Aimee Allison
Aimee Allison is a racial and feminist activist and writer who advocates for left-of-center women campaigning for office, for expanding abortion access, and for increasing voter participation among Black women. Allison founded She the People, a political activism project funded by PowerPAC, 1 which advocates for an American government led by Black, Latina, Asian, Pacific Islander, Muslim, and Indigenous women. 2 She has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and Essence Magazine. Through her writing Allison has shown public support for Democrats including former First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden administration Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. 3
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Education and Career
Aimee Allison enrolled at Stanford University in 1987 and earned a bachelor’s degree in history. She was part of the U.S. Army Reserves and when her unit was called into duty for the Gulf War in 1991, she became a conscientious objector and was honorably discharged from the military. 4 She decided to continue her education at Stanford and earned a master’s degree in education in 1993. 5
In 2006, Allison ran for Oakland City Council, reportedly hoping to launch a political career to become the first Black female secretary of state. 4 She lost to Patricia Kernighan, 6 so she continued her activism as a writer and podcast host for various media outlets. In 2007, she became a co-host of the KPFA morning show in Berkley, California and worked on a local show for CNN. 7
Starting in 2012, Allison worked as the media and community relations director for the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. In late 2013, she became the president of Democracy in Color, a project of PowerPAC which worked to advocate for Black women in political seats. While at Democracy in Color, Allison organized the 2016 Democratic National Convention and the “Get in Formation” program which supported the work of Stacey Abrams. In 2018, Allison leveraged her position with PowerPAC to found She the People, her personal project that focuses on “elevating women of color’s political power, influencing presidential and congressional elections.” 5
She the People
She the People is a feminist media outlet that works to spread Aimee Allison’s political ideas and collect data on how to get Black women to vote for specific political candidates. It runs a blog, podcast, creates videos, publishes research papers, and conducts polls. The organization is funded by PowerPAC, a left-of-center voter mobilization group. She the People advocates for political officials, other feminist activists and organizations, and social programs that support Black women running for office like the Women of Color Voter Fund. 8 9
PowerPac
PowerPac is the funding organization of She the People. It is a voter mobilization group that advocates for the election of Black, Asian, Latino, and female Democratic politicians. It has publicly supported Democrats including Stacey Abrams and former NAACP president and CEO Ben Jealous. 10 PowerPAC ran a $10 million voter outreach program for the 2008 election that influenced Latino and Black voters to support Barack Obama and a $15 million voter outreach program advocating the election of Stacey Abrams, Ben Jealous, and Mike Espy in 2018. 11