Nancy Knighton, the best mom ever, a successful IT professional that did so well she was able to retire early to raise me and my brother, a breast cancer survivor, a public servant,  a single mother, a super volunteer, a role model, a woman of faith, a good friend, all around one of the finest women who touches the hearts of so many and my inspiration to be involved in civic engagement.  

One of my earliest memories is volunteering outside of the Navy Elementary School polling location and greeting voters with my mom as we were supporting our Republican VA House of Delegates member.  I remember asking my mom, “I thought we were Democrats.”  From day one she told me that it’s not about party, it’s about the candidate, their character and their convictions.  Always volunteering, my mom entered into public service in winning a big election and becoming the Navy Elementary PTA President.  She won every year I was in school there, and built the most active PTA the school ever saw.  I remember when Navy’s award winning playground had to get ripped down due to safety standards.  My mother fought tooth and nail to get funding for a new one.  Where the School board couldn’t fully fund a new one, she went on a huge fundraising campaign, Navy once again has the best playground in Northern VA that children are still enjoying today.  During my early years at Navy my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  She indirectly, through her actions, taught me never to be afraid, to keep your faith and always think positive.  She went through surgery and worked hard to recover so she could continue her duties as PTA president and mother.  The cancer never ever came back.

Through my two years in middle school my mother won an even bigger PTA presidential election.  During these years she had me volunteering again for our Republican House of Delegate member while at the same time volunteering for a new Democratic challenger for School Board.  She was teaching me that Democracy is not a spectator sport. To have the best leaders in government you have to be active, and not just vote, but actively volunteer.  

Next step was going to Chantilly High School… She once again won the elections and became this massive high school’s PTA president. She still encouraged me to be very politically active.  For my senior government class project there was a choice of writing a paper or volunteering on a campaign.  Obviously I joined a campaign, a Republican Congressman’s campaign that my mom supported.  

I was lucky.  My mom saved up her whole life to be able to send me to college, so I went to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA. I was a natural for being a Political Science student.  My Freshman year, my brother was diagnosed with Scoliosis so bad that if nothing was done he was just a few years from ever being able to walk again.  My mom stayed by his side, got him the best orthopedic surgeon and over the course of two years he had to go through three intense surgeries. While it nearly derailed his academic career, my mom worked with teachers and the school to ensure he finished high school on time. He did, and followed in my footsteps attending VCU.

While at VCU and after seeing how badly scoliosis had affected my brother, my Mom and I thought, “no child should have to go through these surgeries again.”  She found out, if kids get screened every year between grades 5-10 and a curve is noticed, all a kid has to do is wear a brace that fits under their cloths for a few years and it stops the progression of the disease.  So, her and I talked and decided to pass a law to mandate screenings in VA in grades 5-10. The same House Delegate we had volunteered for decided to sponsor our bill.  It was then when I first met the Democratic Lt Governor.  Well, he supported the bill, we got bi partisan support and successfully passed it and signed into law.  My mom showed me first hand that if you fight, if you are civically engaged, if you have the will... Even a mom and her son can make big changes.

Because of everything she taught me, I graduated with Bachelors and Masters degrees.  I was working for a campaign for governor and for 15 years I’ve had a career campaigning for good candidates and good issues.  One of my biggest issues is doing for others what my mom did for me.  Getting people excited for civic engagement.  Currently I am working for an amazing Civic Engagement project that I love.  It’s the best job I have ever had, and it’s all thanks to my mom, Nancy Knighton.

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Jeffrey Knighton is the National Field Organizer for Text, Talk, Vote, a free program from the National Institute for Civil Discourse. Text, Talk, Vote uses text messaging to facilitate real world conversations in the importance of voting.  Learn more by visiting TextTalkVote.com, emailing Jeffrey at Jeffrey@texttalkvote.com or grab a few friends and text in "Vote" to 42016.