Episode 203: Voting-Your Gateway Drug To Power
Since the beginning, L. Joy has stressed the importance of voting, getting together a vote plan, and urging your family, friends, and community to get out and vote. For this lesson Holli Holliday is at the front of the class sharing tips you can use to encourage those you care about to vote as well strategies as how we keep up the momentum beyond election day.
Homework:
Check out Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, an organization formed and founded by a group of Black Women leaders to be a voice for the interests of Black Women and their families https://sistersleadsistersvote.org/
Comment below and tell us is you want L. Joy and Holli to go on a #Civics tour in 2023
Our Guest:
Holli Holiday is the president of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote. She is currently serves as the principal and chief strategist for Holliday Advisors, LLC, and the managing partner for The Holliday Law Firm, Inc. As the daughter and granddaughter of former Elected Officials, Holli has always been engaged in politics, even before she could vote. In the last 20+ years, she has served in every possible role, from volunteer to campaign manager to consultant. In 1998, she served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for the Missouri Coordinated Campaign becoming the first African American woman, and the youngest person to serve in a senior leadership position with budget oversight on a statewide campaign.
As voter list and technology evolved, Holli became increasingly focused on growing the electorate, through voter registration and get out the vote efforts in under-represented communities, including African American and Latino. In 2003, first, as a consultant, then staff and ultimately National Director, she worked with Project Vote to craft, test, and evaluate voter registration and get out the models, which would inform industry best practices to not only ensure people were properly registered but that they also voted. Utilizing this model, Project Vote helped its partners register close to 1.5 million voters in 24 states. This work produced thousands of anecdotal stories of election administration issues that worked to suppress the new voters and disenfranchise existing voters in African American and Latino communities. Ultimately, as National Director, Holli helped launch the Election Administration program for Project Vote. She established this program by testifying in from of the Election Administration Committee and educating progressive funders about the need to protect their voter registration investment by support election administration programs at the state and local level.
In 2007, Holli led the We Are America Alliance, acted as its very first Executive Director. Our primary goal was to demonstrate the impact of voters who prioritize immigration reform, with a special emphasize on voters who were themselves immigrant or children of immigrants. Through this effort, Holli lead a research project to help inform We Are America Alliance partners and others how to communicate effective “get out the vote” messages to this segment of the electorate. This effort directed over $20 million in combined resources from 14 key partners to support one of the largest voter contact programs for Latino, Asian Pacific Islanders and other immigrant communities.
On the other side of the coin, Holli has worked tireless to recruit, train and support women and candidates of color at the state and local level. While this work has been a big part of her work throughout her career, in 2006 she began working as VP of Political Programs at Progressive Majority to build a pipeline of progressive candidates in non-progressive districts. Combining effective candidate recruitment, with “real world” candidate training and an emphasis on women, under 35 and people of color. Holli successful lead efforts resulting in 171 progressive victories, roughly 45% women, almost 30% people of color and 30% under 35. In 2014, as an advisor to the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the Black Women’s Roundtable, she advised field offices in 5 states around data and oversaw exit poll, which garnered over 1500 responses to assess the issues important to black voters.
Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Holli is a graduate of Howard University and the University of Missouri –Kansas City School of Law.
