
out conten. In addition, One Illinois will make (large) targeted advertising buys on social
media platforms to increase viewership and to enlarge the audience. Stories will also be
offered to local newspapers and TV and radio stations.

We’ve got a head start on building an audience: During Ameya Pawar’s run for governor,
his team built a Facebook following of over 30,000 progressive Illinoisans who continue to
share content and reach hundreds of thousands of unique viewers.

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 REVENUE
One Illinois will generate revenue from several buckets:

×× Individual donations from board members and reader solicitations.

×× Subscription-based content (TBD).
×× Grants from private foundations and nonprofits supporting journalism and new media.
×× Sponsorships and endowed positions generated from corporate donors and institutions.
×× Live shows produced across the state, including one-on-one interview shows with
high-profile Illinoisans, talk-show productions, and issue-based special events in front
of live audiences.
×× Merchandise, such as t-shirts designed for towns and locations of interest, sold in
partnership with the local chambers of commerce.

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Ameya Pawar
PRESIDENT
A two-term progressive Chicago
alderman and published
textbook author who developed
one of nation’s first Open 311
smartphone apps, writer of three
op-eds (Chicago Tribune and
Chicago Sun-Times), written
about in The New York Times,
The Economist, The Intercept,
Politico, and others. Defeated
Chicago political machine in 2011
and passed 12 major pieces of
progressive legislation.
Sam Hobert
VICE PRESIDENT
A Chicago native, Whitney
Young High School and George
Washington University graduate.
Sam is an alum of the offices
of US Sen. Dick Durbin, Mayor
Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange. He’s a
veteran of too many Illinois
municipal, legislative, and
statewide campaigns to recite
here.
Neal Sales-Griffin
CHIEF TECH OFFICER
CO-FOUNDER
A native of Kenwood, Neal
attended Northwestern
University, where he co-founded
ContextMedia before joining
venture capital firm Sandbox
Industries as their Entrepeneur-
in-Residence. Currently CEO
of CodeNow, a nonprofit that
hosts coding workshops for
middle and high school students
from low-income backgrounds,
Neal is helping young people
learn to solve problems through
technology and code.
Katelynd Duncan
SENIOR ADVISOR
CO-FOUNDER
The founder of KJD Strategies,
she has raised more than $25
million for political action
committees and non-profits. She
is active in her greater Chicago
community, serving on the
board of directors at Streetwise
and volunteering her services
to Chicago Cares, Chicago
Scholars, NAMI Chicago, The
Inconvenience, and the Chicago
Foundation for Women’s Young
Women’s Leadership Council.
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Ted Cox
SENIOR ADVISOR
EDITOR
A University of Illinois journalism
graduate with more than 35 years
of experience in media, most
recently at the Daily Herald and
as City Hall and neighborhood
reporter at DNAinfo Chicago.
A longtime Chicago Reader
columnist, he is author of the
compilation “1,001 Days in the
Bleachers” and has also written a
series of children’s books on major
figures in sports and music.
Zachary Sigelko
VIDEO PRODUCER
A Chicago native and graduate of
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts,
Zach co-produced the Battle Flag
documentary series and founded
ADPT Productions. His work has
been featured on The Atlantic,
The Washington Post, TIME.com,
and Vox, and he has produced
work for Cards Against Humanity,
Buzzfeed, Johnson & Johnson, and
the National Immigrant Justice
Center.
Cher Vincent
AUDIO PRODUCER
An audio producer based in
Chicago, she is a the co-founder of
Postloudness, a podcast collective
of audio shows by people of color,
women, and queer-identified
hosts. Cher has contributed audio
pieces with Gimlet Media, MTV
News, BuzzFeed, Spotify, and
NPR affiliate stations WNYC and
WBEZ. Most recently, she will be
producing a limited run series with
the Chicago’s Terra Foundation.
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Thank You