RECORDING: Moms Running for Office: Affecting Policy and Finding Your Political Voice with Liuba Grechen Shirley, Founder & CEO, Vote Mama

Liuba Grechen Shirley

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.