Platform is a left-of-center organization that mentors “womxn” through trainings, workshops and panels, and roundtables with local startups. ¹

Background

Platform, also known as “Platform 4 Women,” is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. On founder Samantha Joo’s LinkedIn profile, she described the group as “mentor[ing] womxn. ² The organization claims to provide mentorship through “leadership training events,” workshops and panels, and roundtables with local startups. ³

Platform’s website claims the organization was founded in 2018, ⁴ though ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer indicates that the organization has been tax-exempt since March 2017. The organization does not have any tax return docments available online. ⁵

Founder Samantha Joo wrote on the organization’s blog in an article titled “Symbolism of Kamala Harris” that she had “major disappointment stemming from [then-U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’s] decision to drop out of the presidential race.” ⁶

Another blog post titled “Resources for Anti-Racism” noted that people should not feel attacked when called racist because “the system is sick” and “it is my responsibility to acknowledge how I consciously and subconsciously play into it; and a call-out is an invitation out of it…[i]f we feel bad after a call out, that usually means we have more work to do.” ⁷

Another blog post “Happy Pride from Platform” noted June as Pride Month and explained what “LGBTQIA+” means, noting that “Gender identity is HOW a person may identify; male, female, both, or neither” and that “queer stands for anyone that simply does not fit into a nice labeled box for gender or sexuality…[i]n truth, all of us are a little bit queer!” ⁸

Coalition Affiliations

Platform is a member of Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports proposed federal legislation that would enact left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections including automatic voter registration and restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The organization is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left of center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. ⁹

The Declaration for American Democracy advocates for bills in Congress and publicly promotes the need for left-leaning campaign and electoral administration policies. In May 2020, the organization sent an open letter to all 2020 presidential candidates urging them to adopt the coalition’s positions as part of their campaign platforms and as policy priorities if elected. The coalition also launched a presidential candidate tracker to assess where each candidate stood on over 90 various policy issues. ¹⁰ Left-wing Democratic primary candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was listed as in support of the most of the policy positions on the Declaration for American Democracy’s platform. ¹¹

People

The executive director of Platform is Samantha Joo. She is also the founder of DdingDong, formerly called the Queer Koreans Alliance, which is described as a “LGBTQIA+ youth crisis support center” in Seoul, South Korea. She is the academic advising center coordinator and adjunct faculty at Iliff School of Theology. ¹²

1. “About Us.” Platform, Accessed March 7, 2023. https://www.platform4women.org/get-involved
2. ^[1] LinkedIn. “Samantha Joo.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-joo-13229530/. Accessed February 23, 2023.
3. “About Us.” Platform, Accessed March 7, 2023. https://www.platform4women.org/get-involved
4. Platform. “Get Involved.” https://www.platform4women.org/get-involved. Accessed February 23, 2023.
5. ProPublica. “Platform.” https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/814366987. Accessed February 23, 2023.
6. Platform. “Symbolism of Kamala Harris.” https://www.platform4women.org/latest-news/2020/12/12/symbolism-of-kamala-harris. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.platform4women.org/latest-news/2020/12/12/symbolism-of-kamala-harris
7. Platform. “Resources for Anti-Racism.” https://www.platform4women.org/latest-news/2020/6/3/7512nvw5baz12wf1r2fbuow17ztjch. Accessed February 23, 2023.
8.  Platform. “Happy Pride from Platform.” https://www.platform4women.org/latest-news/2017/9/6/our-creative-outlet. Accessed February 23, 2023.
9. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/about/
10. “The Positions.” Democracy Platform 2020. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926055422/https://democracyplatform2020.org/the-positions/
11. “The Positions.” Democracy Platform 2020. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926055422/https://democracyplatform2020.org/the-positions/
12. ^[1] “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://www.platform4women.org/meet-the-team