 informed us that it wasn't a departure, but a passing off of the leadership of move to a new young leader, someone with a different background and a new fresh perspective, someone that could center young voices while staying true to the mission and heart of the organization, students and young people. After his explanation, it just made sense. It was time. And in true Drew fashion, he wasn't just providing us a two weeks notice or a two months notice or a four months notice, but really a six months or longer notice so that he could stay on board to bring in the new executive director. And while I am sad that we no longer get to chat with Drew every Thursday at 5.30, unless he, of course, he wants to keep that date, I am excited about the next chapter in move story. As you all know, move was founded by a group of young students at UTSA to mobilize and organize students to get young people registered to vote and then turn them out to the polls to vote and to empower young people to serve as leaders in our community and as voices to those around them. Move continues its work today, not just in San Antonio, but in cities across Texas. Move has in some way moved you just as it has moved me. Move has moved you, whether as an intern, a volunteer, a staff member, a board member, a donor, a supporter, or perhaps even all of the above. So thank you all for being here and sharing and celebrating the work of move under the leadership of Drew and continuing your support as he turns over the reins to our new executive director, Claudia Yoli-Fedela. I'm going to pass it over to Steven who'd like to say a few words on behalf of the Action Fund. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So my name is Steven Lopez, I am the board chair of the C4 which is the Move Texas Action Fund. What a privilege and special honor to be here tonight or today to honor our good friend Drew Galloway and the work he has done with Move over the years. I've known Drew since before he took the job at Move and I always knew that he would be a special leader in whatever he did and it was a hot summer day when I was having lunch with co-founder Hannah Beck, I don't know where she's at, she's there in the back. We were having lunch and she said, she said I'm leaving Move and we've decided to bring Drew on. He's going to be the new executive director and we were excited and we thought what a great fit, he's passionate, what a good leader, he's going to be great in this work. But I don't think Hannah or myself could have envisioned exactly where Drew has taken this organization. I'm sure you'll agree with me that the work Drew has done here at Move is nothing short of phenomena. I was there. We were all there in the early years from a staff of two with a budget of less than $100,000 and that $100,000 was scraping by, it was important to us. We would talk and beg and can we get another $1000 out of someone for a good cause of course. To now where Move is at with over 30 full-time employees, 40 fellows, a budget of over $4 million, it's simply incredible and it just is a testament to the type of leader that Drew is and the work that everyone at Move has done and I'm sure Drew will be the first one to tell you that he didn't do it alone but we would be remiss if we didn't take pause to specially honor this incredible leader today and I'm so happy that we're able to do it here. The hundreds of thousands of Texans that have been registered to vote because of Move's effort under Drew's leadership is just amazing. The expansion to, I don't even know how many cities we're in right now, 55 I think college campuses were at, it's just incredible. There's a saying that we're all familiar with that goes, you know, do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Well after watching Drew for the last four years, I don't agree, right? Because I've seen him work tirelessly day and night for the last five years. There was never an off switch for Drew. He was available 24 seven for Move and for this cause. And I truly don't think that we could have achieved what has been achieved in the last five years without Drew Galloway. He's someone who is just a very special person and someone I'm honored to call a friend. So Drew on behalf of the Move Texas Board of Directors, we want to present you with an award and a gift. Thank you so much and thank you for having us, congratulations. Now we'd like to welcome Move Co-Founder and Advocacy Manager, a man that needs no introduction, Mr. Alex Burnett. I need the mic slightly adjusted, maybe. We'll see. Gosh, there's so much I could say about the reason we're here today and that's to celebrate an incredible, incredible fighter for democracy, an incredible, incredible fighter for justice, my friend Drew Galloway. But I also want to highlight something more narrow than that. And that is somebody who takes care of an organization, somebody who takes care of his staff, somebody who takes care of the fellows, somebody who takes care of the interns. And that's been the story of Move Texas from the very beginning. You may have noticed that over time the t-shirts changed from Move San Antonio to Move Texas. And that's because Drew Galloway had a vision. And with many organizations, that transition to a statewide organization is a very turbulent one, a very difficult one to maintain that spirit of centering young people, of maintaining the fight without losing people, without losing hope, without losing the spirit of the organization. But as somebody who's been here over the time that Drew has been here, I can tell you that the organization is better than it's ever been. And it's better at a time that democracy needs it more than ever. So from the very bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you to Drew for his tireless efforts, his sleepless nights. I want to thank his family for giving him to us for the years that they did. It's a sacrifice. Right now Move is a statewide organization at a time that Texas needs statewide organizations. It needs young fighters who are willing to stand up for democracy. And without Drew Galloway's help, it's a question of whether or not we would meet our moment. But now I can confidently say we're ready to meet our moment. We're ready to continue fighting from a small student organization to a statewide powerhouse. If you spend any time talking to me, I often say, you know, I don't like the great man theory of history. History is made by movements. It's made by people that aren't recorded. But today, a very special occasion, I want to say that history at least has one great man in my life, and that's Drew Galloway. Drew, from the bottom of my heart, I know the staff feels this way. I know that everybody that works with you feels this way. Thank you so, so much for all you've given to us, and you're going to keep fighting. It's been awesome. Thanks. Thank you, Alex, without you and Hannah and the rest finding the courage to step up. We wouldn't be here today. It's my pleasure now to introduce Michelle Trameo, Executive Director of Texas Organizing Project, an outstanding partner of Move Texas. I have a little cheat sheet in case I get emotional and cry. First of all, I just, I want to say thank you to Drew. You know, try not to cry. So two things that I admire about Drew Galloway. One is a little bit borrowing from what Alex said. You know, Executive Director to Executive Director, you know, it's very hard to lead a staff through transition, much less the transition from Move San Antonio to Move Texas. And I just have always admired Drew's steadfast, joyful leadership as he's shepherded the organization from, I believe as Stephen said, you know, two employees to over 30. And, you know, have really just admired watching you in action, Drew. The other thing I want to mention in the category of things I admire about Drew Galloway, I feel like I should have made it a Jeopardy game or something. But is, you know, I knew we were going to be good colleagues when I first met him. The moment that I knew we were going to be friends and really partners in this movement is one day we were on the phone. And Drew was getting a lot of pressure from, I'm going to keep the story a little bit vague to protect the guilty parties. Drew was getting a lot of pressure from powers that be in this city to drop a campaign that we were working on together. And Moves funding was being threatened. Their future relationships were being threatened. And I didn't know what to do when he told me this. And I gave him an out. If they wanted out, I understood that this organization was at a critical moment in its trajectory. And this could be devastating consequences for Moves. And Drew simply said, oh well, let them try. And I think that was the moment that you captured my heart forever, Drew. And I knew that I would do anything to block for you, to back you up, anything that you would need from me. I was going to be there for you. So things that I will miss about Drew Galloway. Number one, strategizing on policy campaigns and giving elected officials, including the elected officials here tonight, a really hard time about the things that we care about in this community. Number two, tag teaming donors to ensure that even more resources are coming to Texas and that we can grow our voter participation in this state to be reflective of the majority of us that live here. But not least, suing election officials together. Just close with the things that I'm looking forward to. You know, one, the team here at Moves is amazing. And I know that you will continue to do amazing work. I've just met Claudia, but my offer to you, I don't know where she is right now. Over there. My offer to you is the same. I'm here for you. I love this organization. I love Alex and Erin and Zanen. Where's Zanen? I haven't seen him yet. Okay. He's at the ledge doing his job. Another reason why I love this organization. Can't have a party, got to be at the ledge. And I just, you know, I'm really looking forward to move Texas 3.0 under Claudia's leadership. And Drew, you know, our work together is not done. You know, our next adventure together is the oh so sexy topic of redistricting. Nobody forget, we've got redistricting around the corner. There's no rest after the ledge is over. So my final words to Drew are I cannot wait to go raise some hell over those redistricting maps. Thank you, Michelle. I think we're all ready to raise some hell or continue raising hell or whatever it is we do. It's my also my pleasure to introduce now to Bear County commissioner for precinct to Justin Rodriguez commissioner. Thank you very much. Good evening, everybody. It's great to see such a great crowd here supporting our good friend drew and we, you know, the weather kind of cooperated tonight. It's a little cooler, a little less humidity, which means, you know, all is right with the world. But, you know, I wanted to come first of all to acknowledge, of course, Drew's work and his friendship and his support. But I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the work of all of those who have been a part of move. Stephen from the board, Alex, everybody who has worked day in and day out to make progress in our community. I think we owe all of them a big round of applause because we know the organization doesn't run itself. Right. So thank you for your work. I was I was reminiscing with Hannah a few minutes ago about a meeting we had it had to be in like 2014 or 2015 when it was still known as move essay. And she was making a pitch and I met with her at a Panera. We were fancy back then, right? And, you know, she just asked for support. She told me about what the organization was doing, what the dream was. And, you know, I think all at the time I wrote her a check for 100 bucks to help out. I told her she should have asked for more. But to see the group, the organization grow from what it was back then to what it is now is, I think, beyond anybody's imagination. And the lives you've touched, the communities you've impacted and the progress we've made in this state over those few years is incredible. So thank you for that. You know, Drew has been at the forefront of that since 2016, I think, is that right, Drew? And I will tell you, that's when I was in the legislature. You know, you know, as elected officials, oftentimes we don't admit that we have shortcomings and I would admit we have shortcomings and we rely on our constituents to push us to be better. That's the only way we can be better. Drew has been one of those folks who has pushed me to be better, particularly at the local level coming back home when I became county commissioner in 2019. We had this big responsibility for local elections and Alex, you've been there as well, making sure that we are doing the right thing by our constituents. You all know it's not been easy. For those that don't know, we have a different system here. Elections administrator does not report to commissioners court. And so we've had to push and prod and do everything we can to make sure that we make as much progress as we can. Drew has been at the forefront of those conversations. When I thought maybe, hey, we've got enough here, Drew, he would say, how about this? And pushed me further. And I will tell you, you know, Alex was there too. This last November election, the huge presidential election when we were pushing for, well, you know, we can't get 24-hour sites, but maybe we can do this. And literally on the day of the vote, when we were approving the hours for the voting during that period, you know, we were going to settle for, you know, the regular eight to eight. And, you know, I ended up making an amendment because of Drew and others to have the polls open till 10 p.m. The first time ever in Baird County, we were open till 10 p.m. Again, still not enough, but it was a baby step. It was a step in the right direction. Again, Drew has made that his life's work. And we know that the work will continue through the people that he has touched in this organization. I know Claudia, congratulations to you. She's going to do great work. We know that. Hannah and Drew have made tremendous progress. Drew, this is days about you. I'm not going to read this whole thing, man, because we got other speakers. But this is a proclamation that is signed by Judge Wolf, myself and the other commissioners court as a day of acknowledgment for claiming May 5th, 2021, as Drew Galloway Day. So, come on up. Congratulations, my friend. We wish him well. And I think I have the honor of introducing the next speaker. Is that right, Leslie? Okay. So, we know that this was a huge election May 1st. We're still, I think, celebrating the accomplishments of all of the progress we've made as a community over the last few years in no large part due to the leadership of our mayor who won a victorious 60. I'm going to run it up to 63%. I'm on there. Significant mandate to continue. I've had the opportunity and privilege to work with the mayor on the code response a few times Nelson will call me and say, I'm tired of doing this show every night when you fill in with me. And so I hang out with with the mayor and do the COVID update. But it's my honor to introduce our mayor, Ron Nuremberg. Good evening, everybody. Drew, I came for you to really just recognize the accomplishments that you've had in your time in San Antonio to say congratulations. Drew and I met many years ago, I think in my first council race. And it was very clear that we shared common cause, a singular value, which is that we believed that if more people would turn out in local elections, you would end up with better results and better public policy. That it was our entire goal as a community, regardless of the political spectrum that you adhered to, that we needed to get more people out to vote at local elections. And that when you do that, the elected officials that represent you have to represent a broader swath of the community. And that would result in more representative public policy. That first race I ran in was, I think, 7% turnout. We all know what happened this past election. And I think it's in no small part due to the work of Move Texas. Congratulations to the leadership of Move Texas. There's been many people that have come through this organization that have gone on to great things. And I think that that's probably the biggest testament to leadership in our community or anywhere else for that matter, is that you bring people behind you that take leadership positions. I see Hannah back here, Alex, all the folks who have been part of Move San Antonio and Move Texas over the years. Thank you for moving our city and our state forward. I will say that I joined a lot of you in getting the feeling that when Move San Antonio declared that they were going to go Move Texas, that it was maybe a little bit too soon, that they were biting off a lot. But I think that the results speak for themselves, don't they? Congratulations to Move Texas. We will be working with you on the redistricting process to make sure that those are outcomes that best represent Texas, best represent the young people of this community, which we've always said will live longer with the consequences of public policy than anybody else. So again, to Move Texas, best wishes, Claudia, I look forward to meeting you and working with you. Drew, we are so excited and we are grateful here in San Antonio that you spent some time here getting our community's civic engagement engine running, something that I think we all will benefit from for years to come. So congratulations, Drew. Bon voyage. It's really a pleasure being able to introduce my two long-term time friends of Justin and Ron. It's lovely to see where you are today and what you're doing for our community. Thank you both very, very much. It is really a pleasure. This is a long time coming. But to introduce the next speaker that will speak on behalf of the staff, and it is my pleasure to welcome the new Executive Director of Move Texas, Claudia Yoli Perla. I'm a little taller than most of the speakers, no offense. But buenas noches, good evening. It's so nice to see everybody in person and in face after one long year of not being able to have these kinds of gatherings. I don't know about you, but it's been kind of awkward socializing and saying hello and meeting people. But I'm so excited to be here and to talk a little bit about Drew. And I've had the pleasure and honor for the last four weeks of just spending a lot of time with Drew. Day in, day out. Together we've strategized, we've brainstormed, and most importantly, she's miamos. But when thinking about what I really wanted to say and the feeling that I wanted to convey on behalf of the team, I was thinking about the very first time I actually met Drew. It was in 2018 I had just moved to Austin from El Paso and was trying to really understand the ecosystem, the organizations that are serving young people in this great state. And I remember that we were meeting up for coffee. It was like 95 degrees outside and Drew walks in with a blazer and literally dressed how he is right now. And doing what an executive director does so well, just representing his organization. And soon we start talking and he shares this collateral material with me. Of course, like looking at all the stickers, you know, looking at all the amazing impact at Move Texas. And I noticed that he wasn't even reading it. He was really just speaking in that moment from his heart. And sharing about the amazing trajectory and story of Move Texas. You know, coming from being an organization started in a campus by a few passionate students who were seriously just looking to plug in and make an impact in their local election to then becoming the statewide organization. And I remember in that moment feeling so energized and so truly passionate and I think that feeling was truly what he was trying to convey. When he shared about his vision for Move Texas, this was 2018 right in the middle of a midterm election. And I was just so inspired and so moved because quite frankly what other organizations can say that they have that kind of story, coming from a campus to now leading a statewide organization. And when I think about where Move Texas is going now and where we are even from that meeting in 2018. And as you know, you mentioned we have people at the Capitol day in, day out fighting for our right to vote. I think about the big fight right here in Texas. And when we share with urgency and with so much anger that we are the ground zero for the fight for our voting rights. I know that we as an organization could not be the player that we are had it not been for someone like Drew at the helm of this organization. It's been a true pleasure spending the last four weeks with you. Thank you for believing in me and thank you for all of your advice. And when we think about you know where we're going and not only excited but I'm also feeling really confident. Because I know that he's laid out such a beautiful and powerful foundation and he's brought together truly a magical, magical team. Drew, it is my honor on behalf of the team to offer you with this gift. And so it says el futuro está en tus manos. And as we think about the future, let's remember we are the largest, most diverse piece of the electorate and we are the face of power in this. And we have you to thank for the day that our policies are going to be reflecting our values and that our elected officials are going to be reflecting the beautiful diversity of the state. Thank you, Drew. Good afternoon. I knew that week four would be the hardest week of onboarding and it's because of this moment. I'd like to ask Claudia and also Hannah to come up and stand with me while I say a few words. Thank you to all the speakers tonight for your kind words and thank you for joining us here this afternoon. Both in person and for those who couldn't join us in person in San Antonio, those who are joined us online. Thank you to now cast for streaming this. This is one of the very first in person socially distance events that move as hosted in nearly a year since COVID made us all digital organizers. You know, I'm honored to be spending these final hours this week with each of you. So I want to tell you a little story about my interview at Move Texas. You know, I was in my final interview for Move San Antonio, the executive director role, and we were in the office and there was a large board table that maybe had, you know, 15 chairs around it. Hannah was there and all the board was there. And they were asking me like rapid fire questions of what would you do if this happened? What would you do if this happened? I think that what was your favorite curse word was one of them. And like what if you could dress up as any fruit, what would it be? And but the last question was like when you leave Move Texas, what will you leave? And I remember that question and I remember sitting there for maybe 30 seconds and saying, we're going to be Move Texas. And I saw all the eyes around the table like get real big. And I was like, oh, I screwed this question way up. Like this is an organization that focuses on local organizing. And I just said like, you know, we're going to be statewide. But, you know, a couple days later, Hannah and Chris Stewart called me and offered me the role. So, you know, now as I sort of stand here and we are Move Texas, it gives me a tremendous amount of pride. The Move staff knows especially how difficult events like this are for me. Because that's exactly why they wouldn't let me anywhere near the planning for it because I would have changed the location or something. So as Alex said, I really shy away from using the first person singular in nearly all aspects of movement building. No one person can be responsible for the success of a community or the success of our friends, our family. But regardless of any of the niceties that the speakers say tonight, tonight is no exception. The Move Texas would not be here today if it weren't for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of young people that have given their time to this organization. The last five years have been the joy of my life. Every day I've been fortunate to watch, support, coach and scale the work of energetic, passionate young people building power across the state. I loved every minute of it from winning polling locations on college campuses, to registering new voters, to hosting the largest national voter registration day event in the nation, to struggling to react to COVID, to stressing out about where the next check was going to come from, and to working beside the best dam organizers in the entire state. All the ups and downs, I loved every moment of it here Move. And together we've accomplished so much. We've expanded from one city to 11 cities. We've expanded from 10 campuses to over 70 campuses. Our team has gone from two full-time employees to 35 full-time staff, five part-time staff and 15 youth fellows. We've developed thousands of youth leaders through our civic leadership program, our artist fellowship, and our volunteer programs. We've increased our organizational budget by 5,000% in the last five years. And we've registered over 120,000 new young voters across the state. None of this would have been possible without each one of you, so thank you. I must take a second and show my immense gratitude to the following groups of people who made Move Texas what it is in this moment. First, I recognize our communities. Young Texans from Laredo to Denton, from San Antonio to Houston, Young Texans made this organization. From UTSA to UT Arlington to University of Houston, they are the backbone of this organization. To all of our supporters, both in San Antonio, who believed in us early, to all of our supporters across the state, to all the donors who donate to us nationally, your gifts have powered our work. To our allies and champions, to candidates, elected officials, community leaders, and others who believed in the power of young people and who stood up for that power when it mattered, thank you. To our networks, to the Alliance for Youth Action, to our sister affiliates who are other youth organizing groups across the nation, to New Leaders Council, to Leadership San Antonio, thank you. To our partners, to Texas Organizing Project and Texas Civil Rights Project, who are the lawyers for us whenever we have to go fight for something. They protect me from the Attorney General. To Texas Rising, to Jolt, to Workers' Defense Project, to all of the movement organizations doing this work every single day, thank you. To the Move Texas Board of Directors, who believed in me, who believed in our vision, who believed in our budget when we put it in front of them and it was double the size. Thank you for believing in us and the power of young people. To the Move Texas alumni, so many who are here tonight who came through our programs but now work at, you know, in political networks who work in City Hall, who work in County Commissioner's Court, who run campaigns. You are the embodiment of our vision and so thank you so much. And then finally, or second to finally, the staff. I have never worked with a more passionate, dedicated staff in my entire life. The amount of, you know, time that they dedicate to this organization is unfathomable and it's because of their dedication that we are who we are. But I must thank, first, Mia, who, Mia Balderas is our executive manager and I would not be anywhere if it wasn't for her. She's the one that tells me to go take a walk or eat lunch or that kind of thing, so thank you, Mia. And then to Claudia and to Hannah, who has shown us the way from where we came from and is showing us the future. I'm proud to be a part of this small little cohort and see your vision come to life. And then finally to my family, to Martin, to Drew, to Graham, to Gretchen, who is supporting me during every step of my journey at Move. They've allowed me to miss dinner. They've allowed me to show up late to school events. They've allowed me to work the weekends and to focus on this work when it mattered most and when people relied on us. And so thank you for your patience to me and promise, I promise to make it up to you over the next couple months, even though I don't vacation well. So as I close out my time at Move, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'll announce my next steps in the coming weeks, but I can rest assure you that together we will build progressive movement infrastructure together for our family, for our friends, and for our communities. And we will win. We will win. We will win and we will win for all of them. So please support Move Texas right now, with your time, with your talent, and with your treasure, because you know I'm not going to make a speech without a fundraising pitch in it. So pull out your phone and donate. This incredible organization deserves all you can give it. I'll be right beside you starting on Friday afternoon, cheering them on for the way. So thank you for your support of me, your support of Move Texas, and for your belief in the power of young Texans. I don't think we brought tissues. We have hand sanitizer, clerks, wipes, but we forgot the tissues. I want to thank you all for being here. This is really an important moment in the life of Move Texas, just Texas in general. That was not a mistaken word. Thank you all. Thank you and stay, have another drink, have some food. But before we let Drew go, you know, what's a party without some cake? So we have a little going away, single the mile, like, here's to you, Drew, cake. So we're going to have you cut it. There's cupcakes for you all to take home or have now or whatever works. But again, thank you all for coming. We want to thank Nowcast San Antonio. We want to thank the good kind. And we want to thank Jlan events who really put this all together because Move Texas is not an event company. We're a youth civic organizing company. So thank you, Casey. Thank you, Jlan. Please stay. Enjoy the evening. Thank you for coming.