Organizing to Make Sure Government Delivers (with Emma Horst-Martz)

Emma Horst-Martz is a Roosevelt Network alumna. She first learned about policy in college, where she proposed and implemented her first program: to provide menstrual products in bathrooms across her campus. Her friends and mentors in the Network helped her move the program idea into a sustainable initiative.

Emma went on to become a political organizer experienced in local and state-level grassroots advocacy campaigns and legislative change. She has conducted student and citizen organizing for public health programs, consumer protections, environmental regulation, reproductive justice, and voter registration.

As the organizing manager for Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic in Durham, North Carolina, Emma works with communities to build collective power and influence legislation on public health, reproductive health access and education, and menstrual equity.

This interview has been edited lightly for clarity and length.

How It Started

It was my first or second week of college, so everything was new and a little overwhelming. But I was really excited to just soak up as much knowledge as possible from people around me. When I met with the campus Roosevelt group, they were thinking about policy issues, infrastructure, and really big problems that extended beyond our campus. And it felt like these were people who believe they can make a real difference, and that’s who I wanted to learn from.

I think I first learned about the inside-outside game from Roosevelt. Of course, the Network gave me a strong background and understanding of policy frameworks, how to think about issues, and how to implement them once you have a strong design in place.

I worked with the Public Interest Network for four years and received incredible training and education in what organizing is and how to be disciplined and effective in getting those policy proposals across the finish line. First, policy ideas have to become law, and then implementation is where change really happens.

So it was the perfect segue from the background, experience, and confidence as a thinker that I gained from Roosevelt to how to be a grassroots organizer, boots on the ground, doing the really important and oftentimes difficult work of changing hearts and minds. Of getting a community to a place where they’re empowered to actually make that change or get something passed to be then able to implement it.

On the Work

The organizing I do right now focuses on empowering people in our communities in the South Atlantic region [Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina] with the tools to see themselves as part of the process of making change. So that’s building that outside-game power, to put pressure or provide the backup and encouragement that our elected officials need to vote for the policies that will protect the right to bodily autonomy. And then, get it over the finish line and ensure those policies are implemented and followed consistently.

We spend a lot of time educating folks in communities about how they can be advocates for the things they believe in, primarily bodily autonomy, which I think is a pretty common shared value between many of us. We remind people that you don’t have to be an expert. You don’t have to be a medical provider. You really just have to be grounded in why you believe in this issue or making this change, what your own experience has been with these issues, whether or not you have an abortion story.

We all love someone who’s been affected by a lack of access to healthcare or unaffordable healthcare. People can use their stories in a wide array of ways for advocacy. So much of organizing is demystifying the political process, helping people see themselves as part of it, and then empowering them with the tools to go out and do their thing, whatever the cause is.

Trust in Government

I think competent government capacity looks like a system that works for people. I think about when I moved to North Carolina, and I had to get a North Carolina driver’s license and transfer my car registration to the state. When I got my license, I thought it was a regular, old-fashioned driver’s license, not a REAL ID. The deadline for TSA to accept only REAL ID was approaching, so I needed to make sure I had the right ID. 

It’s really difficult in North Carolina to get a DMV appointment because we don’t have enough offices, and they’re understaffed. So I reached out to one of my state-level elected officials and asked, “Would you be able to help with this process?” A few hours later, someone in the Department of Transportation called and walked me through what was needed.

It was a great example of a constituent needing help figuring out a bureaucratic process for something really simple, and the government getting back to you within a reasonable amount of time. They communicate clearly. They tell you what the issue is and how to fix it. In my case, it turned out I didn’t have an issue; I already had a REAL ID. But they were so kind and helpful throughout the process, and I would love to imagine a world where every experience with government services is like that. 

Another incredible example of restoring trust in government is Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York. It’s been amazing to see how quickly and effectively he’s tackled big and small problems across New York City, and he’s done a great job communicating those wins. Every week, there’s a new announcement or story about a project or something that’s been fixed or tackled, and how it’s actually helping people’s lives. I think transparency and clear, direct communication with the people you’re representing or leading is invaluable, and we need more of that from folks across the country.

The Next Generation

I think it’s really important for young people who care a lot about these issues to figure out what part of the system is a good fit for you, or where you’re a good fit. I had the opportunity to work on the media and communication side of advocacy. I was a lobbyist for a hot minute. I’ve done the fundraising. I’ve learned how to organize and hit the streets. I’ve run canvass offices.

I’ve been on the end of doing strategic planning and thinking about what policy or what our approach to that policy should look like. I helped do the research to provide the data to back it up.

It’s really helpful to spend time in college, or even in your twenties once you’re out of school, trying a lot of those different skills and pieces of the process. I got to see what is really exciting to me, what feels like a good fit, how I want to be part of making a difference in the world, and what I can contribute to this network of people who are also working toward that shared goal. And I think that process and that internal learning and exploration exist parallel to figuring out the issues that are really important to you and that you want to work on.

I have to say that based on the young people who I see and hear from, and who work in our Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapters, the kids are alright. They’re so smart and driven and, I think, do take a different approach than those who came before me and even our millennial generation.

I think they’re not afraid to call each other out and admit when they’ve messed up or when they need to change course. And I think being willing to adjust your approach or how you’re thinking or talking about an issue is so important, especially as I think we’re learning at such an accelerated rate what works, what doesn’t work, how we want to treat people and approach these issues.

I really admire how young people are working together, holding themselves accountable, and still have this strong sense of hope—even though they’re growing up in an incredibly difficult time where it feels like the odds are stacked against us.

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