Emerge Staff Spotlight, May 2024:
Danica Roem, Emerge Virginia Executive Director
Danica has been with Emerge since 2022. She was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017 and to the Virginia Senate last year.
Find out more about Danica:
Why is your work at Emerge important?
Men have run Virginia’s government continuously since 1619 and only this year did we finally get the Democratic caucus in both the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates to both be woman-majority. Virginia has a population that is majority women and our state government should reflect that reality — yet women make up less than half of the total number of Senators and Delegates for both parties combined and we’ve never had a woman governor. Meanwhile, at the local level, we need Democratic women to step up and serve so we not only build our farm teams for tomorrow but have inclusive, responsible, policy-focused local leaders at every level of government. That’s what drives me to recruit and train Democratic women and non-binary folks to run for office. As an Emerge Virginia 2017 bootcamp alumna, I know the training works as a candidate who won. As executive director of Emerge Virginia, I want to inspire our cohorts to not only have the confidence it takes to win their campaigns but to know they can succeed because of who they are, not despite it.
Who in politics inspires you?
My congresswoman Rep. Jennifer Wexton was one of the most effective legislators when she served in the state Senate, despite being in the minority party. Since she’s been in Congress, I’ve never been better represented at the federal level. She’s someone who I strive to emulate.
What do you like to do in your free time?
So I’ve not only watched every “Outlander” episode repeatedly, listened to all of the audiobooks and read the printed copies of all of the side books that don’t have audiobooks, but I’m currently six printed books deep into the nine main novels, which are all huge undertakings and easily the longest books I’ve ever read. I suspect I’ll have plenty to keep me busy until the second half of Season 7 airs in November.