FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Abney
202-670-7994; allison@emergeamerica.org
Washington, D.C.—Emerge America, the nation’s premier organization for recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office, announced today that it has hired Anne Wakabayashi as the national alumnae director. Wakabayashi was previously the founding executive director of Emerge Pennsylvania for 3 years where she led the affiliate’s efforts to recruit, train and provide a powerful network to Democratic women in the Keystone State. Under her leadership in 2018, eight graduates of Emerge won their campaigns for the Pennsylvania State Legislature and seven of those seats were flipped from red to blue.
In her new role as National Alumnae Director for Emerge America, Wakabayashi will focus on providing continuing education opportunities to over 4,000 Emerge America alumnae, providing a network of resources to those running for office and working with newly-elected alumnae and those already in office who are preparing to run for higher office in the future. The hiring of Wakabayashi as National Alumnae Director demonstrates Emerge America’s continued commitment to the growing network of alumnae and providing them with ongoing support.
“I am thrilled that Anne will be joining the national team as our new alumnae director. I have watched her incredible work at our Pennsylvania affiliate, including their amazing success in the 2018 election, and I know that she will do great things in her new role at Emerge America,” said Andrea Dew Steele, President and Founder of Emerge America. “Anne will be instrumental in expanding our ability to engage our alumnae across the country, advance a robust pipeline of Democratic women who will run for higher office and build on this year’s successes to change the face of political power.”
“I am excited to join the national team at Emerge America and look forward to working with our ambitious and diverse alumnae across the country,” said Wakabayashi. “At Emerge, our collective vision has always been to expand and advance women’s political power at every level of government, and I look forward to using my experience to bring us closer to realizing that goal.”
Prior to becoming Executive Director of Emerge Pennsylvania, Wakabayashi worked at the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Campaign Committee (SDCC) for two election cycles as the Communications Director and Political Director, respectively. In 2013, Anne led the fundraising efforts for Equality Pennsylvania, a statewide LGBT advocacy group. In 2015, she also ran Anne Lazarus’ campaign for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as well as Allan Domb’s race for Philadelphia City Council. Anne currently serves as the chair of the Pennsylvania Governor’s LGBTQ Advisory Commission, the first of its kind in the nation.
To learn more about Emerge America and its team, please visit their website at http://www.emergeamerica.org.
###