When he moved to Evanston’s 3rd Ward after teaching kindergarten in Milwaukee, Alex Morgan said he found it difficult to reach his alderman outside of the annual town hall meeting.

Morgan said this “void” in accessibility inspired him to launch his campaign for 3rd Ward alderman, which focused on accessible, equitable and transparent government. Morgan ended up losing to incumbent Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd), who denied the claims made by Morgan and said she regularly meets with residents.

“When it came around the time to decide who was going to run for the municipal elections, I have in the past encouraged a lot of my friends to throw their hat into the ring when they see a void in public office … and so that’s why I decided to run,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s passion for advocacy and community involvement in government did not begin or end with the April 4 aldermanic election. Apart from his involvement in the Democratic Party of Evanston and the Organization for Positive Action and Leadership, Morgan in 2015 co-founded Progressive Turnout Project, a national organization that focuses on directly connecting with voters to increase turnout at the polls.

Morgan said as a volunteer for OPAL — whose mission is to build a more equitable Evanston — he represents the organization at school board and City Council meetings and generally “plug(s) in wherever needed.”

“(OPAL) is an African-American led organization … and I think that’s really important because the folks who are impacted by the disparities in our community should be the ones telling us what needs to be addressed,” Morgan said.

In addition to volunteering for OPAL, Morgan also holds a leadership position in DPOE as director of communications.

Janira Clark, DPOE’s deputy committeeman, said Morgan has made communications for the organization clearer and more consistent by sending out monthly newsletters, updating the group’s online content and organizing its Facebook platform.

Clark said she met Morgan roughly two years ago at a DPOE event after he moved to Evanston. She added that she immediately realized he was the kind of person DPOE would want to have on its board.

“Right away, you can see that he was a very passionate guy, he was a very knowledgeable person, he really had that desire to be able to work towards the benefit of his community,” Clark said.

She has since worked with Morgan on a variety of different projects for DPOE, and said Morgan is dependable, committed and understands that great ideas require work to become reality.

Morgan is also the executive director of Progressive Turnout Project.

“What I love most about the work is it really connects to the organizing work I’ve done whether it’s as a teacher … or as a volunteer,” Morgan said.

Staffers for PTP go door-to-door in districts asking citizens about their past voting experiences, the issues they care about and why those issues are important to them, Morgan said. When election time comes around, PTP reminds those it talked to about the conversations and encourages them to vote, he said.

Barbara Cornew, who worked with Morgan on U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider’s (D-Lincolnshire) 2014 reelection campaign, said Morgan worked with residents of the 10th District on a personal level to encourage them to vote for the candidate.

“He did a phenomenal job of working with people, organizing, getting people to be a part of the process of electing a congressman,” Cornew said. “He knows how to get folks involved, engaged and committed to issues and people.”

Cornew said Morgan is an educator by training and an advocate by profession — an “incredible” combination. Morgan understands people, government and organization, traits that help him bring people into the political process, Cornew said.

Morgan said he plans to continue his work with PTP, DPOE and OPAL, and that he wants to encourage more citizens to “throw their hat in the ring” and run for local offices. Morgan also said he would provide advice to anyone who is interested in campaigning.

As for whether Morgan himself would ever consider running for office again, he said, “Never say never.”

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Twitter: @amelialangas