With WK “Big Kenny” Alphin and Dr. Randy Wykoff, I am launching #Conversation2015, a look at the opportunities we have to make dramatic changes through compassion and caring. Read the introduction to the project here and the overview of the right to vote here. Then join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #Conversation2015

Hand in hand with freedom of the press is the right to vote. We learn about each other by expressing our opinions and allowing both small and the large voices to be heard. Many of our most pressing problems are problems of the majority, but the majority often needs to spend its day performing sustenance activities, instead of advocating for its needs. The right to be heard has never been more imperative.

Today, only about one third of the world’s population lives in countries with full and free democracies. The majority of countries in Africa and Asia—the very parts of the world facing some of most pressing challenges to human health and welfare—are not included in this list.

Those of us with “the vote” must recognize that the process of voting is only a small part of the democratic process. But it is emblematic of personal freedom and should be the instigator of our conversations about these very real issues.

We must protect and exercise our own right to vote, and become champions for that same right for people living around the world.