sjames1919@nul.org

Stefanie Brown James is the co-founder of The Collective, an umbrella organization dedicated to recruiting, training, funding, and supporting Black candidates to run for political office. Founded in 2016, The Collective has raised more than $6.5 million from 47,000+ individual contributions to help 53 endorsed candidates win their elections. The Black Campaign School, a Collective national training program, has prepared over 400 black candidates and campaign operatives to win.

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.

This August, Stefanie joins the senior leadership team at EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, as the vice president of training and community outreach. She will oversee training programs and partnerships to diversify the pipeline of pro-choice women running for office.

In 2012, Stefanie served as the national African American vote director for the Obama for America campaign where she created and managed a national engagement strategy that produced the highest black voter turnout in history. She is a past member of the board of trustees at her alma mater, Howard University.