Dem Hall of Fame Award Goes to Youth Activist Dafne Zamora

College student Dafne Zamora, who works for both Arizona List and the Keep Arizona Blue Student Coalition, received the state Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Award.

Zamora, age 21, of Tempe, won Outstanding Young Democrat of the Year on September 26, when Democratic Congressional candidate Jo Mendoza (CD6) presented her with the award at a special evening celebrating volunteers and leaders across the state.

Zamora is not only a full-time ASU political science major, but she also serves as Organizing Director of the Keep Arizona Blue Student Coalition and Phoenix Intern Coordinator at Arizona List.

“I really love the work that we’re doing, and the missions for both jobs. It really motivates me,” she said in an interview. “And sometimes, I’m up late at night doing homework, but I love the thrill of the work that we’re doing and the battle that we’re going through together.”

Zamora’s strengths lie in public speaking, protest organizing, voter engagement, and grassroots activism. She organizes campus and community events to educate peers about key issues and the importance of participating in local elections.

Engaging young people

Her superpower is getting young people engaged with politics and elections.

She says most students are “numb” to politics. “I run into very different people every day, and I can have those hard conversations with others, especially on campus. When I talk to students, many people say, “Oh, I’m just not political,” or, “I’m just not really into voting.”

“I’m like, ‘You guys really don’t know what you’re saying,’ and it’s like you’re not interested in politics, but politics is interested in you. All of our rent, our gas prices, all of that is affecting us because there are people out there choosing for us, and you’re not having an input on that.

“I’ve had so many students tell me they had no idea bout the midterm election,” Dafne said. Her main effort is making sure students know that they can vote, and when to vote. “I try to talk about something happening in pop culture first, or something engaging and interesting to them, and then later I talk about voter registration.”

“They’re like, ‘Oh, I got to go.” I’ll be like, “But are you aware of what’s going on? Do you know what’s happening?” And the main thing I tell them, as I said earlier, is that if you’re not choosing, voting or saying something about a topic, politics is doing it for you. And one thing about my generation is they don’t like being told what to do,” she said.

On National Voter Registration Day (September 15), she organized a mini party from morning until around 4:00 p.m. “We had free T-shirts to give, free Celsius, free pizza, free donuts, and they responded. I think we registered over 100 voters that day.”

Keep Arizona Blue reaches students with TikTok videos. “Our generation has been on that app. It’s Amazing. It’s interactive. It’s basically meeting students where they are and giving them the information they need to make their lives easier,” she said.

Her plans also include a student-approved voter guide and sending digital ads to students.

An advocate for women

Dafne’s favorite quote is by Eleanor Roosevelt: “A woman is like a tea bag; you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in water.” Zamora took it to mean, “You don’t really know how much a woman can do until you put that pressure on.”

“I didn’t really know how much I could do until I was pushed to do so,” she explained. “I ended up shining brighter than ever and actually excelling in the way I never would have thought I could.”

“I always advocate for reproductive rights for women. I think this is something that is a matter of privacy between a woman and her doctor, and it should not be discussed over religion. There’s a separation of church and state, and I don’t believe anyone should have an opinion except the expert who has spent many years studying medicine to know what she needs.”

She is also motivated to empower women, especially in the Latino community, and overcome challenges in macho environments. “The patriarchy system creates the gap between women in most male-dominated fields, like organizations and jobs.”

“There are these little gentlemen’s clubs,” she said. “I want to have that one day when it’s just a bunch of us females, and we overtake the space. Not that we want to over-dominate, but we want to continue being seen as equals.”

“I got most of my political side from my father. He was always like, when he first became a citizen, “I’m ready to vote,” Dafne said. ” My dad’s always talked to me about how it’s our right to vote, and this is how we express what we want. This is what I’m so excited for. This is what it’s all about.”