EMILYs List Announces Rebecca Thompson As Run To Win Director

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Rebecca Thompson will join the organization as their new Run To Win director. Run to Win is a national recruitment and training program focused on helping pro-choice Democratic women run for office and win. This year, EMILY's List is hosting over 20 training events in communities around the country.

“We are thrilled that Rebecca is joining our team,” said EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock. “She knows what it's like to run a hard-fought campaign, and she's seen firsthand the challenges that women candidates have to overcome every day. That's why she's traveled the world, helping women of color build the skills they need to run for office. I'm so proud that her experience and talents are coming to EMILY's List, where she will be helping lift up over 15,000 women who have reached out to us about running for office since Election Day.”

“It's an honor to be joining EMILY's List,” said Run to Win Director Rebecca Thompson. “For decades, this organization has had an unparalleled impact on women candidates in every corner of the country. Now, at this moment of intense engagement and resistance, that work is more important than ever before. The Run To Win program is building a pipeline that will do more than defeat Donald Trump — it will deliver a new generation of diverse progressive women who are ready to lead at every level of government. That's something worth fighting for, and I'm excited to play a part in it.”

After running as an EMILY's List-endorsed candidate for state representative in her native city of Detroit — and coming up short by just six votes on Election Day — Rebecca Thompson dedicated herself to sharing what she had learned and preparing women of color to run and win the first time.

Thompson has since traveled the world training candidates to run for elected office and recently lived in Southeast Asia and Europe. She is herself a graduate of an EMILY's List training program, as well as the Women’s Campaign School at Yale, VoteRunLead, and numerous other leadership programs. She has served as a national trainer for VoteRunLead and ElectHer and has also served on the National Leadership Team of Political Parity, a bipartisan group of national women’s organizations dedicated to getting more women elected to office. Thompson is also the creator of Changing the Face of Power, the first and only podcast in the country dedicated to inspiring black women to run for office.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.