Rock the Vote Announces New President And Launches Largest Midterm Election Campaign in Organization’s History
Today Rock the Vote announced the hire of Ashley Spillane as its new President as the organization takes on its largest midterm election campaign in history.
Spillane brings more than 10 years of experience in electoral politics, most recently serving as Executive Director of The Atlas Project and democratic GAIN. She has worked on numerous political campaigns in states across the country, including Iowa, Ohio, Florida, Minnesota and Maryland.
Building off the incredible success of running the largest non-partisan voter registration campaigns during the past six presidential elections, outgoing President Heather Smith will now serve as Co-Chair of Rock the Vote’s Board of Directors.
“As we celebrate Smith’s amazing work leading the organization for the past seven years, including building robust programs that advocate for the voting rights of young Americans, we are thrilled to welcome a dynamic, creative and innovative new leader to the helm,” commented Jeff Ayeroff, Founder of Rock the Vote. “Nearly 25 years ago Rock the Vote was launched with artists and the entertainment community, and we continue to be amazed at the exponential growth and incredible success this organization continues to garner, much of it to the credit of leaders like Smith.”
Spillane joins Rock the Vote as the organization prepares to launch its largest midterm election campaign in the organization’s history by registering more than 400,000 young people to vote in November’s election.
Rock the Vote’s work this year includes educating and turning out young people, launching the largest online voter registration campaign to expand the Latino electorate, bringing civic education to our nation’s high schools, and supporting the modernization of our elections system. Together these programs combine to create an effective approach to making a short-term impact on youth engagement while laying the groundwork for long-term solutions to the barriers that young adults encounter when participating in our democracy for the first time.
“For more than two decades, Rock the Vote has empowered young people to participate in our democracy and helped amplify their voices to create political progress,’ said Spillane. “I’m excited to join Rock the Vote and continue to explore innovative solutions for registering our nation’s young people and to be part of an organization that clearly understands the power of popular culture, music, art and technology in engaging young people in the political process.”