Apathy is Boring

Apathy is Boring

Formation	Montreal, Quebec (2004)
Type	Non-Profit
Purpose	Active citizenship, Youth engagement
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec
Key people	Ilona Dougherty, Mackenzie Duncan, Paul Shore
Website	Apathy is Boring

Apathy is Boring (A is B) is a Canadian, non-partisan, youth-led charitable organization that uses art and technology to encourage active citizenry. A is B reaches out to a broad demographic of youth to provide them with the knowledge, tools, information and skills necessary to become more involved in their communities and in the democratic process.

By encouraging unengaged youth to get involved, A is B aims to be the entry point for lifelong active citizenry in Canada. A is B's aim is to communicate with young Canadians using a mix of creative, content-driven projects that engage, motivate and educate. Examples include: concerts, election campaigns, user generated website content, and video competitions.

A is B began in January 2004 when founders, Ilona Dougherty, Paul Shore, and Mackenzie Duncan saw that many of their peers felt disengaged from the political process. This was especially evident following the 2000 general election in which the youth voter turnout reached an all-time low of 25%.

When the 2004 Federal Election was called, work began on what would be A is B’s first federal “Get out the Youth Vote” campaign. Using a website, digital media technology, concerts, and a media outreach campaign, A is B was able to reach over 500,000 young people in Canada in less than four months. Throughout that campaign A is B was repeatedly featured in the national media, including Canada AM, Mike Duffy Live, The National, CBC Radio – The House, Global TV, MuchMusic and newspapers across Canada.

Following this successful campaign, the founders of A is B began to build their vision into an organization. A is B was able to gain more media attention and develop a solid local youth following through local events such as “The Civic Duty Concerts” in Montreal which featured artists such as Euphrates, Eternia, K'naan, Tumi and the Volume, Taima and Chris Brown and Kate Fenner.

In 2005, A is B launched www.youthfriendly.com in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage to offer youth friendly workshops for “adult” organizations who want to better engage youth in their work. A Is B has continued with its mission by organizing concerts and events, creating a clothing line, making public service announcements that were shown in theatres, and in 2008, Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, became A is B’s organizational patron.

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