Zander Moricz sees Florida as a political battleground, and he says he recognizes the effect young people can have on the state’s future.
That’s why the 20-year-old has taken a break from Harvard University – he says he intends to return in 2025 – to spearhead the Social Equity through Education (SEE) Alliance in his native Sarasota County.
Described by Vanity Fair as “a student LGBTQ+ activist,” Moricz began the SEE Alliance in 2019 as a club at Pine View School after he transferred there and became unsettled by his discovery of economic disparities. He says he created the SEE Alliance to foster conversations among young people about politics and educate themselves on how things work in the real world.
“All of our public schools in the country are funded off property taxation,’’ he said. “So, if you live in a district with bigger houses or more houses on the water and houses that are valued at more money, you have more money for books. I didn’t understand how this wasn’t a problem everyone was talking about every single day. I didn’t understand how I was just learning about it, and that’s when I got really scared because I thought ‘Oh no, there might be just so many bad problems that are part of everyday life, and we’ve just accepted that.’”
Now a non-profit organization, registered in 2022 and funded primarily by the Jonathan D. Lewis Foundation, the SEE Alliance has grown to more than 2,000 members across the state. Its listed directors include students from Sarasota and around the country, according to public incorporation documents.
“The goal of this alliance is not to tell young people that they matter right before an election or try to talk to people right before an election. It is to make sure that young people are supported 365,” said Moricz. “It is to make sure that young people are involved in a movement all year round, and just to make sure that political organizing in Florida is done year-round so that we can affect the necessary change that we all want.”
SEE Alliance in action
The group operates from a former eye-care office in Sarasota’s Burns Court neighborhood. It’s a hub for youth activism, featuring an individual work space, a collaborative space, a reservable office, an art room, a conference room, presentation room, sensory alcove and more.
On any given day, SEE Space Sarasota offers referrals to free counseling, college counseling, project support, space for other non-profits and, in recent weeks, training for those who wish to speak publicly or demonstrate about issues. Posters and signs are frequently created in the Orange Avenue building’s art spaces. With dozens of local and national partner organizations that provide everything from mental health support to food, Moricz says they’re well connected and well fed.
Moricz and the SEE Alliance have appeared in local and national news outlets, including Teen Vogue, Seventeen Magazine, Vanity Fair, People, TIME, and more, for their activism.
Their most notable move so far was the 2023 “Walkout 2 Learn” event that involved 300 high schools and colleges. Teen Vogue reported the protests were in response to such initiatives as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called “Don’t Say Gay’’ law, attempts to ban Advanced Placement African-American Studies courses in high school and efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida universities and colleges.
Most recently, the Alliance has demonstrated and spoken out for the removal of Bridget Ziegler from the Sarasota County School Board. The latest protest occurred at the board’s Feb. 6 meeting, and demonstrators plan to show up again on Feb. 20.
Moricz’s rose to notoriety following his 2022 graduation speech when he used his curly hair as a euphemism for being gay after school administrators told him they would cut his microphone if he mentioned his activism. Rolling Stone magazine, among others, detailed the experience of Pine View’s first openly gay class president.
As a proponent of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, many have said Ziegler should resign from the school board due to the hypocrisy of supporting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation following revelations that she and her husband, former Florida Republican Party chair Christian Ziegler, participated in a sexual relationship with another woman. Moricz said he doesn’t believe this is the reason she should step down.
“Bridget Ziegler, you do not deserve to be on the Sarasota County School Board, but you do not deserve to be removed from it for having a threesome,” Moricz said during public comment at a previous school board meeting. “That defeats the lesson we’ve been trying to teach you, which is that a politician’s job is to serve their community not to police personal lives. So, to be extra clear, Bridget, you deserve to be fired from your job because you are terrible at your job, not because you had sex with a woman.”
Voting efforts and the upcoming election
Outside of their protests at the school board, one of SEE Alliance’s goals is to encourage young people to vote.
Moricz notes that one of the most important aspects of this is helping people understand what’s at stake.
“We need to begin having conversations and taking action as a result of those conversations,” said Moricz. “What we’ve learned is that there’s incredible awareness about what is going on in Florida. There is not an awareness about who is responsible and what we can do about it.”
With roughly 41 million members of Gen Z eligible to vote in 2024, according to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, young people have the potential to make a big impact on the 2024 presidential election. While younger generation don’t typically have a strong track record of showing up to the polls, the Gen Z presence was strong in 2022 midterms, and youth votes in Sarasota County have been steadily increasing.
“The concept that Florida is a lost cause is not only ridiculous, but it’s also not strategic. Florida has the most diverse youth population out of any state in the country,” Moricz said. “And if just half of that population was registered in the ballot, the entire state would change in almost every election.”
Based on data from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections, young voters are making their voices heard now more than ever. In 2020, 69% of registered voters ages 18-20 and 58% of those 21-29 cast a ballot, compared to 41% and 36% in 2018.
The increase is even more notable compared to the 2016 election when just 14% of registered voters 18-20 and 12% of those 21-29 turned up.
While the SEE Alliance primarily focuses on younger generations, Moricz acknowledges that they wouldn’t exist without adult volunteers. The group is youth-led but encourages intergenerational work and is open to all those looking to get involved.
Sarah Owens is a reporter for the Community News Collaborative. Connect with her at slowens@cncfl.org
