Since Joe Biden ceded the floor to Kamala Harris in late July, the energy in the Democratic Party has been infectious. But Harris’s ascension to presidential nominee is personal for A’shanti Gholar, the president of Emerge America. “Our organization was founded out of her race for district attorney,” she tells me. In 2002, Harris was a first-time candidate running against an eight-year incumbent in San Francisco. The state of women in politics was bleak at the time. Harris’s advisers, frustrated by the lack of support she was receiving, banded together to create Emerge, a new network for Democratic women running for office.
In the more than 20 years since, Emerge has trained over 6,000 candidates and sent more than 1,200 to higher political office. Their alumni are among the most powerful women in the country, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Boston mayor Michelle Wu, and Arizona governor Katie Hobbs. Gholar has watched this evolution in real time, working her way up from the co-founder of Emerge’s Nevada affiliate to becoming the organization’s first Black woman president in 2020.
Gholar is charged this fall not only with helping elect Harris, but what she calls “the new American Majority.” “Black, brown, Indigenous women, young women, unmarried women, LGBTQ women. These are the voters fueling Democratic victories. We want them to put their names on the ballot,” she says. While pollsters debate the electoral map, Gholar and her team are working to re-elect over 600 of their candidates and capture the excitement of women around the country who, inspired by Harris, are signing up to learn how to run for office. “She’s going to need a good Congress to work with,” says the strategist. “She’s also going to need allies at the state and local level, and that’s where the majority of our elected offices are.” Gholar lives in Washington, D.C., but will spend much of her time on the road until Election Day. Here’s how she gets it done.
On a typical morning:
I try not to grab my phone first thing. But we’re in the middle of election season, so I will be grabbing my phone first thing every morning until Election Day. I usually start off with an iced coffee with oat milk and these great sugar-free syrups from HomeGoods. I turned my team onto them. We’re all addicted. Emerge has a hybrid environment, so if I’m working from home, my morning usually starts off with internal meetings. If I’m in the office, I’m doing external meetings, lunches, and coffees.
On how her job has changed since Kamala Harris became the nominee:
Even before “the switch,” as I like to call it, we were all in for Biden-Harris. But the energy since then has been incredible in activating women. We recently did a virtual Step Up training, which is what we call a 101 training for women who are interested in running, and we had nearly 500 sign-ups. We’ll be hosting another one at the Democratic National Convention.
Women are starting to realize that they can have a story like the vice-president. I’m loving this tidbit about her being the first president to have worked at a McDonald’s. It makes people realize that we all start somewhere. It has been wonderful for our recruitment and our training.
On managing stress:
I started going to Nava Health, which is a health-care clinic in the D.C. area. I get IV therapy, acupuncture, massages. My physician oversees my blood work to make sure all my levels are good. I get any supplements I might need to correct those levels and keep my energy up. I also have regular appointments with my therapist to check in and let out any tension or stress that I’m holding. We should all be focusing more on our mental health.
On the challenging parts of her job:
Running an organization is a lot of work. From the minute you check in to the minute you check out, you’re making decisions that will impact your organization. You’re responsible for a lot of staff. It can be very stressful. Emerge has never been done before, so there’s no playbook that I can turn to and say, “Oh, this is how you deal with a global pandemic.” I really had to trust myself and my gut and the decisions I was making. And I always want to hear from the team; they’re part of this work, part of this movement.
On navigating criticism and reports of internal conflict:
When you run a prominent organization you’re going to get those kinds of articles. When I met with the team, I said I appreciate the feedback. And I heard what was said. No organization is going to be perfect. People aren’t always going to agree with the direction and the decisions that you make, but the most important thing is that you move forward. And that’s what we did.
I really love the quote from Venus Williams when she was asked about people who are criticizing her. She said, “You know, all of the people who are really criticizing me can’t do what I do.” There are a lot of people who are just sitting on a couch, a computer, who are lobbying criticism, who really haven’t even stepped into the arena. I keep that in mind as well.
On keeping her energy up:
I am all about water and electrolytes. I love the ones from Ultima. They’re very tasty and don’t have a lot of sugar. I try to keep my sugar intake very low. I also love Bloom, I add their green powder to my water and drink it alongside my morning coffee.
On advice she wishes she’d known at the start of her career:
When I started in politics almost 20 years ago, people would always say, “you have to have tough skin” or “you can’t be too nice.” But the truth is you can just show up in politics as you are and be successful. We see that with our alums every single day. Women from all walks of life, background, careers, religions, and ethnicities being their authentic selves and being successful. You’re already enough. Just be true to who you are.
On winding down at the end of the day:
I love the process of washing off the day and getting ready for a good night’s sleep. I recently got one of those Bluetooth sleep masks, which is great. I go to bed listening to affirmations in my ears rather than just streaming it from my phone. And a cute pair of pajamas, of course.
On the rise of political violence and election intimidation:
At Emerge, we’re honest about the fact that we can’t take racism, sexism, or misogyny out of politics. What we can do is make Democratic women into great, knowledgeable candidates with a network of support. It’s important to remember that the end goal with political violence, especially violence directed at women, is to scare us into not running for office, into not voting and not being politically engaged. That maintains the status quo. But when we are in elected office, when we’re at the table, we’re making powerful changes and that scares people. So we talk to our candidates about how to keep safe, because there are people out there who don’t want the country to change.
On the people who help her get it done:
My girls, for sure. We’re in the group chat every day. It’s important to have a good group of friends around you who are supportive, but will also tell you the things you may not want to hear. There’s also my incredible team at Emerge. There’s my amazing assistant, Felicia, who really keeps me together, and Laila Mohib, who is the director of my office. I don’t know what I would do without them.
