President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign has named Stefanie Brown to be the campaign’s African-American Vote Director for the Operation Vote outreach effort. Brown, 31, was formerly a national field director for the Baltimore office of the NAACP.
Operation Vote is part of the Obama campaign’s national strategy of voter-outreach efforts to inspire black, Hispanic, female, LGBT and young voters to the polls this November. President Obama won an overwhelming majority among young voters, blacks and other minorities in 2008, and most experts contend that he will need a similar surge of support amongst African-American and other minority voters to be successful in the upcoming November election.
Brown is an Ohio native and a graduate of Howard University. As national field director and head of the NAACP’s Youth & College division, Brown is credited with leading a vote-drive the NAACP claims registered more than 200,000 new voters for the 2008 and 2010 elections. She also coordinated a program for HIV/AIDS prevention for at-risk Hispanic and black youth in Cleveland. In 2010 Essence.com named her one of the “Top 10 Emerging Political Leaders.”
Jim Messina, the Obama Campaign Manager, said in a statement that Brown ” ? has dedicated her life to empowering people of color to organize and advocate for justice and equality in their communities. She is a natural fit for a campaign who’s fueled by its grassroots strength. Stefanie’s youth, commitment and proven ability to mobilize and energize voters will be an invaluable asset to the campaign.”
Read more at The Grio.
