Echo is a Greek mythological nymph who offended the goddess Hera (goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth, as well as the wife and sister of Zeus) by keeping her in conversation, thus preventing her from spying on one of Zeus’ lovers. To punish Echo, Hera deprived her of speech, except for the ability to repeat the last words of another. Echo's hopeless love for Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image, made her fade away until all that was left of her was her echo.

 

We dedicate this platform in tribute to Echo-who acts as a symbol, a reminder and a catalyst for rediscovering our own lost voices in the policy choices made for our communities. Today, we're teaming up Echo with a new and powerful software platform known as E-democracy for the purpose of revitalizing our individual and collective voices in order to more greatly influence and better steer our local representatives' policy choices--choices that impact ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods and our local communities.