Protect Our Care is a left-of-center healthcare advocacy organization created to lobby for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or “Obamacare”). Protect Our Care’s executive director is Brad Woodhouse previously served as president of American Bridge 21st Century and Americans United for Change (AUFC). Protect Our Care has described itself as a “dedicated war room for the ACA” (Obamacare). ¹

Protect Our Care is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit organization managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ²

Background

Protect Our Care was originally created to advocate against Republican members of Congress it claimed were attempting to “dismantle” Medicare coverage for Americans. ³ It would then refocus to advocate in favor of upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or “Obamacare”) through lobbying and campaigning efforts. The group’s executive director Brad Woodhouse previously worked on the steering committee for left-of-center group Health Care for America Now (HCAN) when Obamacare was passed in 2010. ⁴

Protect Our Care is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit which is managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ^{5 2}

Advocacy

During the First Trump Administration, Protect Our Care and similar left-of-center organizations like Indivisible began an initative to advocate against alleged efforts by Republican members of Congress to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. ⁶

Coronavirus War Room

In March, 2020, Protect Our Care announced it was launching a “Coronavirus war room” with several Democratic Party-affiliated members of Congress and operatives to criticize then-President Donald Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Staff for the project included director Zac Petkanas, a former communications adviser to Hillary Clinton and late Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV); senior communications advisor Patrick Devlin, a former communications director to former Majority Whip James Clyburn (D); and research director Sarah Chase, a previous research associate for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)’s 2020 presidential campaign as well as a former deputy research director for Protect Our Care. ⁷

Leadership

Brad Woodhouse

Brad Woodhouse is the executive director of Protect Our Care. Previously, Woodhouse worked as president of the Democratic Party-affiliated PACs American Bridge 21st Century and Correct the Record during the 2016 presidential elections.¹⁰ In addition, Woodhouse served as president of left-of-center advocacy group American United for Change (AUFC). ⁴

Woodhouse has also worked as the communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) following the 2008 presidential election. ^{11 4}

When Obamacare was originally voted on in Congress, Woodhouse was on the steering committee for Health Care for America Now (HCAN) a start-up funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.¹² HCAN was credited with allegedly lobbying in favor of Obamacare’s passage via messaging to media outlets and advocating with left-of-center groups including MoveOn.org, the AFL-CIO, Organizing for Action, and Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) (which is defunct as 0f 2025).⁴

Leslie Dach

Leslie Dach is the campaign chair and former executive director of Protect Our Care. Dach was noted for bringing the “Never Trump” former Reagan administration speechwriter Doug Elmets to speak at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.⁴ Before working at Protect Our Care, Dach was an executive vice president for Walmart and a senior advisor for both the Rockefeller Foundation and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.¹³ After the election, Dach was a senior advisor for Co-Impact. Dach had experience with Obamacare as a senior counselor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was in charge of initially implementing the law.

Adam Hoyer

Adam Hoyer is the national organizing director for Protect Our Care and has also previously worked for Brad Woodhouse as national field director for Americans United for Change. Hoyer has worked as director of field campaigns for Smoot Tewes Group (STG), a Democratic Party-affiliated consultancy headquartered in Washington, D.C. ⁴ Previously, Hoyer was a regional field director for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign and later worked in both the U.S. Department of Commerce as well as an assistant in the Obama White House.¹⁴

1. Emily Kopp. “GOP Candidates Are Hearing It From Constituents With Pre-Existing Conditions.” Roll Call. November 2, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.rollcall.com/news/gop-candidates-hearing-constituents-preexisting-conditions
2. Emily Kopp. “GOP Candidates Are Hearing It From Constituents With Pre-Existing Conditions.” Roll Call. November 2, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.rollcall.com/news/gop-candidates-hearing-constituents-preexisting-conditions
3. “Six Ways Republicans Are Dismantling Medicare.” Protect Our Care. Accessed January 08, 2019. https://www.protectourcare.org/six-ways-republicans-are-dismantling-medicare/.
4. Ludwig, Hayden. “The Dark Money Group Propping Up Obamacare.” Capital Research Center. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 08, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-dark-money-group-propping-up-obamacare/.
5. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” opencorporates.com. Accessed June 17, 2025. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_2696217.
6. Kopp, Emily. “GOP Candidates Are Hearing It From Constituents With Pre-Existing Conditions.” Roll Call. November 02, 2018. Accessed January 09, 2019. https://www.rollcall.com/news/gop-candidates-hearing-constituents-preexisting-conditions.
7. “Protect Our Care Launches Coronavirus War Room.” Protect Our Care, March 19, 2020. https://www.protectourcare.org/protect-our-care-launches-coronavirus-war-room/.
8. “Protect Our Care’s Storyteller Corps.” Protect Our Care’s Storyteller Corps. Accessed June 30, 2024. https://storytellercorps.com/.
9. “Meet Protect Our Care’s Storyteller Corps.” Protect Our Care’s Storyteller Corps. Accessed June 30, 2024. https://storytellercorps.com/stories/.
10. Graves, Lucia. “Meet the Man Who’s Making Super PACs Extra Super.” The Atlantic. July 31, 2015. Accessed January 08, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/meet-the-man-whos-making-super-pacs-extra-super/439692/.
11. Glueck, Katie. “DNC Spokesman Woodhouse Leaving.” POLITICO. June 25, 2013. Accessed January 08, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/brad-woodhouse-exits-dnc-093322.
12. Vadum, Matthew. “Dark Money Ascendant: The 501(c)4.” Capital Research Center. May 8, 2018. Accessed January 9, 2018. https://capitalresearch.org/article/dark-money-ascendant-part-1/
13. “Leslie Dach.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliedach.
14. “Adam Hoyer.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhoyer.