Dr. Carol Rizzolo, a founding member of CT Shoreline Indivisible, was received the William O’Neill Award at Connecticut Democrats’ John Bailey Dinner at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on Saturday night.
The annual award “embodies a lifelong commitment to engaging voters and advancing values of equality, justice and compassion,” according to the CT Democrats.
In 2017, Rizzolo, a Guilford resident, helped co-found Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible in someone’s living room. It started with just 50 members and has grown to nearly 2,000 members.
CT Shoreline Indivisible “fosters local action through education and engagement, offering opportunities for
ordinary citizens to participate in democracy by identifying shared values and taking action — calling, writing,
and texting elected officials and working with other grassroots groups to highlight injustice and drive change,” according to the organization.
“There are about 50 activist groups across the state, and some are Indivisible and some are Indivisible-aligned. I am one of the coordinators of the communications platform of that collection leaders,” Rizzolo said.
Rizzolo, 70, was a physician assistant for 25 years and, at 50, she went back to school and earned a PHD in mythology and Jungian psychology.
“Then (President Donald) Trump got elected. Then it was time to put everything I understood about how people’s voices are marginalized and how people need to work together and how people need hope to get through this time together that is so dark,” Rizzolo said. “The golden thread from everything that I’ve ever done is about healing the world. I’m a Jewish woman and this is about honoring my ancestors as well as helping to give voice to voices that have been historically marginalized whether that’s in the medical world or the political world.”
Thousands rally in CT as part of national ‘No Kings’ protests. ‘This is what democracy looks like.’
Rizzolo said she was among the leaders of the Safe Vote CT Coalition with “34 non-partisan groups coming together to get early voting passed in Connecticut and no excuse absentee voting passed here.”
“We used to have the most restricted ballot access in the country. We did along with Alabama, New Hampshire and Mississippi that was one day and 14 hours and very limited reasons to get an absentee ballot. For five years we met every Wednesday, and I led that group. It’s a group of leaders. We pulled together with people from all over the state,” Rizzolo said. “Much like is happening now at ‘No Kings’ day. I co-led the ‘No Kings’ rally in Hartford in June and then in October. There were 10,000 and 12,000 people at the Hartford rallies but 40,000 across the state. Activist leaders have sprung up from every walk of life and every profession to create groups in tiny towns and big cities. There were 50 ‘No Kings’ rallies across the state.”
Rizzolo said as an activist leader, and as someone that “always colors outside the lines,” she was really surprised by the honor.
“I’m delighted at all of the acknowledgement of the Indivisible work that has happened in the state and to create the wind under the wings of those who were elected and last Tuesday proved that,” Rizzolo said. “All of the activist groups across the state came together and we swept the elections. We flipped 29 communities and that’s amazing. I have this incredible opportunity to be born at this time in this country and now it’s my turn to do the work so my children and my grandchildren will grow up in a free and fair America.”
“No one is more deserving of this honor than Carol Rizzolo,” said Chris Carroll, campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
“She possesses an extraordinary gift for transforming conviction into action and vision into lasting impact. Under her leadership, Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible became one of the most successful activist groups in the country — an achievement that will be studied and emulated in political science classrooms and organizing trainings for decades,” Carroll said.