As part of our “Women on Wednesdays” series, please join American University's Women & Politics Institute for a virtual conversation  on “Moms in Politics” with WPI Executive Director Betsy Fischer Martin and Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of the non-profit “Vote Mama Foundation.”

When Liuba Grechen Shirley ran for Congress in 2018 as a mother of two young children, she found out “There is no playbook on how to run for office — and definitely no playbook for women running with babies.” As the leading source of research and analysis about the political participation of moms, Liuba will discuss Vote Mama’s mission to “break the structural barriers moms face running for office, normalize moms of young children running, and leverage a network of moms in office to advance women-centered, family-friendly legislation.” Learn more about their mission here.

Liuba Grechen Shirley is the founder and CEO of Vote Mama Foundation and Vote Mama PAC, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that help mothers run for office.

In 2018, she ran a historic congressional campaign to represent New York’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. During her race, she petitioned the Federal Election Commission and became the first woman in history to receive federal approval to spend Campaign Funds on Childcare.

In 2019 and 2020, Shirley was selected as one of Long Island’s 100 Most Powerful People by City & State and was named to the Long Island Business News 40 Under 40 list. Together with UN Women, she launched the #IAmParent campaign for Parental Leave and was selected as a Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Shirley holds an MBA with specializations in Management and Economics from the NYU Stern School of Business, and a BA in Politics and Russian from NYU.

ABOUT BETSY FISCHER MARTIN

Betsy Fischer Martin is an Emmy-winning journalist and former TV news executive. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and a faculty member in the School of Public Affairs, where she teaches courses on campaigns and elections. During her earlier career in television news, she spent 23 years at NBC News serving as the longtime Executive Producer of Meet the Press with Tim Russert and as the Managing Editor of NBC News Political Programming.

A native of New Orleans, Fischer Martin did her undergraduate and graduate work at American University in Washington, DC. She is a cum laude graduate of their School of Public Affairs and earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the AU School of Communication.

“Women On Wednesdays”: Liuba Grechen Shirley - “Moms in Politics”