• Press Release

EMILYs List Names Social Justice Advocate Stefanie Brown James as Vice President of Training

July 9, 2019

For Immediate Release

July 9, 2019

EMILYs List Names Social Justice Advocate Stefanie Brown James as Vice President of Training and Community Outreach  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced a new addition to its senior leadership team. Collective PAC Co-founder Stefanie Brown James will be joining the organization as Vice President of Training and Community Outreach.

Stefanie will oversee EMILYs List’s training programs and partnerships that expand and engage diversification of the pipeline of women running for office. As part of the senior leadership team, she will be responsible for guiding and implementing the strategic vision and planning for the organization. 

“For years, Stefanie has done the work of effectively bringing communities together, and we are thrilled that she’ll be on EMILYs List’s team continuing the work by preparing the next generation of women to run for office,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List. “I know that our team and outreach will be made stronger because of Stefanie’s perspective and expertise.” 

“I am thrilled to join the team at EMILYs List to further the work that I’ve dedicated my career to – closing social, economic, and political gaps within historically disenfranchised communities,” said Stefanie Brown James, vice president of training and community outreach at EMILYs List. EMILYs List has made the difference for so many Democratic women and I’m honored to add to that number.”  

In addition to her new role at EMILYs List, Stefanie is an experienced social entrepreneur and social justice advocate. With her husband and business partner, Quentin James, she co-founded the Collective PAC – an umbrella organization that is dedicated to recruiting, training, funding, and supporting Black candidates to run for office on the local, state, and federal level. The Collective has raised over $6.5 million from more than 47,000+ individual contributions to help 53 endorsed candidates win their elections and launched a national training operation, the Black Campaign School. 

EMILYs List and the Black Campaign School previously teamed up to conduct candidate trainings. 

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Stefanie is also the CEO and Founding Partner of Vestige Strategies, LLC – a Washington, DC based firm that specializes in grassroots community and civic engagement strategies. 

In 2012, Stefanie served as the National African American Vote Director for the Obama for America Campaign where she created and managed the national strategy to engage Black leaders and voters. Formerly the National Field Director and Youth & College Division Director for the NAACP, Stefanie developed and administered the national field organizing strategy for the NAACP's 2,200 adult branches and youth units in 48 states and the District of Columbia. 

Stefanie is the founder of Brown Girls Lead, a leadership development organization for collegiate black women, a past member of the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, Howard University and a member of the National Social Action Commission for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is also the mother of two amazing toddlers, Carter & Elijah.

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EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 46,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.