About Us

Vote Hope shares your desire to turn a vision of a better future into reality. Vote Hope has the political intelligence and experience needed to help transform the nation’s electoral map and elect a new generation of progressive leaders, solving real problems facing real people.

Vote Hope is a political action committee, founded by Steve Phillips and Benjamin Jealous, dedicated to supporting candidates that are committed to a social justice policy agenda. Our work is rooted in the belief that every person should have economic dignity and security. We believe every family should have quality health care, education and housing. We envision a future in which the electorate is energized and empowered, and reflective of the country’s growing diversity. Join us and be part of making this vision a reality.

Take a look at some of the key races we are supporting

Make a donation to support our work in battleground states

Who is Vote Hope?

• Steve Phillips

  Chairman

  

  Steve Phillips is the President and Founder of PowerPAC.org and is the Founder of Vote Hope. Over the past twenty years, Steve has worked as an education reformer, attorney, and elected official.

  Steve grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where his mother was a public school teacher and his father was a physician. He attended Stanford University, where he majored in English and Afro-American Studies and was active in the student government, the Black Student Union, and the Free South Africa Movement. Steve helped build a coalition of students, faculty and staff that pushed Stanford to make major changes in innovations in multi-cultural curriculum and student services for students of color.

  Steve continued his public service after graduating from college, devoting his early professional and political life to the issue of education. For four years he worked for the public interest law firm Public Advocates, Inc. as the coordinator of an education reform project that linked low-performing schools with business and local community groups. In 1992, at the age of 28, Steve successfully ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Education, and he became the youngest elected official in the history of San Francisco.

  Steve served on the School Board for eight years including one year as President of the Board. His accomplishments on the Board include saving the early childhood education program that serves 4,000 San Francisco children, reducing class sizes in grades K-2, and making San Francisco the first school district in the country to incorporate books by writers of color into the required literature curriculum.

  Steve attended Hastings College of the Law, and, in 1997, he opened the Law Offices of Steve Phillips where he practiced civil rights and employment discrimination law. As an attorney, Steve successfully litigated against a broad number of entities ranging from municipalities to multi-million dollar corporations including two settlements for $525,000.

  Steve has written nearly 100 columns and essays that have been published in newspapers across the country including the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Village Voice, the San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has appeared on the Today show, MSNBC’s News with Brian Williams, Fox News’s Hannity and Colmes, and KTVU’s Mornings on Two. He has served as a commentator on BayTV and been a guest on KQED’s Forum as well as appearing on KGO Radio and BBC radio. Steve has also given presentations at colleges across the country including Stanford Law School, Baylor College of Medicine, and Tufts University.

  Steve’s work with non-profit organizations includes founding Justice Matters, an education reform and leadership development organization, and serving on the Board of Directors of Progressive Majority, the Democracy Alliance, and the American Conservatory Theater.

  In 2003, Steve founded PowerPAC.org, a statewide social justice organization working to champion democracy and justice in California. PowerPAC has organized grassroots support in several state and local campaigns and helps to identify, support, and connect individuals and organizations with a passion for justice and a commitment to work together to build progressive political power.

• Benjamin Jealous

  Co-Founder

  

  Benjamin Todd Jealous is a journalist, civil rights advocate and currently the President-Elect of the NAACP. A proud native-born Californian, he lives in the Bay Area with his wife and daughter.

  He is currently volunteering to help build Vote Hope, an independent expenditure campaign to identify and mobilize Black, Latino, Asian, and young voters in California for Barack Obama, and establish a voter education and mobilization infrastructure that can help candidates of color win statewide races in the Golden State. He sees involvement in Vote Hope as a direct extension of the work he did 20 years ago to organize high school students in Monterey and Seaside, California to register, educate, and mobilize voters for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential primary campaign.

  In 2002, he launched Amnesty International’s US Domestic Human Rights Program. While at Amnesty, he led its efforts to pass federal legislation against prison rape, rebuild public consensus against racial profiling in the wake of terrorist attacks on the Word Trade Center and Pentagon, and expose the widespread sentencing of children to life without parole. He is the lead author of the report Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States. The release of the report received coverage by major media outlets in most states and on six continents.

  Formerly, Mr. Jealous served as Executive Director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)—a federation of more than 200 black community newspapers. While at the NNPA, he rebuilt its 90-year old national news service, created an initiative that significantly increased on-line publishing by Black Press publications, and increased the organization’s annual revenue by more than 500%.

  During the mid 1990s, Mr. Jealous served as Managing Editor of the Jackson Advocate, Mississippi’s oldest black newspaper. His reporting for the frequently ransacked and firebombed weekly was credited with exposing corruption amongst high-ranking officials at the state prison in Parchman, and helping to acquit a black small farmer who had been wrongfully and maliciously accused of arson.

  Mr. Jealous initially came to Mississippi as a field organizer on a successful campaign to stop the state’s plan to close two of its three public historically black universities, and convert one of them into a prison.

  He began his career as a civil rights advocate and strategist in 1991 while working as a community organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on issues of healthcare access in Harlem.

  Mr. Jealous is a member of the Asia Society. He is a board member of the California Council for the Humanities, OMB Watch, and the Association of Black Foundation Executives. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University and a master’s degree in comparative social research from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

• Andrew Wong

  Co-Founder and Board Member

  

  Andy, co-founder of Vote Hope, has been running political campaigns since the mid-1980s. His career began by winning a series of student government elections at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Stanford. Over the next decade he went on to run city and county campaigns in the San Francisco Bay Area, electing people of color and gay community activists to Community College Board, BART Board, School Board and the Board of Supervisors. His background in applied mathematics and computer data systems has enabled him to support numerous campaign infrastructures, including for Prop 54, targeting voters for effective campaigning by using a myriad of techniques for empowering niche constituencies.

• Tarrus L. Richardson

  Board Member

  

  Prior to founding ICV in 1998, Mr. Richardson was an investment professional at Joseph Littlejohn & Levy, Inc. ("JLL"), a private equity fund with more than $1.6 billion of committed capital. Prior to JLL, Mr. Richardson was a founder of Gold Coast Securities, an investment bank in Ghana and was in the mergers and acquisitions group at Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Richardson is on the Board of Directors of Entertainment Cruises, Sterling Foods, and The Robert A. Toigo Foundation. He is also a founder of the Council of Urban Professionals, a Member of the New York City Chapter of The Young President's Organization (YPO) and an Associate Member of The New America Alliance. Mr. Richardson holds a BS degree in accounting from Purdue University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he was a Robert A. Toigo Fellow.

• Christy Haubegger

  Board Member

  Christy Haubegger founded Latina magazine in 1996 following her graduation from Stanford Law School. It was in a business course there that Haubegger conceived of and developed a business plan for a groundbreaking magazine that would showcase fashion, beauty, lifestyle and empowerment for Hispanic women.

  After receiving her law degree, she pursued her plan for the magazine. She ultimately partnered with Essence Communications and the company became a major investor in Latina. The magazine debuted as a quarterly in 1996, with rising star Jennifer Lopez on its first cover.

  Latina grew to monthly publication just a year after its launch with Haubegger serving as its publisher, president and then CEO until 2001. In that post, she oversaw a staff of more than 50 and focused on the business management of the magazine, including advertising sales and corporate marketing.

  Since its inception, Latina has become the leading publication for U.S. Hispanic women with a monthly circulation of 500,000. Latina has been named Best Magazine by Advertising Age and was featured on the Adweek Hot List two years in a row (2000 and 2001). Latina has also extended its brand into other media. In 2001, Christy oversaw the publication of Latina Beauty (Hyperion), a comprehensive beauty and wellness guidebook for Hispanic women. Haubegger now serves as a member of the Board of Latina Media Ventures (Latina's parent company) where she focuses on strategic initiatives for the company.

  Christy moved into the world of entertainment in 2002, hoping to expand the presence and stories of Latinos in television and motion pictures as she had done in the magazine world. She served as Associate Producer on "Chasing Papi," a romantic comedy from 20th Century Fox with a Hispanic theme/cast, which was released in May 2003. She was Executive Producer of Oscar-winner James L. Brooksí romantic comedy, ìSpanglishî starring Paz Vega, Adam Sandler and TÈa Leoni, released by Columbia Pictures in December 2004. She now works with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), providing insights on diverse markets to CAAís motion picture, music, marketing and television clients including Salma Hayek, George Lopez, John Singleton, Oscar de la Hoya and Shakira.

  A pioneer for Latinas, Haubegger is a popular speaker and the recipient of numerous awards and media recognition for her achievements. In 2001, Newsweek named her one of the "Women of the New Century" and Advertising Age has called her a "Woman to Watch." The Ms. Foundation has chosen her as one of the Top 10 Role Models of the Year. Haubegger was also the youngest woman to be inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement, in recognition of her success in raising the profile of the Hispanic market. She has been profiled and interviewed by numerous, diverse media outlets including CNN, NBC Nightly News and the Today Show. Recently, the Hollywood Reporter named her on their list of the Most Powerful Latinos in Hollywood.

  Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Haubegger is the Mexican-American daughter of adoptive parents. She received her BA in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and her law degree from Stanford Law School where she was President of her class. A volunteer for various civic, social and political organizations, Haubegger is a board member of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an organization that works to increase the number of minority MBA candidates at the nation's top business schools.

• Michael Schmitz

  Senior Advisor

  

  Michael is an attorney with over two decades of experience in policy and politics at the federal, state, and local levels. He has spent many years building political coalitions representing communities, key stakeholders, elected officials and non-governmental organizations on important public policy issues.

  Michael is senior advisor to Vote Hope, helping elect Barack Obama President and helping build a governing majority in Congress and in the statehouses. He was the principal of a consulting firm specializing in strategic research, and was executive director of a California statewide coalition of environmental and public health organizations where he advocated for the protection of California’s leading environmental statutes. He was also civil rights attorney and senior legislative counsel for the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus focusing on trade, economic development, and environmental policies.

  He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford, a law degree from UC Hastings in San Francisco, and a master’s degree in urban planning from UCLA. He and his wife Catherine have a fourth grader and a first grader and live in the Bay Area.

• Julie Martinez Ortega

  Senior Advisor

  Julie has been an advocate for progressive causes for over two decades. She is an expert on workers' rights, health care policy, and civil rights. She currently serves as Research Director for the pro-labor organization American Rights at Work. Prior to that she was a Visiting Scholar with the US Dept. of Health and Human Services in the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, where she provided expertise on racial disparities in healthcare for the Cost, Finance and Access Division. She has taught college and graduate courses on race and the law, wealth and inequality, and health care policy. She practiced civil rights litigation with the Los Angeles law firm Hadsell & Stormer, and worked as a Special Assistant to Senator Alan Cranston.

  Julie holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford, a law degree from UCLA, and a master's and doctorate degree from Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She and her husband Joseph have a rambunctious son in bilingual Montessori pre-school and are active members of the Sacred Heart parish in Washington, DC.

• Chloe Drew

  Senior Advisor

  Chloe Drew is the Executive Director of The Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), a New York based nonprofit organization representing the social, political and economic interests of minority and women professionals. CUP administers a multimillion dollar portfolio of results-oriented initiatives that advance education reform, leadership development, and access to capital for minority owned and led business.

  Chloe formerly served as Campaign Director for U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee in California’s 9th congressional district. She also co-founded and served as a board member of OaklandVOTE, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing voter participation in underserved communities. Before her work for the Lee campaign, Chloe taught social studies, math and health education in Ecuador, at the Colegio Americano de Quito, and was Deputy Finance Director of the Mark Udall for U.S. Congress campaign (2000).

  Chloe currently serves on the Board of Directors of One Voice – Congresswoman Lee's political action committee – and the Wellesley Centers for Women – a research center that conducts interdisciplinary studies on issues affecting women and their families. Chloe earned an A.B. from Harvard University, where she concentrated in History and Literature.

• Jenifer Fernandez-Ancona

  Senior Advisor to Steve Phillips

  

  Jenifer Fernandez Ancona is a Senior Advisor in the office of Steve Phillips, where she helps manage fundraising, communications and donor organizing efforts around several state and national organizations, including Vote Hope and PowerPAC.org, the Democracy Alliance and the Progressive Era Project. Prior to her work with Steve, Jenifer served as a top legislative aide in the California State Assembly, and prior to that, as a news reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Throughout her political career, she has done grassroots organizing and event planning and press consulting for progressive candidates and organizations, from the local to the national level. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Dan Ancona, and their cat, Oscar.

• Beth Broderick

  Los Angeles Community Relations Director

  

  Beth Broderick is a veteran of stage and screen. Best known for her portrayal of Aunt Zelda in the long running hit TV series “Sabrina the teenage Witch,” she has also starred in numerous series such as “Heart’s Afire” with John Ritter and “Glory Days” with Brad Pitt. Her film career includes “Bonfire of the Vanities,” “Stealing Home,” “Psycho Beach Party,” and many others.

  Beth has an extensive background in fundraising and community outreach. She is one of the founding members of MOMENTUM, a program for persons with AIDS. Begun in 1984 in New York City and only the second AIDS program in existence at the time, Beth produced numerous star-studded benefits and secured funding from a variety of sources. She also spearheaded outreach programs dedicated to increasing awareness of AIDS and support for persons living with the disease. She was also a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council for City Light Women’s Rehabilitation Program in LA and continues to provide resources for the Good Shepherd Home for battered women and children.

  Beth has been an active volunteer and fundraiser for many political campaigns. She worked on behalf of Walter Mondale and was very involved in both Clinton campaigns. Beth was a major fundraiser for the Howard Dean campaign and a member of the Dean’s List. She produced fundraisers at Le Deux Café and the House of Blues which, combined, garnered well over $700,000.00. She also actively sought contributions for John Kerry and continues to contribute to and organize events for LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Russ Feingold, Congressman Sherrod Brown and many others. Beth is a member of the Board of Directors for the Progressive Majority and has produced numerous house parties and events for that organization, including an interactive forum with authors George Lakoff, Thomas Frank and Arianna Huffington. Beth is a mentor/advisor to the Young Progressive Majority and a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post.

• Lisa Le

  Finance Director

  

  Phuong Lisa Le is a Certified Public Accountant who has volunteered as a community activist for 20 years and worked as a political treasurer for over 15 years. Lisa was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the U.S. when she was 10. After attending Lowell High School and graduating from San Francisco State University she began her career as a bookkeeper with the labor studies division of San Francisco City College and then soon joined Louie and Wong as an accounting professional. Lisa’s specialty during her stint at L&W was non-profit auditing. She worked with both government agencies and non-profits to prepare for or to execute audits. After six years with that firm she completed her requirements for her CPA. In 2002, Lisa left the firm to open up her own sole proprietorship PVL Accounting Services. Since 2002 Lisa has broadened her practice to include accounting support for private software companies, non-profits, and political organizations of all types.

  A particular specialty that Lisa has developed over the course of 15 years has been a clear familiarity with political campaign finance practices as well as political organizational development and finance management. Lisa has developed an expert understanding of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) reporting rules, Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations and 527, C4, and C3 finance management rules and regulations. She has participated in over 35 campaigns (candidates and propositions) and has supported 15 political organizations from inception to maturity over the last decade.

  Lisa has always been community minded as well. Beginning in college she helped organize students around supporting organized labor, community initiatives in San Francisco Chinatown, and education campaigns around student support services and ethnic studies. Since college she has kept active in communities by volunteering her expertise in organizational development and finance management. Most recently she served as the treasurer for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation for 6 years and is currently the president of the board for Wu Yee Children’s Services.

  Lisa is married and living in San Francisco.

• Stephanie Ong Stillman

  Hope Road Consulting

  

  Stephanie is a partner at Hope Road Consulting, LLC, a political consulting firm specializing in creating campaigns that combine grassroots organizing strategies with a cultural perspective.

  Stephanie has extensive experience in campaign strategy, communications, grassroots organizing and media relations for political campaigns and non-profit organizations. She has led successful municipal and issue-based campaigns for Hope Road Consulting.

  Prior to forming Hope Road Consulting, LLC, Stephanie was the Project Manager for Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth where she managed issue advocacy campaigns on childcare, youth opportunities, and education. She was the Campaign Manager for Proposition D - the Children’s Fund Campaign and was a Communications Consultant for several nonprofit organizations.

  Stephanie currently serves on the Board of Directors for Chinese for Affirmative Action/Center for Asian American Advocacy and is actively involved with Emerge California, a political leadership training program for Democratic women. She is one of the founders of PowerPAC.org, an organization building a social justice political agenda for California.

  She previously served on the Board of Directors for Asian Perinatal Advocates and the Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform and was a Discovery Leadership Fellow for the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute.

  Stephanie’s commitment to engaging disenfranchised communities in the political process is rooted in her own immigration experience from the Philippines at the age of nine. Her family’s struggle to overcome cultural challenges is what fuels her drive to create effective communication strategies relevant to California’s emerging communities.

• Johanna Silva Waki

  Hope Road Consulting

  

  Johanna brings many years of experience in developing political strategy, organizing grassroots campaigns, media relations, organizational development and government affairs. Johanna is a partner at Hope Road Consulting, LLC, a political consulting firm specializing in creating campaigns that combine grassroots organizing strategies with a cultural perspective.

  Prior to Hope Road, Johanna was a Special Assistant to San Francisco’s Superintendent of Schools where she worked closely with parents and teachers, led coalitions, and managed the School District’s Bilingual Education Task Force, which set the implementation policy for bilingual education in San Francisco public schools.

  She was a key advisor to the US Census Bureau’s 2000 Complete Count Committee where she created and implemented the Northern California Migrant Outreach Plan. Johanna was the Bay Area Field Director for the No on Prop 38 campaign where she led a coalition of educators, parents, and community members to successfully defeat the movement for school vouchers.

  Johanna currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, and sits on KQED’s Community Advisory Panel. She is on the Board of Directors for Emerge California, a political leadership training program for Democratic women and chair’s the organization’s Campaign Advisory Team. She is one of the founders of PowerPAC.org, an organization building a social justice political agenda for California.

• Pastor Johnny K. Jones

  Outreach Coordinator - Faith Communities

  

  Johnny Jones is the Faith Based Coordinator for Vote Hope. He comes with 25 years as a Bay Area Pastor in cross cultural and cross denominational arenas. Johnny also has worked as a Chaplain in both county and state facilities in northern California. He has held director positions in several non-profit organizations and has been involved as a community activist around social and economic issues for many years. Johnny piloted one of the first successful Aftercare programs for ex-felons, creating a transitional process that enabled them to break the cycle of recidivism. Those who completed the program never returned to crime or prison.

  Johnny’s business background covers such areas as executive coaching to investment brokerage to fund development for start up companies. Johnny brings a unique quality and experience to Vote Hope. His pastoral and business diversity has allowed him to work in many cultural venues establishing relationships in all ethnic communities.

  Johnny is currently the founder and Executive director of Community Chaplains Inc (CCI), a non-profit organization providing leadership training and consulting to community and business leaders. His organization also provides counseling and funeral services to families who are not affiliated with religious institutions. He also provides pre-martial counseling and wedding services. CCI also sponsors a gang prevention seminar to educate parent, community leaders and school officials. Johnny’s organization, CCI is currently providing leadership and strategic planning for the Contra Costa County Gang Task Force.

  Johnny is a Vietnam era veteran, has been married 19 years and has five children.

  Johnny’s responsibility as the Faith Based Coordinator will be to mobilize the religious community for Vote Hope. Johnny will coordinate training for volunteers, to aid in voter registration and absentee as well as electronic ballots.

  Johnny’s education includes Contra Costa College, Shiloh Bible College, Golden State Theological Seminary and undergraduate studies in Christian Leadership at San Jose Christian College.

• Lorena Chambers

  Advisor

  

  Lorena Chambers is the CEO and co-founder of Chambers Lopez & Gaitán LLC, where she develops political and consumer messaging for use in broadcast and public relations strategies. She is responsible for the integrated marketing strategies and plans for clients by ensuring their campaigns communicate effectively with Latino voters and consumers.

  In the political world, Ms. Chambers led the consulting team for the NEA’s I.E. project for the 2006 election cycle after assisting in defeating the privatization of Social Security in 2005 while consulting with Americans United to Protect Social Security. In 2004, she was the Hispanic media consultant for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as well as the chief Hispanic media strategist for the New Democrat Network (NDN). Previously, she had consulted for the 2002 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and was the Hispanic media strategist for Governor Mark Warner's 2001 winning campaign in Virginia.

  On the consumer side, she has spearheaded first-time business-to-consumer Hispanic marketing initiatives for different financial institutions including Provident Bank; Sodexho USA; the U.S. Social Security Administration; and Chevy Chase Bank. In 2003, she led the successful anti-predatory practices information campaign for the State of California's Department of Corporations.

  Last year, the agency’s pro-bono work placed Ms. Chambers at the center of the public relations team assisting The American GI Forum in advocating for Hispanic voices in Ken Burns’s “The War.”

  A graduate of UCLA and the University of Michigan, Ms. Chambers has consulted on strategic messaging campaigns in Austria, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. She has also presented at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and appeared on CNN en español, Univision, and Telemundo.