The Marianne Williamson Campaign 2020
Grassroots Co-Leader
Press & Communications
I was asked to join the Press and Communications Team to contribute my skills in character analysis and trustworthy synthesis to write briefs for Ms. Williamson.As Grassroots Co-lead I co-led and facilitated virtual meetings of 200+ volunteers across the United States. I co-created a document for dissemination to all volunteers entitled, "The Grassroots Field Guide" and branded it for the engaged citizen.
In my role as a grassroots co-lead, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Volunteer Leads and the Coordinator to establish a strong and impactful grassroots campaign. Together, we built a dedicated team of volunteers and successfully facilitated virtual meetings for over 200 individuals using platforms like Zoom and GoogleMeet. One of my key contributions was designing, co-authoring, and editing the Grassroots Field Guide, a comprehensive resource that was distributed to all volunteers. This guide effectively communicated the campaign's motivational actions, providing clear direction and empowering our team to make a meaningful difference.
Co-creating the Grassroots Field Guide was a project that began before my involvement, but which I then managed. I edited, contributed to, and directed its design layout. Our goals were to inspire supporters to create awareness about the candidate's campaign, illustrate clearly the process of fundraising and hosting events, and provide supportive resources to assist first-time political volunteers in conversations – including scripted conversation starters, event hosting timelines, and ideas for following up for continued relationship management.
My designer and I used upbeat, compassionate language, and bright colors from the campaign. We leaned into the outsider components of what made this campaign unique, and knew that many of our supporters saw themselves previously as independent or apolitical.
Ultimately, the field guide took longer than hoped for to be approved, and as such its use was affected. Additionally, while I felt it was important to not intimidate people who were for the first time becoming politically active (like myself), in reflection I might now choose a clearer, less bouyant voice. If given the opportunity again I would likely use video marketing means to communicate the same information more quickly.