By Craig Anderson

WILMINGTON — The number of full-time staffers at American Civil Liberties Union Delaware has increased from seven to 14 in two years.

Further, its annual budget is $1.6 million, up from $989,000 in 2020 and fueled by donations.

Plus, it has about 4,500 supporters and a combined social media following of 8,813.

Add it all up, and executive director Mike Brickner likes the trajectory of his agency, whose mission is to preserve and advance civil liberties and civil rights in the First State.

“Because people have been supporting us as they have, we have been able to grow much larger, and when I say that we’re growing, I say that we’re growing, I think, in very sustainable ways,” he said.

“So it’s not that we’ve just added a whole battalion of attorneys, which we have. We’ve also added in positions in our fundraising department and in our communications department.”

The entire staff is focused on executing a three-year plan, an initiative that was spotlighted at Tuesday’s virtual annual meeting.

“I was really proud of our strategic planning process this time because, for the first time, we utilized an outside consultant (the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement), who then did listening sessions with people in the community, with our coalition partners, with elected officials, with our donors, with our staff, with our board,” Mr. Brickner said.

“And so it was really the first time that we did an extensive process, where we really listened to a lot of the people in our community here in Delaware, about how they view the ACLU, what they think are the major issues in our community and where they think that we can sort of add power to the work being done here in Delaware overall.”

Also, Mr. Brickner said, “The other things that we’re hearing from folks is that there’s a greater need now more than ever for the ACLU.

“It feels like, every other day, some sort of new tragedy happens, whether it is a leaked opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court or a new bill that may be pending or isn’t able to move across the finish line in the statehouse or some sort of deprivation of rights going on in one of our state prisons.”

And when it comes to addressing major issues, according to ACLU Delaware, the top priority is assuring that every eligible voter in the state is aware of options in casting a ballot and the knowledge to do so with confidence.

To that end, residents are encouraged to visit here.

“There are a lot of things that we can do here in the state of Delaware to actually ensure more people can access their right to vote. We can pass reforms, like allowing anyone to cast a ballot by mail. We can help to end disenfranchisement of people who have had contact with the criminal legal system, things like that,” Mr. Brickner said.

“Those things will really help to enfranchise people, and the reason we put it as the No. 1 goal is that all other rights are derived from the right to vote.”

He said that, in the last several years, Americans have seen a “real attack on the right to vote.”

“We’ve seen the Supreme Court and other courts strike down voter protections. We’ve seen where there’s been a growing rhetoric from some politicians alleging fraud or mismanagement (of) the election system that really have no basis in reality. So it’s really important for us here in Delaware to do all we can to make sure people can vote.”

Mr. Brickner continued, “The other piece of that then is also making sure that people cast an informed ballot. And so that’s the other part of that voting rights school, is that we want to make sure that we are going to educate people about what’s on the ballot, what the positions are of the folks who are running for office.”

ACLU Delaware’s other chief priorities include ending mass incarceration, ensuring every child receives a quality and equitable education, growing its capacity — particularly in litigation, its presence in southern Delaware and its outreach to the Latinx community — and living its values of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging.

More information is available here. A recording of the annual meeting can be found on the ACLU-DE YouTube channel.