Evan Malbrough, a spring 2020 graduate of Georgia State University’s Honors College, has received national recognition for his volunteer work in youth voter registration and engagement.
The Andrew Goodman Foundation named Malbrough as its Ambassador of the Year during an online ceremony in late July in recognition of his “strong leadership and dedication to nonpartisan, civic engagement.” The foundation, which is named after Andrew Goodman—the Freedom Summer volunteer who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964 while registering African Americans to vote in Mississippi, seeks to empower young leaders to engage their peers in voting and challenging voter suppression.
Malbrough “played a vital role in the creation and implementation of innovative projects that led to significant progress in voter engagement on GSU’s campus,” according to the foundation’s award announcement. “(He) displayed a deep dedication to social justice, diversity, and inclusion that activates and mobilizes diverse communities on campus and beyond.”
Malbrough, of Smyrna, earned his bachelor’s degree in public policy from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. During his time as an undergraduate, he helped establish a student-run polling location on campus and was a founding member of Vote Everywhere GSU.
“This award is validation of the work I did in undergrad and inspires me to be the best activist I can be in my local community,” Malbrough said.
Malbrough also interned as a Research Fellow at the U.S. Department of Defense and worked on campus as a research assistant in extremist media studies in the university’s Global Studies Institute. He was a recipient of the Honors College’s Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Human Rights Scholarship and was a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, where he developed a prison education reform program in Georgia.