
Your Kitchen Cabinet
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET
Every Woman's Virtual Campaign Team
Your Kitchen Cabinet is a digital series hosted by Erin Vilardi, Founder and CEO and Pakou Hang, Chief Program Officer of Vote Run Lead, featuring guest experts, advisors, officials, and activists from across the political sphere. We have open conversations about real issues, timely topics, and provide actionable steps to add to your campaign toolbox.
CATCH UP WITH US
Season 1
Every Woman’s Virtual Campaign Team
Did you miss Season 1? We’re here for you. Watch the videos and catch up with Your Kitchen Cabinet. The first season focused on campaigning in the time of coronavirus, and we provided practical tips and action items to kick off your campaign now.
EPISODE 1
CAMPAIGNING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
Whether you’re running for office, working on a campaign or protecting our democracy, Vote Run Lead is here for you. Each week, three “Cabinet Members'' will go online to answer your questions, give your real-time advice and fact-based information. Let our experts serve as your personal Kitchen Cabinet!
Experts: Crystal Patterson, Facebook Global Civic Partnership Manager Jillia Pessenda, Women Winning Senior Political Director Faith Winter, Colorado State Senator and Vote Run Lead National Training Director
Resources:
Deck [download]
TOP TIPS: Fundraising While Social Distancing [download]
TOP TIPS: Direct Voter Contact While Social Distancing [download]
EPISODE 2
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET: PROTECT THE VOTE, PROTECT DEMOCRACY
Whether you’re running for office, working on a campaign or protecting our democracy, Vote Run Lead is here for you. Each week, three “Cabinet Members'' will go online to answer your questions, give your real-time advice and fact-based information. Let our experts serve as your personal Kitchen Cabinet!
Experts: Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute & Coalition
JoCasta Zamarripa, Milwaukee City Council--8th District
Keesha Gaskins-Nathan, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Democratic Practice Program & Racial Justice Initiative
Resources:
Deck [download]
TOP TIPS: Fundraising While Social Distancing [download]
TOP TIPS: Direct Voter Contact While Social Distancing [download]
EPISODE 3
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET: WHAT ARE VOTERS THINKING AND HOW SHOULD CAMPAIGNS MESSAGE TO THEM
We will be focusing on what voters are thinking and feeling and how should campaigns message or communicate with them in this time of COVID-19. No one has campaigned in a global pandemic before so how does the campaigning message change?
Experts: Nichole M. Bauer, Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University; Christy Setzer, President and Founder of New Heights Communications; Jane Inez Rayburn, Vice President at EMC Research
Resources:
Deck [download]
Jane Rayburn Deck [download]
Nichole Bauer Deck [download]
EPISODE 4
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET: SEEKING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY: CAMPAIGNS, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND COVID-19: A COLLABORATION BETWEEN VOTE RUN LEAD AND NEW AMERICAN LEADERS
Contrary to popular rhetoric, COVID-19 is not the great equalizer. While it can affect everyone equally, disproportionately, communities of color and indigenous communities have been physically and financially harmed. Moreover, Asian American have seen a dramatic increase in hate crimes and hateful speech spurred by irresponsible references to the virus and Asia. This week’s “Your Kitchen Cabinet” call will explore how generations of inequity are playing out during this pandemic. Through a series of activities, participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and think of how they want to, and can, use their time, talent, relationships and campaigns to be of service with and for the most impacted communities of COVID-19
Experts:
Pakou Hang, Chief Program Officer, Vote Run Lead; Irene Godinez, Vice President of Programs, New American Leaders; Raquel Castañeda-López, Board Member, Detroit City Council Member for District 6; Shannon Garrett, Chief Strategy Officer for the Michigan Women's Commission
Julie Gonzales, Colorado State Senator for District 34; Jehmu Greene, Founder, Barbara’s Legacy; Tishaura Jones, Treasurer for the City of St. Louis, MO; Juanita Lewis, Hudson Valley Organizing Director at Community Voices Heard; Eva Masadiego, National Director of Leadership Programs, New American Leaders; Prairie Rose Seminole, Policy Analyst; Raquel Teran, Arizona State Representative for District 30; Lea Webb, Former Binghamton City Council Member; Faith Winter, Colorado State Senator for District 24;
Resources:
Deck [download]
Seeking the Beloved Community: Campaigns, Communities of Color and COVID-19 Activities Worksheet [download]
How To Engage With Communities Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19 [download]
EPISODE 5
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET: DIGITAL CAMPAIGNING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
This week’s “Your Kitchen Cabinet” call will explore how to elevate your digital campaign in the time of COVID-19. What digital tools can be swapped in for traditional face to face activities? What are best practices around peer to peer SMS tactics? What hacks, devices or shortcuts can bolster your digital plan? We will answer all this and more.This week our Cabinet Member experts will give you real tips, advice on what tools to use, and social media hacks to connect with your community and break through the noise. Join us to access secret hacks that industry professionals use to meaningfully connect with communities.
Experts:
Pakou Hang, Chief Program Officer, Vote Run Lead; Zanade Mann, Director of Digital Strategy, Vote Run Lead; Beth Becker, Founder, Becker Digital Strategies; Char Singleton,Senior Organizer, Resistance Labs;
Resources:
Deck [download]
Zanade’s Deck [download]
Candidate Brand Intake Form [download]
Top Tips for Digital Campaigning [download]
Email Tex [download]
EPISODE 6
YOUR KITCHEN CABINET: RESISTANCE, RESILIENCE, AND RENEWAL: JOYFUL LEADERSHIP IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
The first stay at home order in the United States and its Territories was signed on March 15, 2020 by Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced. Since then the world has turned upside down. We know these unprecedented times are calling us to live, act, and think differently. How should we meet this moment? How can we be shining lights in these dark days? And what new world do we want to birth? Please join us for an hour of exploration and celebration.
Experts:
Pakou Hang, Chief Program Officer, Vote Run Lead; Linda Leu, Executive Director and instructor, IMPACT Bay Area; Ari Afsar, Singer, Songwriter, Storyteller; Naomi Ko, Filmmaker, Cultural Producer, Actor; Rhonda Briggins, Co-Founder and Board Member, Vote Run Lead and National Co-Chair for Social Action, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
Resources:
Deck [download]
Letter To the Old Me [download]
IG LIVE
W/ LATOSHA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK VOTERS MATTER
Erin’s IG Live featuring our first guest LaTosha Brown, Co-founder of @blackvotersmtr and Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University. LaTosha Brown is an award-winning organizer, philanthropic consultant, political strategist and jazz singer with over twenty years of experience working in the non-profit and philanthropy sectors on a wide variety of issues related to political empowerment, social justice, economic development, leadership development, wealth creation and civil rights.
IG LIVE
W/ GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer joins Erin, live on IG, Tuesday April 14th, to share her firsthand account of how she is tackling the global pandemic in her state.
IG LIVE
WITH CONGRESSWOMAN LAUREN UNDERWOOD
IG Live Conversation with Rep. Lauren Underwood on Women’s Leadership and leading through a pandemic. Representative Underwood is a registered nurse and the youngest Black woman ever elected to Congress.
Top Tip
Campaigning: Be Sensitive.
Acknowledge the anxiety and fear that is dominating this time of COVID-19. But don’t give into it. Show how you are already leading, offer some resources, then do your ask.
Top Tip
Fundraising: Remember You Are Enough.
In some ways, fundraising hasn’t changed with the onset of COVID-19. Great candidates like you still need funds. Donors still expect campaigns to ask for money. Remember you got this and you are worth investing in, especially now.
Top Tip
Campaigning Virtually: Tell Stories.
People are familiar with the architecture of stories (beginning, middle and end), and because it’s familiar to them, they remember it best. So the best way to reach your community is to tell stories that your community is interested in hearing about: stories about their neighborhoods and their friends.
Think about interviewing local guests and community members, and when you do, remember:
- Keep it short. Don’t talk for more than 30 minutes. Less is better.
- Be consistent. Make the interviews part of a regularly scheduled “office hours.”
- Consider co-hosts. Think about how you can leverage other people’s networks so that your interview shows up on the feeds of both your followers and their followers.
- Listen, listen, listen. People won't care about what you know until they know that you care.
CATCH UP WITH US
Season 2
Providing Context: Our Hidden American History
Did you miss Season 2? That’s OK too. We’ve gathered the videos and materials so you can catch up with Your Kitchen Cabinet. The second season focused on the hidden stories within American history to provide context and shed light on today.
EPISODE 1
OUR ORIGIN STORY. WHERE DID WE COME FROM?
Many of the ideals and governance structures touted by the “Founding Founders and Mothers” as uniquely American were actually ideas, laws, and values from an alliance of multiple Indigenous nations called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, meaning "People of the longhouse." This group was also called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French, and the League of Five Nations by the English. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is often described as the oldest participatory democracy on Earth, and its constitution is believed to be the model on which the American Constitution is based. Ironically, while the ideas, laws and values of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were integral in the writing of the Constitution, Native Americans' cultural and religious traditions and practices were outlawed until 1978, with the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. How people gather, express their cultural identities, and practice community continues to be an issue of contention in modern America. Most recently, the restrictions placed on building mosques in certain neighborhoods, the uncovering of women’s hijabs for government issued IDs, or the Muslim travel ban are examples of how this is still playing out. How are these issues manifested at the many levels of government and how can we approach these issues of religious and cultural freedoms with an equity lens?
Experts: Prairie Rose Seminole, Policy Analyst; Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director for the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center for Social Justice Dialogue; Sabina Mohyuddin, Executive Director for the American Muslim Advisory Council in Nashville, TN
Resources:
Deck [download]
Resources List [download]
Prairie Rose Seminole's Powerpoint [download]
Sabina Mohyuddin's Powerpoint [download]
Case Study on why building Mosques is so controversial [download]
EPISODE 2
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. HOW DID WE BEGIN?
When the “Founding Fathers” declared independence from British rule in 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But at that time, half of the 2.5 million people living in the colonies were enslaved. How did the Revolutionists reconcile their notions of equality with the widespread system of slavery. And what about the enslaved people in the 13 colonies? What were they thinking, feeling and doing during this time? Surprisingly, over 15% of the Revolutionary Army was made up of enslaved Black people. Why did they risk their lives for a cause that denied them those very same rights? Fast forward to modern time, and the question still reverberates of why so many people of color and indigenous folks risk their lives for a country, that some would argue, denies them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In 2017, over 43% of the United States’ active duty military were minorities. That same year, the Enlist Act was introduced in Congress which would automatically give Dreamers a lawful entry status and a pathway to citizenship, if they enlisted in the military. Was that a noble concession or an exploitation of Dreamers’ desperation and fear? Is slavery abolished or are we still in bonds today? And lastly, what is the obligation of a grateful nation to its soldiers, especially when those soldiers are not even citizens?
Experts: Professor Andrew Delbanco, Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies at Columbia University and the author of The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War; Felicia Escobar, Former Obama Administration Official; Manisha Sinha, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs; Dr. Nneka D. Dennie, Assistant Professor of History at Washington and Lee University; Milteri Tucker, Milteri Tucker Concepcion, Founder and CEO of Bombazo Dance Co, Inc
Resources:
Deck [download]
Resources List [download]
EPISODE 3
CITIZENSHIP. WHO ARE WE?
When the Founding Fathers declared independence from the British Empire, they were in essence saying we do not want to belong to you anymore. They sought to create a new country and a new government to oversee the 2.5 million people living in the 13 colonies. But half of those people were enslaved. Were they given citizenship in this new country? So who really belonged in this new country? Even nowadays we ask ourselves, who truly counts in the United States and who gets counted? This week’s Your Kitchen Cabinet will explore the technicalities of citizenship, and notions of belonging in the United States and how those notions play out today with the recent citizenship question on the US Census. Moreover, we will explore times in our history when the legalities of citizenship were overshadowed with racism.
Experts: Kathy Masaoka, Co chair, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress; Eric Foner, Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University; Karen Ishizuka, Ph.D., writer, and chief curator, Japanese American National Museum
Resources:
Deck [download]
Resource List [download]
Case Study on Thind vs. US [download]
EPISODE 4
RULE OF LAW. WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT?
On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police. His death ignited an international outcry that Black Lives Matter and illuminated other cases of police brutality and lack of accountability. What does the rule of law, and conversely, justice for all truly mean? This week’s Your Kitchen Cabinet will explore different ways of thinking, speaking and working towards a safer community and justice for all.
Experts: Vanessa Cooksey, Board of Directors, Vote Run Lead; Natalie Parks, CEO & Founder, Behavior Leader, Inc.; Jehmu Greene, Vote Run Lead Board Member, Founder of Barbara’s Legacy, FOX News Political Analyst; Leslie Herod, Colorado State Representative
Resources:
Resource List [download]
Case Study on Camden Police Department [download]
EPISODE 5
COMMERCE. WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT?
Throughout American history, the labor and property of Black, Indigenous and People of Color have been commodified to increase the wealth of white people, where in “a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information and people into commodities or objects of trade.” But what would it look like if Black, Indigenous and People of Color owned their own labor? What has happened when they strived to touch the sun? And what can lawmakers do to create a more equitable economy?
Experts: Karlos K. Hill, Associate Professor and Chair of the Clara Luper Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Oklahoma; Nkuli Shongwe, Community Wealth Building Coordinator, Nexus Community Partners; Urvashi Banerjea, Co-Chair of Women Advancing Microfinance NY; Briana Sidney, Worker/ Owner, Mandela Grocery
Resources:
Deck [download]
Resource List [download]
EPISODE 6
REPRESENTATION. WHAT DO WE DESERVE?
What type of democracy do we deserve? We deserve a democracy that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. In short, one that is grassroots and representative. This week’s Your Kitchen Cabinet will engage in an intimate conversation with Alicia Garza, Principal at Black Futures Lab and feature performances by spoken words artist, Julissa Contreras, and singer Abbie Npauj Lee as we explore how we can transform our democracy and push it closer to the true promise of liberty and justice for all.
Experts: Julissa Contreras, Creator, Ladies Who Bronché; Alicia Garza, Principal at the Black Futures Lab; Abbie Npauj Lee, Singer;
Resources:
Deck [download]
Resource List [download]
This I Believe Group Exercise Worksheet [download]
If I Want to Get Free By Julissa Contreras [download]
KITCHEN CABINET CONVERSATIONS
W. DR. LINDA BURKE, MD, MS, FACOG, BLOGGER, AND FOUNDER OF THE SMART MOTHER'S GUIDE AND CEO OF PERINATAL SOLUTIONS LLC
Dr. Linda Burke talks to our very own Zanade Mann about the history, commodification and treatment of Black lives in medical research.
KITCHEN CABINET CONVERSATIONS
W. KEESHA GASKINS, ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE PROGRAM & RACIAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE & ALEJANDRA CASTILLO, CEO OF YWCA USA
Erin will go live with Alejandra Castillo, President of YWCA USA and Keesha Gaskins-Nathan of Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Democratic Practice Program & Racial Justice Initiative for ideas and actions you can take to create fair districts maps and get everyone counted for the U.S. Census.
KITCHEN CABINET CONVERSATIONS
W. ZULFAT SUARA, NASHVILLE AT-LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER
Join us for Kitchen Cabinet Conversations with Zulfat Suara, Nashville At-Large Council Member where she will share her expertise on city budgeting,how the government budget can be intentional about communities of color, and her role within the Nashville Metro Council.
KITCHEN CABINET CONVERSATIONS
W. CORI BUSH & TISHAURA JONES
Celebrate with us at the Season 2 Finale of Kitchen Cabinet Conversations with two Radical Leaders we deserve! Cori Bush and St. Louis Treasurer, Tishaura Jones will talk with Erin about their recent victories, the critical work in Missouri, and how you can take the lead in your community. Thursday, August 20 at 1pm EST Live on Facebook and YouTube.
Want the Latest?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest, most up-to-date pro-tips, and join a community of like-minded changemakers pushing for progress.