political organizing & grassroots fundraising
Julie Zebrak initially recognized the political power of moms during the 2016 presidential race and, since then, has sparked a movement called Yes Moms Can. Zebrak recognized moms to be an untapped political cohort of seasoned multi-taskers, connectors and influencers in churches, schools, and communities, and credible and persuasive ambassadors for the candidates and issues they care about.
As of January 2019, Zebrak has been fundraising and organizing moms in support of presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris, as a co-founder of Mamas4Kamala. She has raised almost $20,000 in a crowded primary field, and is growing the social media following for Mamas4Kamala on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as helping identify mom-bassadors for Senator Harris on the ground around the country.
Since 2016, Zebrak has motivated, recruited, trained, and organized women to get involved with politics through the candidates and causes she supports. She serves as a trusted influencer and fundraiser on social media and in her community, supporting causes ranging from gun violence prevention to women’s health to the Supreme Court. Zebrak has organized women for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 primary and general elections at the national level through fundraising, canvassing, phone banking, and texting out the vote. She also has organized women to participate in voter protection, vote recounts, and marches, and has been a trainer for the DNC’s Women’s Leadership Forum Conference in Washington, D.C.
Zebrak works with and keeps moms engaged politically by: (1) using social media to reinforce candidate and issue-specific support with content focused on the issues that moms tend to care more about; (2) inspiring and training moms to help candidates and causes; and (3) raising over $55,000 for the presidential race in 2016, and over $20,000 for other Democrats since 2017.
Zebrak has fundraised actively for:
The Women’s Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee
The Maryland Democratic Party
Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris
Presidential Candidate Julian Castro
Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton
U.S. Congressional Candidate Christopher Hunter
Lt. Gubernatorial Candidate Susan Turnbull
Candidate for Wisconsin Treasurer Sarah Godlewski
County Executive Candidate David Blair
Fearless for the People PAC of Kamala Harris
read more about zebrak’s 2016 organizing and fundraising:
using social media to reach moms
In 2016, Zebrak developed Moms4HRC’s social media into a researched source to nourish moms with facts and strong “talking points” to serve as on-the-ground ambassadors with evidence and facts to educate others about the candidate’s values and prior work. With that information, moms could make mom-to-mom connections on soccer fields, at the pool, at the neighborhood barbeque, at church. Over six months, Zebrak amassed over 20,000 social media followers — men and women from every state.
motivating moms on the ground
Zebrak next turned to her online network into boots on the ground. She recruited moms in the battleground states and beyond to serve as Moms4HRC liaisons with local campaign offices. Under Zebrak’s leadership and support, the liaisons activated their own mom networks around the country.
To motivate moms amidst their busy and chaotic lives, Zebrak sought to make volunteering inclusive and easy. She trained them with the attitude that any talent they could offer — talking, texting, hosting, shopping, walking, canvassing, donating and driving — was needed and counted as volunteering for the campaign. She provided training and tools, and assured moms that anyone could join the movement and help elect the first woman President.
Zebrak approached moms on their terms, with their scheduling and parenting needs in mind, and found ways to make it almost impossible NOT to volunteer. She offered creative, “bite-size” ways to get involved every week via bright calendars listing events all over the country. She organized phone banks with wine for a girls’ night out. She offered two-hour windows to register voters outside the neighborhood grocery store. Zebrak successfully met moms where they were to create a movement.
inspiring moms to become political donors
In 2016, Zebrak recognized that women, who increasingly control the family checkbook, constituted an untapped resource for campaigns. Over a four month period, Zebrak, a first-time fundraiser, raised over $55,000 through her national mom network. She threw a kid-friendly fundraiser which raised over $20,000, an adult fundraiser which raised over $14,000, and separately raised $21,000 in grass-roots donations.
More on Zebrak’s 2016 political organizing work can be found here:
Medium | Hillary’s Missed Opportunity: The Mom Vote
The Sydney Morning Herald | Hillary Clinton is on the cusp of making history in US election, so where is the excitement?
Huffington Post | All In For Hillary! A Progressive Mom's Back-To-School To-Do List
Medium | Why I Quit My Job to Volunteer for Hillary