Helping down-ballot Democrats be better at the Internet
Tech for Campaigns’ (TFC) mission is to fight extremism and help Democrats win at scale by using advanced commercial digital marketing and data techniques.
To do that, we are building a lasting and permanent digital entity for the Democratic Party. We look for the highest ROI opportunities to utilize digital marketing and data to change electoral outcomes. Today, we run two main programs connected by one core technology tool: 1. Digital Campaigns Services provides swing-district, state level political campaigns with access to world-class talent to implement digital strategies needed to compete. These campaigns would not otherwise have access to this level of talent. 2. Digital Voter Turnout - we run a best-in-class digital voter turnout program to turnout low propensity Democrats. Turnout decides close elections. And, finally, we use our Leaning Engine platform to learn from all of our programs quickly and share that knowledge with our teams, campaigns and partners.
TFC started as an idea between three tech entrepreneurs in early 2017: What if, instead of just volunteering time and money, they could volunteer their expertise in web development, social media, paid marketing, and data analysis? They created a Google Doc to share the idea with friends, and within 72 hours had 700+ volunteer signups from Silicon Valley’s most sought-after tech and digital talent. The TFC model was first deployed in 2017’s Virginia state legislative elections and has grown to have worked in scores of states and with hundreds of campaigns since.
From 2009 to 2017, at the state legislative level, Democrats lost 1,000 seats and control of 39 chambers at the state level. They only gained one-fifth of those back by 2020. State legislatures control the destiny of reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, and voting rights and elections. Despite their importance, state races raise relatively little money and thus struggle to get attention from campaign professionals. TFC helps reverse this with a three-pronged strategy:
We've worked with over 700 campaigns on over 1,200 digital projects, registered over 500K people to vote by mail or vote early, and were pivotal in flipping or breaking supermajorities in 7 state chambers.
Nora has been both a tech entrepreneur and executive and brings 17 years of experience to the table, having led and scaled businesses across consumer hardware, digital health, and climate tech sectors. She has an impressive track record of raising over $80M for her companies and has had several successful exits. She was also Board Chair at New Destiny Housing, a non-profit that secures housing for survivors of domestic violence. She holds a BS and MS from Stanford University.
Ping leads the in-house technology projects that help us scale up our effectiveness and impact. He came to TFC with a long history working as a software engineer, usability professional, and technologist in politics, elections, disaster response, and humanitarian relief. While at Google.org, he cofounded the Google Crisis Response team, and he has been to the field with MSF (Doctors Without Borders) in countries facing Ebola epidemics and political insecurity. Ping has a BASc from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, where he was part of the technical team commissioned by the California Secretary of State to perform a security review of the state's electronic voting machines.
Heather brings a wealth of digital marketing experience to TFC having held marketing leadership roles at Square, Ridwell, Pie Insurance and Netflix. At Ridwell, she was Chief Marketing Officer and was responsible for all aspects of marketing for their B2C subscription recycling service. At Pie Insurance, she led go-to-market strategy, and oversaw digital, content, social, brand, SEO, email, offline, analytics, PR, product marketing, and partnerships. She holds a BA from Yale University.
A passionate relationship builder, Allie brings new campaigns and candidates into the TFC universe as the Campaign Director. She previously managed the voter engagement program at Democracy Works, helping partners leverage civc technology to mobilize their communities and increase voter turnout. Between calls with campaigns, Allie spends her winters enjoying the Green Mountains and her summers exploring the shores of Lake Champlain.
Jessica is a software engineer for TFC with an emphasis on data. She is focused on building tools that help campaigns learn quickly and make effective choices. Prior to joining TFC, Jessica had a decade of experience building products for applied math and data applications, first as a staff engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and then as a data scientist at an educational nonprofit. She holds a Master of Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley.
Eric is a growth marketing leader with over 15 years of experience. He has led growth and paid acquisition at well known consumer brands like Outschool, Sun Basket and Autolist and has managed over $300M of spend across channels. Before joining the D2C world, he worked with Planned Parenthood. Eric has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University.
Julie is an experienced marketing leader who has driven high impact programs at tech companies including Meta, Uber, and Etsy. She has led dynamic teams to develop significant growth and product engagement initiatives and is passionate about applying her expertise to support democratic campaigns. Julie holds a BA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Jim Bobowski is a 20+ year brand and growth marketer. Before TFC he was CMO at two startups, Texture and Citrus Lane, and a Director of Marketing for over 16 years at Capital one and Netflix, where he helped both companies achieve rapid customer and brand growth. Jim received his Masters in Business from the Haas School of Business at the University of California - Berkeley and resides in Northern California with his wife, child, and two dogs.
Lauren comes from a background of leading and building new marketing programs in high-growth tech start ups, including Drizly (later acquired by Uber). She joins the team to support volunteer acquisition and retention. Prior to joining TFC, she has been an avid activist for under-represented communities and is excited to be able to drive success up and down the ballot for progressive candidates with TFC.
Angela has been a CMO in tech, packaged goods, hospitality, and entertainment. She has held senior positions at Electronic Arts, Food.com, Evite and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and can also tell you quite a bit about how to shoot live sports events in 3D. Several years ago, she turned her focus to mission-driven organizations and politics, and has been responsible for branding and product marketing work for icons such as Mayo Clinic, Hazelden/Betty Ford, and the Barnes Foundation, while volunteering on the digital arms of the Obama and Clinton presidential campaigns. She holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.
Annie has spent her 15+ year career uncovering and telling data-driven stories that drive positive business impact for clients across industries, and now brings her strong communication and process improvement skills to TFC. As project staffing coordinator, she’s responsible for connecting volunteers with open roles and maximizing volunteer throughput. Annie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Management from the University of Dayton.
Cristol was most recently Chief Markting Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Landed. She hasheld senior marketing roles at Root Insurance and Abbott Nutrition and has lead everything from brand strategy to SEO to social media and performance marketing. She has BA from University of Pennsylvania.
Mandy has numerous years of experience in digital marketing, client management, and business operations, having held leadership positions at leading global advertising agencies. Most recently, as Chief Operating Officer at OMD US, Mandy spearheaded operational transformation across the organization. She holds a BS from Lehigh University.
Rob Harol brings years of experience as a digital product leader, delivering ad-supported solutions for various consumer-facing content and lead generation platforms such as Leaf Group, Prodege, and Machinima. As a metrics-driven State Director, Rob partners with campaigns to drive measurable success. He holds a B.A. from UCLA in Economics and Political Science and is a USAF veteran.
John is a seasoned startup executive with extensive experience in go-to-market leadership and a deep background in advertising technology and services. Before TFC, John was a general manager, overseeing Social Ads businesses for ad tech companies Kenshoo and Nanigans. He played a key role in partnerships as an early employee with MasterClass. Most recently, John ran his own executive search practice. John holds a BA in Economics from Tufts University. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, two young kids, and dog - Guapo.
Steve Jacobs is a digital politics veteran, having served in leadership positions both in-house and as a consultant on President Obama's 2012 campaign, Colorado Governor Jared Polis's 2018 campaign, and Bill de Blasio's 2013 race for mayor of New York City, among others. An expert in digital fundraising and mobilization, Steve partners with campaigns to make it rain and get out the vote. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University
Punit is an Ad Ops Coordinator for TFC. He is focused on onboarding campaign partners onto Ad Platforms ensuring a smooth integration process and leverages his technical skills to implement tracking on campaign websites, enabling data-driven decision-making. He spends his free time diving into the world of 3D immersive web experiences, crafting mind-bending digital journeys to captivate and engage audiences.
Jessica is a serial founder and investor. She works with companies to shape and scale their marketing and growth operations and is a Partner at Leap Forward Ventures. She was previously VP, BD at Figma. Prior, she was CEO of Tech For Campaigns, having founded the organization in 2017, Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at Social Capital, Cofounder & CEO of FounderDating (acquired by OneVest), the LinkedIn for entrepreneurs. Jessica led Business Development and was GM of Platforms at Bebo (acquired by AOL for $850M). She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from University of Michigan and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Pete Kazanjy is a serial founder, and seasoned early stage Saas executive, advisor, and investor. Pete founded TalentBin, a category-defining talent search engine and recruiting CRM, which exited to Monster Worldwide in early 2014. Pete is passionate about HR tech, marketplaces, and tech-enabled sales and sales operations. Prior to TalentBin, Pete worked in product marketing and product at VMware, having graduated from Stanford in 2002.
Ian Ferguson is an entrepreneur and a designer in equal measure. Both analyst and artist, he believes that good design and tactical business objectives are inseparable. He currently develops software and user experiences for emerging brands in both the technology and non-profit sectors through his own creative studio, Res Facta. From 2011-2016, he oversaw product and brand development as a founder of Kitchit, a marketplace connecting diners with professional chefs for full-service, at-home dining. Prior to Kitchit, Ian was a Consultant at Bain & Co. and earned a BA at Yale and an MBA from Stanford.
Gina was a founding member and CMO of Blueland and VP Consumer Experience at Theory. She advises early stage mission-driven start-ups on strategic growth and marketing. Gina received her MBA from Harvard Business School and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University.
After beginning his career in investment management at J.P. Morgan and First Republic, Greg worked as a product manager and account executive at Chartboost, a mobile ad platform, and was the Founding Business Lead at Myra Labs, which focuses on bringing artificial intelligence to customer care. Greg holds a BA from UC San Diego.
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We are looking for talented people to help us reshape the American political landscape in a meaningful way.