The Vote Mama Foundation was founded to overcome the structural and cultural hurdles that mothers face while running for office and that legislators face while fighting for family-friendly legislation. They are working to ensure that all parents and children in the United States have access to safe, affordable childcare and that candidates running in all 50 states can use their campaign funds for childcare - a topic that the pandemic has made more important than ever before. To kickoff, Diversity Reboot: Returning to the Workforce, PowerToFly's Sienna Brown is joined by Vote Mama Founder & CEO and former Congressional candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley to discuss how child care, universal parental leave and COVID relief can help support women and diverse individuals during the 'Great Rehiring of 2021'.
Diversity Reboot Summit
Moms Running for Office: Affecting Policy and Finding Your Political Voice with Liuba Grechen Shirley, Founder & CEO, Vote Mama
Meet The Speakers
Liuba has spent her career leading organizations to empower working families both at home and abroad. She has worked for the UN Foundation and was selected as a Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment by UN Women. Together with UN Women, she launched the #IAmParent campaign for Parental Leave. Liuba has forged partnerships between government, businesses, and nonprofits to tackle issues including economic development, access to health care, and paid family leave. She has worked with diplomats, healthcare workers and government leaders across four continents, and fought to make the use of international aid funds more accountable and less corrupt. In 2018, Liuba ran a historic congressional campaign to represent New York’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She received the highest vote share of any Democrat to run against Peter King in 25 years. Liuba raised over $2 million with no corporate PAC money and built a grassroots movement of volunteers that knocked over 250,000 doors. She became the first woman to receive federal approval to use campaign funds for childcare. The decision, which gained support from Hillary Clinton and 25 members of Congress, was unanimously approved by the FEC. Following her historic win, nine federal candidates used her FEC ruling to spend campaign funds for childcare— and candidates across the country followed her lead and petitioned their state and local governments for the same right.
Sienna J. Brown is a Global D&I strategist at PowerToFly. As an educator, expat and entrepreneur her mission is to teach driven women how secure remote work opportunities aligned with their bigger mission and provide them with freedom and flexibility. Over the past 6 years, her focus has been working with companies and employees to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces that have a positive impact on their personal and professional lives. When she’s not working, she’s at home on the Mediterranean coast watering her plants, cooking a good meal or engaging in meaningful conversations with friends.