Julie Fernandes is the associate director for institutional accountability and individual liberty at the left-of-center Rockefeller Family Fund ^{[1] [2]} and a senior visiting fellow at the left-of-center German Marshall Fund of the United States. ^[3]

Previously, Fernandes worked as the director for voting rights and democracy at the left-of-center Open Society Foundations (OSF), the principal grantmaking institution for left-of-center billionaire George Soros. ^[4] She was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Obama administration ^[5] and held various roles during the Clinton administration including Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. ^[6]

Fernandes self-identifies as a “proud liberal Democrat” ^[7] and has said the Democratic Party does not need to “fight to be the white party” ^[8] and claims that laws barring felons from voting are “designed to keep black people from voting.” ^[9]

Career

Julie Fernandes has been the associate director for institutional accountability and individual liberty of the Rockefeller Family Fund since June 2018. ^{[10] [11]} She is also a visiting senior fellow at the left-of-center German Marshall Fund of the United States. ^[12] Previously she was a senior policy analyst 2012 to 2016  and from 2016 to 2018 director for voting rights and democracy for the left-of-center Open Society Foundations (OSF), ^[13] which was founded by the liberal billionaire George Soros. She has also worked as senior counsel and senior policy analyst for the left-of-center Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights ^[14] and received a fellowship from the left-of-center ACLU. ^[15]

From 2009 until 2011, Fernandes was Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Obama administration. ^[16] From 1997 until 2001 she worked in various roles in the Clinton administration ^[17] including as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General from 1999 until 2001 and Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the White House from 1997 until 1999. ^[18]

Fernandes is a member of the board of directors for left-of-center organizations including the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Lead for America, Bend the Arc, the American Constitution Society, Ad Council, ^[19] and the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP). ^[20]

On her LinkedIn page, Fernandes shared a post that says “systemic racism has existed in our country for centuries.” ^[21] On Twitter, Fernandes has said “the Confederacy has been a theme of the Trump presidency,” ^[22] supported calls for the resignation of Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), ^[23] and said the Democratic Party does not need to “fight to be the white party.” ^[24] She has also said the criminal justice itself “is biased against African Americans and Latinos” and claimed that felony disenfranchisement laws are “designed to keep black people from voting.” ^[25]

Political Positions and Contributions

Julie Fernandes self-identifies as a “proud liberal Democrat.” ^[26]

Julie Fernandes has made Federal Election Commission-reportable contributions to several Democratic Party-affiliated campaigns and committees including the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden, the Senate campaigns of Raphael Warnock (D-GA),  Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), the left-of-center pass-through ActBlue, the Maryland Democratic Party, Fight Back PAC, Obama for America, and the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in 2020, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in 2016, and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in 2004. ^[27]