FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2021
CONTACT: Allison Abney
Allison@emergeamerica.org
GEORGIA — Today, Emerge, the nation’s premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office, announced that Maggie Chambers will be the first executive director of Emerge Georgia. In this role, Chambers will oversee the organization’s strategy and outreach for 2021 and beyond. Maggie Chambers comes to Emerge from the Democratic Party of Georgia, where she served as communications director, leading message strategy for the party throughout the 2020 election cycle.
“The next phase of Georgia’s political evolution is increasing the number of women and women of color who hold office, and Maggie is the right person to make this goal a reality,” said A’shanti F. Gholar, President of Emerge. “As Emerge works to reach the New American Majority, we are excited to expand and build our national footprint and Georgia is an integral part of our strategy across the New South. We know that if you invest resources in a place, over time you can enact significant and lasting change and Emerge is excited to be a part of changing the face of politics in Georgia and across the country.”
“Maggie has been an essential part of Georgia Democrats’ victories in my time as Chair of the Georgia Democratic Party,” said U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-05). “Her skills, experience, and passion for uplifting Georgia’s diverse communities make her a perfect choice to lead Emerge Georgia and be a champion for future women leaders across our state. I have every confidence in her and her leadership. With Maggie at the helm, Emerge Georgia will be a force to be reckoned with, and an essential part of the infrastructure to keep our state blue and elect a diverse coalition of women who truly represent Georgia.”
“The future of Georgia politics lies with Democratic women and I am so excited to see Emerge reach even more communities across our great state,” said U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06). “As we gear up for the next election, we need strong, talented women on our side to make sure our candidates have the support they need. As a proud Emerge alum myself, I know how important it is to get the training, tools and support to help you run and win. With Emerge on the ground in Georgia, we can prepare the next generation of leaders who will step up and give our families the representation they deserve. I look forward to continuing to work with Emerge on building a more equitable democracy and can’t wait to see what the future brings.”
“Across this country, and particularly in the South, we are seeing lawmakers move to restrict our democracy and silence the voices of millions of Americans. One of the ways we can defeat their efforts is by electing more Democratic women at every level,” says Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight and Fair Fight Action. “Here in Georgia, we need more leaders who will serve with integrity and compassion, and I am excited that Emerge will be here to get the job done. A powerful network of organizations worked together on the ground in our great state and changed the tide in the 2020 election, and going forward Emerge will be an essential part of the game changing work.”
“I am thrilled to join Emerge and help bring their incredible programming and network to Democratic women across Georgia,” said Chambers. “Women are the driving force for change for diverse communities throughout our state, and Emerge’s commitment to equity, justice, and lifting up every community is exactly what we need to help more women run for office and win. I’m honored to be a part of Emerge Georgia’s crucial work giving our future leaders the support, training, and community they need, and giving Georgians the real leadership they deserve at every level.”
Chambers will pull from a wealth of knowledge and experience garnered throughout her career; during Georgia’s critical Senate runoffs, she served as communications director for the coordinated campaign, and built a statewide program to reach diverse coalitions across Georgia. Prior to her work with DPG, she worked in research and communications for the Abrams for Governor campaign and in the Virginia governor’s office.
Emerge Georgia launched in the fall of 2019 and hosted a regional bootcamp in Atlanta in February 2020. With the support of Emerge alums like U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, State Sens. Jennifer Jordan and Zahra Karinshak, and State Reps. Becky Evans and Shelly Hutchinson, Emerge grew the number of women on the ballot in 2020 and secured critical victories, most notably Nicole Love Hendrickson, who was elected the first woman and first woman of color to chair Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, the second most populous county in the state, and Deborah Gonzalez, who became the first Latina District Attorney in the state.
Emerge America has trained more than 4,500 Democratic women to run for office and has committed to reaching 100,000 women of the New American Majority–Black, Brown and Indigenous women and women of color, as well as LGBTQ+, young and unmarried women–over the next 15 years. There are currently 27 state affiliates, and the organization has impacted a total of 45 states, Washington, D.C. and territories. Emerge will hold four virtual regional boot camps in 2021, check here for more information.
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