With Halloween a week away and the presidential election two weeks away, the October 28, 2024 national edition of Friday Power Lunch was a discussion of the tricks & treats of the final days of the election. Or, to put it another way, keep calm & Get Out the Vote (GOTV). Co-hosts Katherine White, Finale Norton, Carrie Short and Susan Wagner spoke to guests Tom Bonier & Rachel Bitecofer.

GUESTS:

Tom Bonier (CEO, TARA Group)

Rachel Bitecofer (Political strategists and Author of "Hit 'Em Where it Hurts")

On the October 18, 2024 Friday Power Lunch, co-hosts Katherine White & Finale Norton talk to guests about dialing up the vote with a focus on Virginia Congressional Districts 1 and 5.

GUESTS:

Jessica Craven, author of the Substack “Chop Wood, Carry Water”

Leslie Mehta , Virginia Congressional Candidate in CD1 (East Central Virginia)

Del. Amy Laufer will talk about candidate Gloria Witt's campaign in CD5 (Central Virginia)

On the October 11, 2024 Friday Power Lunch, co-hosts Katherine White & Finale Norton talk to guests about what we can do to make sure Democratic candidates in Virginia win up and down the ballot with a special focus on CD7.

GUESTS:

• Delegate Josh Cole (HD65)>
• Congressional Candidate Eugene Vindman (Virginia CD7)
• Brandon Thurner (Vice Chair, Statewide Affairs in the Providence District Democratic Committee)
• Sara Ratcliffe (Democratic Rural Advocate)
• Jackson Miller (Organizing Director, VA 2024 Coordinated Campaign)

On the October 4, 2024 Friday Power Lunch, co-hosts Finale Norton and Carrie Short lead a conversation on how to effectively communicate with voters and break through the barrage of information noise.

GUESTS:

Elizabeth Chur is a Swing Left San Francisco volunteer and author of the new book, “The Joy of Talking Politics to Strangers: How to Save Democracy, One Conversation at a Time.”

Antonia Scatton is a political communications expert and founder of Reframing America newsletter on Substack.

On the September 27, 2024 Friday Power Lunch (the monthly national show), co-hosts Katherine White, Finale Norton & Susan Wagner speak to representatives from three swing states (Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona) on how out-of-state volunteers can help in the final weeks before the election.

GUESTS:

JAMIE PERRAPATO, Founder, Turn PA Blue

JEFFREY BERNFELD, Senior Advisor, Special Projects, Mecklenburg County North Carolina Democratic Party

For the September 20, 2024, Friday Power Lunch co-hosts Katherine White and Finale Norton engage in conversations on being fired up and ready to start voting early.

GUESTS

SIMON ROSENBERG (Political strategist and author of the Hopium Chronicles) discusses the importance of voting early and how Virginia is leading the nation in making early voting a celebration with its parties at the polls.

SKYE PERRYMAN (President and CEO of Democracy Forward, that uses the law to build collective power and advance a bold, vibrant democracy for all people) speaks about how Project 2025 is already here, who is behind it, and how we can track these connections.

MAGGIE O'NEILL, MEREDITH WELLS and SALLY MCBRATNEY (Vote for Your Daughter, a national public art campaign harnessing the power of art to encourage people to prioritize their daughter’s futures when voting) discusses their program uniting moms and dads to spread the word they are voting for their daughters this election. The team shared their activist kit and other creative and artist ways to give voice to what’s at stake for our daughters this election.

In Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, she challenged all of us to follow the words of Kamala Harris’ mother: Don’t just sit around complaining. DO Something.

On the August 30, 2024 Friday Power Lunch, show co-hosts Katherine White and Finale Norton speak to four amazing grassroots organizers on their thoughts on how women are uniting for Kamala Harris what each of us can DO from now until the election:

GUESTS

LAUREN BURKE — Media entrepreneur and independent journalist

MARY RARICK — Super connector and TikTok influencer

VEE RICHARDSON — Loudoun badass, creative activist

BARBARA JONES — Virginia’s own joyous organizer

On the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton gave a rousing speech honoring women past and present: "This is our time, America. This is when we stand up. This is when we break through. The future is here. It's in our grasp. Let's go win it."

The August 23, 2024 Friday Power Lunch (8/23) co-hosts Katherine White and Finale Norton lead a discussion of how women are meeting this moment with joy and determination as we rally behind the first black woman candidate for President, Kamala Harris.

A lot has been made of Harris being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, part of the group of black fraternities and sororities known as the Divine Nine. KRYSTA JONES, one of the founding co-hosts of the Friday Power Lunch, leads a conversation about the Divine Nine--who they are, what they do, and how they are mobilizing their members this election--with DELEGATE DEBRA GARDNER and SHELLINDA MILLER.

TONJA ROBERTS, from Vote Equality, talks to us the new documentary “Ratified” about the 100-year struggle for constitutional gender equality, and it's an inspiring story of a multi-racial, multi-generational, bi-partisan effort to make Virginia the 38th and final state to ratify the ERA.

VIDEOS SHOWN ON THE PODCAST

We debuted a new song by Cry Mathews “Not One Step Back” featuring a music video made by CJ Crim with appearances by members of the Friday Power Lunch community. Join in the chorus: “Forward. Forward. Not one step back. Not one step back.” https://vimeo.com/1000570674

"DNC 2024 – Four Days of Joy – When We Organize with Joy, We WIN "– A video summary of the convention featuring the Virginia Delegation

DNC 2024 - Four Days of Joy for a Nat...

"We Can Do It "– Music video celebrating Virginia being the 38th State to Ratify the ERA

"We Can Do It" - written & performed ...

On the August 9, 2024 Friday Power Lunch, co-hosts Katherine White and Finale Norton had conversations with four courageous women who are fighting for freedom by speaking out, organizing their communities, and running for office in tough districts.

GUESTS

HOLLI HOLLIDAY, is a formidable leader of WinWithBlackWomen (WWBW), a collective of black businesswomen, President of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, and founder of Holliday Advisors workplace culture firm. Finale Norton spoke with Holli about how black women leaders are organizing their networks to educate and inform black women about issues and candidates.

Congressional Candidates LESLIE MEHTA (Virginia CD1) & GLORIA WITT (Virginia, CD5) are running in two of the reddest districts in Virginia. Katherine White spoke with them about what inspired them to step up and run in these difficult districts and what we can do to help them ride this current wave of fighting for freedom.

JADE HARRIS (Special Projects Coordinator, RURAL GROUNDGAME), former GenZ candidate for Virginia state senate in southwestern Virginia, shared her views on this exciting moment in time and the actions we can take to support rural and/or young candidates.

On the August 2, 2024, Friday Power Lunch co-hosts Finale Norton and Carrie Short talked with our guests about the energy fueling young voters since VP Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign and how young voters are spreading KamaLOVE.

GUESTS

LUISA BOYARSKI of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition gave her popular event updates and insights on the 2024 election.

TY CHAMPION (President, Hampton Roads Young Democrats) has been omnipresent in coastal Virginia rallying and recruiting young Democrats. Carrie Short talked to Ty about how young voters are fired up to volunteer and elect Harris.

DALEY GRUEN (Founder, Fan Out) explained how he came up with the idea of turning pop star and sport team superfans into super political organizers. These superfans know how to connect with their networks so Fan Out incentivises them to use this skill to get out the vote. Carrie Short talked to Gruen about founding “Fan Out” to raffle off tickets to coveted events to superfans in exchange for getting their friends and family to register to vote or check their voter registration.

LAYLA ZAIDANE (President & CEO, Future Caucus) spoke with Finale Norton how Future Caucus works with young, elected officials to bridge the partisan divide and transform American politics. Layla discussed how Future Caucus builds relationships along generational identity and not partisan identity. They have chapters in 34 state legislatures and worked with over 1800 young election officials to help them restore trust in democracy.

MAYA LUNA gave an update about the Virginia Beach stop of the GenZ Tour to Save Democracy happening August 6 at Virginia Wesleyan University.

GUESTS

JESS PIPER (Executive Director of Blue Missouri, author of “The View from Rural Missouri” newsletter on Substack, TikTok influencer, and host of the weekly podcast “Dirt Road Democrat”) discussed the rural perspective on the new energy in the election.

KYLE SPENCER (Former New York Times contributor, author of Raising Them Right, and founding editor of “Reporting Right” newsletter on Substack) discussed how we can help local media get the story right by becoming trusted sources of information. She walked us through how to establish a relationship with reporters and then presented three story ideas to pitch to local reporters.

By Understanding Your Why, activists can learn positive, values-based messaging that inspires people and builds movements.

The Impact Center emphasizes the importance of using values-based messaging and neuroscience to connect with voters and run successful campaigns.

The June 21, 2024 Friday Power Lunch was a thoughtful and lively discussion on key issues we’ll be addressing at the Women’s Summit from exposing the politics of hate and rage for what they are to strategizing on how we meet the moment with innovative tactics and bold defiance.

GUESTS

SARAH STANDIFORD, Director of the Planned Parenthood Votes Campaigns and Elections team, spoke with Power Lunch co-host Katherine White about the ongoing repercussions of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, including the trend of states restricting access to reproductive healthcare services. They highlighted the coordinated efforts of lawmakers and courts to undermine democratic institutions and the importance of vigilance and activism in the face of these ongoing threats. They also discussed potential implications of a Supreme Court ruling expected the following week, which could allow states like Idaho to override the requirement that hospital emergency care includes abortion. Sarah emphasized the severe consequences of allowing hospital staff to opt out of care for patients in distress and the importance of long-term efforts towards protecting reproductive rights.

KYLE SPENCER, former New York Times contributor and author of “Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot for Power” and Founding Editor of the Substack “Reporting Right”, spoke with Power Lunch co-host Finale Norton about her book on how the right is radicalizing young people on social media through a strategy of normalizing rage and relentlessly fanning the flame of division. The discussion focused on the origins and tactics of a new youth movement, the importance of grassroots organizing, and the need for increased investment in youth organizations. They then transitioned into a discussion of what we can do. They spoke about the necessity of collaboration among groups, the shift from a bystander to an active role, and the importance of exposing the actions and plans of extreme right-wing groups.

The June 7, 2024 Friday Power Lunch was a series of conversations with people who are organizing the election their way.

GUESTS:

CAROLINE GLEICH is an American skier, mountaineer, and the Utah Democratic Party's nominee for Senate. She has climbed some of the highest peaks in the world including Everest/Chomolungma and Cho Oyu and is the first woman to have skied all the lines in “The Chuting Gallery.” She is an athlete activist who brings the same grit and determination as in sports to fight for social and environmental justice. Caroline talks about her run for Senate in Mitt Romney’s vacated seat and how she uses her athlete-activist perspective to reach young voters.

LISA LEIBOW is president and co-founder of The Scheherazade Project. Their model and inspiration is from the storyteller and activist, Scheherazade from the book,“The Arabian Nights.” The story is about the Sultan who vowed to take a new wife each night and have her executed the next morning. However, his latest bride, Scheherazade, saves herself by engaging the Sultan's interest in a series of interconnected tales. For 1001 nights she tells stories that eventually sway the Sultan to repent his evil ways. Through her storytelling, Scheherazade saves the women in her kingdom and transforms the sultan into a good man and enlightened ruler. Lisa shares how the Scheherazade Project uses stories, told through words, dance, and music, to bring awareness to social justice issues and inspire change.

When SAMUEL SCHWARTZ’s cousin was killed at the Parkland High School shooting, Sam realized he had to do something. He was part of the sit-in on the Capitol steps last year to demand a vote on the Assault Weapons Ban Act. This summer he is organizing a national bus tour, “Gen Z Tour to Save Democracy,” to educate and engage his fellow Gen Z’ers about the November election. Sam explains how he and his team are traveling the country by bus to drive change forward by stopping in districts that could flip from Red to Blue.

The May 31, 2024 Friday Power Lunch was the monthly national show. For this episode we are rethinking and applying new thinking to how we need to change the conversation.

GUESTS:

NED HOWEY (CEO and Co-Founder of Tectonica) speaks about his new book, “Fixing Our Democracies and Winning Elections in the Age of Junk Politics - A Guide to Transformational Campaigning” with national show co-host Susan Wagner

TERESA PURCELL (Founder, Rural Strong Network) speaks with co-host Finale Norton about why we need to change the conversation when working with rural communities.

LYDIA OZUNA (President, Texans Against Gerrymandering) and Alexander Montalvo (Founder, Texas Grassroots Alliance (TGA)) speaks with co-host Katherine White about how grassroots groups in Texas are joining forces to start their own Power Lunch show, “TGA: Grassroots Strong” to amplify the voices of the Texas grassroots.

The May 24, 2024, Friday Power Lunch was our always popular "Hot Minute" candidate power hour. We were joined by almost all the Virginia Democratic Congressional Candidates running in the June 18 primary.

We heard from the candidates in 3 groups.

GROUP 1 - Candidates in CD1, 2, 5, 6, & 9

• CD1 Herb Jones
• CD1 Leslie Mehta
• CD2 Jake Denton
• CD2 Missy Cotter Smasal
• CD5 Gloria Witt
• CD6 Ken Mitchell
• CD9 Karen Baker

GROUP 2 - Candidates in CD7

• Andrea Bailey
• Elizabeth Guzman
• Margaret Franklin
• Briana Sewell

GROUP 3 - Candidates in CD10

• Jennifer Boysko
• Eileen Filler Corn
• Marion Devoe
• Dan Helmer
• Krystle Kaul
• Mark Leighton
• Michelle Maldonado
• Travis Nembhard
• David Reid

Two Candidates were added at the end

• CD7 - Eugene Vindman
• CD11 - Congressman Gerry Connolly submitted a video because he was unable to attend in person

The May 17, 2024 Friday Power Lunch is a discussion on the grassroots and official campaign efforts to re-elect President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. '=

GUESTS

BETSY FIEBACH, Founding Member & States Leadership, of the Women for Biden-Harris (WFBH) Grassroots Coalition, highlights the organization's growth from a small group of 12 women on Facebook to a nationwide network with over 800,000 women online and off with state chapters across the country. Betsy then discusses how their members are supporting Democrats up and down the ballot as they help get Biden-Harris re-elected.

Senior members of the Virginia Biden-Harris campaign team--TONYA JAMES, Virginia Political and Coalitions Director, and TYEE MALLORY, Senior Advisor—talk about how they are ramping up the campaign in the state. Tonya, a longtime member of the grassroots community, discusses about how the grassroots always has a seat at the table in Virginia. They talk about how they are building a team of experienced professionals and opening offices across the state.

JOEL RUBIN, Virginia Beach political consultant, shares how he advises candidates to make political issues relatable by talking about them through personal stories.

The May 10, 2024 Friday Power Lunch is a discussion on Project 2025: how it shapes today’s Republican politics and what we need to know in order to understand its implementation and impacts.

GUESTS:

ANDRA WATKINS (NYTimes bestselling author and founder of the Substack “How Project 2025 Will Ruin YOUR Life”) explains how Christian Nationalism has infiltrated Republican politics as spelled out in Project 2025

Andra Watkins' Substack, How Project 2025 Will Ruin YOUR Life

KELSEY LAWRENCE (Save Samuels and Young Dems President, North Shenandoah County) discusses her 2023 fight to save Samuels library from book bans and budget cuts and how and why they were successful.

The May 3, 2024 Friday Power Lunch is a discussion on “Location, Location, Location: the Geography of Organizing“.

GUESTS:

LUISA BOYARSKI (Virginia Grassroots Coalition) gave her grassroots update.

DR. JOHN FINN (Associate Professor at Christopher Newport University) discusses his research on the historical and ongoing impacts of racially discriminatory housing policies on urban inequality in Hampton Roads. Dr. Finn helps us understand and identify the many layers of injustice from a human geography perspective which will paint a vivid picture of the landscapes of inequality and equip us to advocate for more racially and environmentally just communities.

KIM SUDDERTH (Community activist, former candidate for Delegate in HD 92 - Norfolk and the first Black woman to serve as Vice-Chair of the Norfolk Planning Commission) discusses how cultural awareness is key to being an effective organizer.

MARGARET MORRISON (Lifetime social justice advocate) shares her activist acumen on this important discussion.

April 26, 2024, Friday Power Lunch was our monthly national show where we discussed the important topic of registering Democratic voters.

To save Democracy, we need to win in November. In order to win, we need people to register and vote!

During the pandemic we were isolated and used online tools and tactics to engage voters.. This year’s election it’s about connecting with people who are craving in-person contact. We need to engage with voters one on one.

Today's guests focused on different angles to registering voters. We discussed finding the elusive unregistered voters, registering high school seniors, the importance of following up with newly registered voters, and using a new app that engages with people to vote.

Our opening music video featured the amazing tap dancing of Syncopated Ladies featuring Sole Talk, an international youth tap dance company founded by sister duo Chloe and Maud Arnold with choreography by Chloe Arnold to Janet Jackson’s song “Made for Now.”

Susan Wagner from the Grassroots Collaboration Project joined Friday Power Lunch host Katherine White for the opening Power Chat. They discussed the upcoming Women’s Summit “It’s Up to Us” June 28-29, 2024 in Tysons, Virginia (click here) and encouraged people to take advantage of the early bird discount rates for registration and hotel rooms. They also discussed the continued attack on women’s freedoms and that it is imperative we win in November

GUESTS

SUSAN LABANDIBAR (Co-Lead, Swing Blue Alliance) and ANDY LIEBMAN (Co-Coordinator, Unregistered Voters Data Project) discussed Swing Blue Alliance’s groundbreaking “Unregistered Voter Data Project” currently being tested in Arizona. They showcased the app they developed to streamline data collection and increase efficiency during door-to-door voter registration campaigns to identify and register voters.

LAURA BRILL (The Civics Center) spoke about youth voter registration and their program for high school seniors, "Cap, Gown & Ballot".She began by sharing her experiences working with Justice Ginsburg and discussed the importance of civic engagement in promoting a robust democracy.

DEBRA TAYLOR (Red2Blue) shared how they serve as a back-office for organizations that register new voters by calling them one month after registration to assure successful completion of the application and then a GOTV call before the election. Voicemail messages are left for those who do not answer and calls are followed by a text message.

ANDREA MILLER (Center for Common Ground) spoke about registering people of color to vote and the new voter engagement tool ActiVote. This tool lets you monitor your voter registration status, show every elected official from White House to County and Judges, show all bills in your state legislature and provide contact info for every candidate on your ballot. https://cfcg.news/activote

The April 19, 2024 Friday Power Lunch featured election innovators who are leading the Democratic Party to victory this November.

GUESTS

SENATOR L. LOUISE LUCAS (President Pro Tempore, Virginia's 18th Senate District) speaks about protecting the long-term interests of Virginians against MAGA Republican Governor Youngkin from the budget to the arena.

ANDERSON CLAYTON (Chair, North Carolina Democratic Party) represents the new energy coming into the Democratic party through young and vibrant state party leadership. Anderson explains how she is organizing year-round to rebuild the Democratic base in the state party to flip North Carolina blue.

ROBERTA THACKER-OLIVER (Chair of the Rural Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia) previews the May 3-5 Rural Retreat at Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center

CANDIDATE KEN MITCHELL (Virginia's 6th Congressional District) talks about his strategy to connect with voters in this large and rural district.

GUESTS

LUISA BOYARSKI from the Virginia Grassroots Coalition gave her ever informative update.

DELEGATES SAM RASOUL (HD38 - Roanoke) explained how the process works in theory and in practice. He will also share how citizens play a vital role in this process even though it may not appear that way from the outside.

DELEGATE JOSH THOMAS (HD21 - Prince William County) talked about his surprises, delights, and disappointments from his first session.

MICHAEL POPE (Journalist and host of Pod Virginia) shared stories about what he's seen, heard, and learned covering Virginia politics.

DELEGATE JACKIE GLASS (HD93 - Norfolk) wrapped up our conversation on how the legislative process works in Richmond and the important role activists play in this process.

GUESTS

SENATOR TIM KAINE gave an update on his campaign.

GENE ROSSI, our favorite legal analyst ,discussed the Trump hush money case that starts on April 15th.

DEEPAK PURI, founder of Democracy Labs, will demonstrated 3 free tech tools

NICK KNUDSEN, founder of Demcast, the largest and most impactful organic digital amplification network in the world, spoke about how we can amplify our message this election cycle.

DELEGATE MARCUS SIMON, HD13 – County of Fairfax, gave us an inside look into Governor Youngkin's vetos and what we might expect during next week's reconvened session of the General Assembly.

GUESTS

LUISA BOYARSKI from the Virginia Grassroots Coalition gave her ever informative update.

DELEGATES SAM RASOUL (HD38 - Roanoke) explained how the process works in theory and in practice. He will also share how citizens play a vital role in this process even though it may not appear that way from the outside.

DELEGATE JOSH THOMAS (HD21 - Prince William County) talked about his surprises, delights, and disappointments from his first session.

MICHAEL POPE (Journalist and host of Pod Virginia) shared stories about what he's seen, heard, and learned covering Virginia politics.

DELEGATE JACKIE GLASS (HD93 - Norfolk) wrapped up our conversation on how the legislative process works in Richmond and the important role activists play in this process.

The March 29, 2024 Friday Power Lunch was the special monthly national program where we explored building community as one of the core values of grassroots work today.

In addition to show hosts Katherine White & Finale Norton, Susan Wagner from the Grassroots Collaboration Project joined the team for this program.

GUESTS

ELLEN CASSEDY, Activist and author of "Working 9 to 5: A Women's Movement, a Labor Union, and the Iconic Movie") was interviewed by SUSAN WAGNER. They spoke about how in 1973 women won rights and respect at the office and changed workplaces throughout America. Ellen also reflected on how their lessons learned can help our work today.

There are many postcard programs, but none receives more positive feedback than the year round program through NE Arizona Native Democrats. JENNIFER STOKELY EIS, Out-of-State Director, NEAZ Native Democrats, and ELIZABETH REINGOLD, Leadership Team, Markers for Democracy, were interviewed by FINALE NORTON. They discussed how this program lives its Democratic values every day and focuses on building a community of voters instead of promoting campaigns or candidates.

JUDY KINCAID, North Carolina Activist and Founder of Leaflet Every Door, was interviewed by KATHERINE WHITE. They spoke about how and why Judy started this program to hand out leaflets to revitalize her local precinct and connect with voters regularly, not just around elections.

AMY DIEHL, PHD - information technology leader and gender equity researcher, spoke about her new book, "Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work." Amy explained gender bias and described the barriers that are like glass walls limiting women's potential. An example was when women are in charge but it is often assumed that they are not. Amy also presented titles for biases (click here for a glossary of these biases). Finally, she suggested that when you think you are experiencing gender bias but are not sure, take the criticism and apply it to a man - what she called "Flip It to Test It". Would the same thing be said about a man? If the criticism is not likely to be applied to a man, then it is probably bias. Examples Amy gave were comments about hair, age, and clothing. This is particularly true for women candidates for political office who are constantly scrutinized for performance, behaviors, higher voices, age, etc.

Final thought: Try not to take all of this personally because it is a systemic problem Amy concluded that not taking it personally is not an easy thing to do but if you rationalize it, you might have a better chance of dealing with it.

LYNLEE THORNE, Political Director of Rural GroundGame, discussed the barriers faced by rural candidates, the need to recognize that we are leaving people out of the equation and that the voices of women are being diminished. Lynlee said the truth is that we have intentionally set up a situation where certain voices are valued and others are dismissed. She mentioned a rather humorous example which happens frequently in meetings with Ian, her male Executive Director. Questions are directed to Ian which clearly should be addressed to her. Slight moments of discomfort are acceptable, she noted, if they take us to a better place. Finale highlighted Lynlee's bravery in rural areas in terms of jumping right in with candidates she supports. Lynlee also spoke about last year's provocative postcard campaign, digital ads, and texts - "Your vote is private just as your uterus should be".

KAREN BAKER, Democratic candidate in Virginia's 9th Congressional District, a rural district in southwestern Virginia, spoke about her impressive list of qualifications from her federal career and her nursing experience. She did say that no matter how qualified a candidate is, women in rural areas are never qualified enough. She also pointed out that the churches in rural areas put up glass walls against woman candidates. She discussed her extensive outreach in the community to gather 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot, connect with Democratic county chairs, and energize as many people as possible to get out the vote for herself, Senator Kaine, and President Biden. Karen identified with and spoke movingly about the high number of older women in the 9th District who are troubled by a lot of what is happening in their communities and to the values they hold dear. Lynlee joined in with Karen about the focus right now in the 9th District: to reach out to voters who are registered to vote but not voting at all (more than 200,000 voters in the 9th District alone!). Karen shared the latin phrase she has tattooed on her wrist, Noli Timere, which means "Don't be afraid".

DELEGATE VIVIAN WATTS spoke about the challenges she faced over the years as the longest-serving woman in the Virginia House of Delegates and the strides that have been made. Delegate Watts addressed stereotypes and the need to deal with them directly. In terms of equality of women and the issue of rape, she spoke about the need to speak about the reality of being raped. She highlighted very personal remarks by House Delegate Jackie Glass and advised us to listen to what survivors have gone through and do what it takes to support them.

This week we welcomed:

SIMON ROSENBERG (Founder of Hopium Chronicles) 30-year veteran of US politics and Founder of Hopium on Substack presented a sharp analysis and commentary on the state of general election. President Biden's fiery SOTU address to the American people officially kicked off the race to the White House. Simon discussed the path to victory and what activists can do to ensure we win.

CARRIE SHORT (Co-Founder, COVA Coalition) was special guest host along with Katherine White and started off the show with a wonderful spoof on Katie Britt's response to SOTU and then got serious with her Coastal Report which included the following guests.

MARJORIE MAYFIELD JACKSON (Executive Director, The Elizabeth River Project) spoke about how they are working to restore the Elizabeth river through equitable collaboration with diverse communities, businesses and government. She spoke about their successes turning corporate giants who are normally at odds with environmental issues into allies.

ANDRIA MCCLELLAN (Norfolk City Councilwoman) spoke about how the climate crisis is impacting coastal Virginia and what we can do about it.

MISSY COTTER SMASAL (Chesapeake Bay Commission Virginia Citizen Representative and Virginia Congressional Candidate in CD2) spoke about the climate issues facing her Virginia, her district and how she plans to address it as a candidate for Congress.

*Special Guest - DAVID PEPPER gave an Election Update for Ohio, which has an upcoming Republican Congressional primary of unique interest.

This week we welcomed:

Steve Philips – (National Political Leader, Podcaster of Democracy in Color, Founder of the New Majority Index, and Author of "How We Win the Civil War")

Lauren Burke – (Founder, Black Virginia News and contributor to Pod Virginia)

Jordan Zaslow – (Founder and Executive Director of Her Bold Move)

WE KICKED OFF WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH 💄💗 With:

Elizabeth Griffith - historian, activist, and author of In Her Own Right: The Life Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Formidable: American Women And The Fight For Equality, spoke about her New Substack newsletter Pink Threads

Antonia Scatton - Democratic Messaging Expert and publisher of 'Reframing America' newsletter, spoke about our critical role as messengers this election.

Kate Bassett - Political Director, Courier Newsroom Strategist with 20 years of experience in the intersections of civic media, politics, and community building. Believer in surround sound narratives + local news.

Gerry Connolly - Congressman Gerry Connolly just returned from important NATO meetings and gave us an update on NATO and Ukraine.

Our opening music video was "Rise Up for Democracy" by two of our guests: ELLEN SCHWARTZ & ROGER BRUNO. This version of the video features excerpts from Tom Suozzi's victory speech, Simon Rosenberg's comments on the "Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell"and NY Representative Grace Meng fon "ALL IN with Chris Hayes" thanking the grassroots and singling out postcard writers.

Video and song used with permission by songwriters and video producers.

COLIN VAN OSTERN, volunteer co-lead of the New Hampshire write-in campaign, and TERIE NORELLI, former Speaker of the New Hampshire House and former president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, told us what inspired them to form the Biden Write-In campaign and how they managed a win by a larger margin than the Republican candidates who were on the ballot.

CONGRESSMAN ELECT TOM SUOZZI joined the conversation with Hosts KATHERINE WHITE, FINALE NORTON & SUSAN WAGNER to talk about working with the grassroots.

JODY KASS, founder of Concerned Citizens of NY-03, and NATE MUNSON-PALOMBA, the grassroots liaison with the Tom Suozzi campaign, discussed how the Suozzi campaign partnered with grassroots groups in an unprecedented way to produce a decisive win. They explained how their work can be a road map for victory for all campaigns in 2024.

Author MATTIE KAHN discussed her new book "Young & Restless" that tells the story of how young women have been at the forefront of every major social movement in America, but their roles have been discounted, ignored, and absent from the historical narrative.

Three generations of the Amburgey family–grandmother CAROL AMBURGEY, daughter KATE AMBURGEY, and granddaughter CAROLYN DEOL–discuss how giving back and being involved is a family tradition. We heard about Carolyn's "Yellow Rose" organization that focuses on voter registration and the ERA. As Kate put it: "If you learn activism as a child, you'll live it as an adult."

Virginia Tech student DELIA ALCORN discussed how she saw a problem at her school and decided to do something about it. Delia was the motivation and force behind House Bill 1342: On-Campus Post-Sexual Assault Care. Like Carolyn, Delia comes from a family involved in politics: Her father is Fairfax Supervisor, Walter Alcorn, and her aunt is a former candidate for Delegate, Elizabeth Alcorn.

February 9, 2024 was our Valentine's Day show with the theme "THINK PINK" which focused on the current state of women's rights and how we fight the MAGA misogyny machine.

Our opening music video was "My Body" from 1st for Women Foundation in collaboration with Lira, GoodLuck, Gigi Lamayne and Mariechan.

As part of our Black History Month Celebration, we play a short video prepared by Finale Norton on James Baldwin's view of voting.

To get people in the spirit of thinking pink, we played clip of the musical number "Think Pink" from the 1957 motion picture "Funny Face"

The issue galvanizing voters, especially women voters, is reproductive freedom. It is also a crucial issue in Virginia since it is also particularly crucial in Virginia, the only southern state without restricted abortion access". Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade with the Dobbs decision, women have been the force behind the Democrats' unprecedented winning streak in local, state, and federal races.

#COVACoalition #BirthinColor #PlannedParenthoodAdvocatesofVirginia #FridayPowerLunch #Grassroots, #badasswomen, #NetworkNOVA #FridayPowerLunch #VirginiaGrassrootsCoalition #VAGrassrootsCoaltion #VAVotes #Virginiapolitics #Virginia #VirginiaDemocrats, #election2024

GUESTS:

CARRIE SHORT from COVA Coalition gave us a Coastal Virginia grassroots update. COVA Coalition is a grassroots, women-led organization in the Coastal Virginia area. Its main areas of focus are education, reproductive freedom and gun violence prevention". Carried raised important areas of focus right now like coastal flooding, special provisions for military families, and Black Caucus priorities like voting rights and intimidation which she described as "real things in Virginia Beach".

JAMIE LOCKHART (Executive Director) and HAN JONES (Political Director) of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia provided an update on their priority bills on reproductive freedom. They will also told us about their big February 14 Valentine's Day Lobby Day in Richmond.

KENDA SUTTON-EL (Executive Director, Birth in Color) is a reproductive justice and maternal health advocate who explained why efforts to restrict abortion have a particularly adverse impact on women of color. She spoke about the failure of the Governor to deal with fetal abnormalities. She also talked about the need for a reproductive justice framework and health system which recognizes that choice in what women can do with their own bodies is critically important.

The February 2, 2024 show gave a nod to Groundhog Day as we discussed breaking out of the election time warp, focusing on what we learned in 2022 and 2023, and zeroing in on winning in 2024. Our opening music video was "Do Something Now" by guest Pete Kronowitt.

We showed a video of the opening monologue from the February 1, 2024 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that discussed how with the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl and Biden and Trump running for presidents, it feels like life is repeating itself.

GUESTS:

CONGRESSWOMAN JENNIFER MCCLELLAN kicked off our celebration of Black History Month.

LUISA BOYARSKI (Virginia Grassroots Coalition) spoke about the legislative session and how impactful our call to action emails have been and continue to be. She also gave an update on upcoming working group meetings.

MATT CAFFREY (Senior Director, Grassroots Community Organizing at Swing Left ) spoke about their 2024 Super State Strategy and their new Team Up program to nurture, train and support new grassroots leaders.

TOM BONIER (Senior adviser at Target Smart and CEO of the Tara Group) helped us understand the challenges of early polls and encouraged us to stop listening to early poll results and get off the "pollercoaster."

PETE KRONOWITT (Activist, singer, & songwriter) told us about new music project using a song called "BE COOL" to harness the power of young people to save the planet.

The January 26, 2024 Friday Power Lunch was our 150th episode. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we launched our new national programming initiative to amplify grassroots voices from coast to coast. The last Friday of every month, the new Grassroots Collaboration Project will join us to engage in conversations with guests who help grassroots activists use their knowledge, experience, and organizing muscle to win BIG in 2024.

Our opening music video was to the upbeat sound of ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" as we thanked you, our loyal audience, for taking a chance on us these past 150 wonderful shows.

We showed two videos during the program. The first was a short clip from TikTok of the UAW endorsement of President Joe Biden

The second short video was proudly produced by Friday Power Lunch producer, Robbin Warner. Its title was "From a Moment to a Movement" because it shows us at the beginning with the Women's March in 2017 and how we have worked non-stop ever since to protect Democracy.

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GUESTS:

HEATHER BOOTH, a legendary political strategist, offered stories about the importance of collaborating among groups but noted the critical importance of having "love at the center". She proudly announced that she was recently named Progressive Outreach Director for the Biden-Harris campaign. She also encouraged us to "keep doing what we're doing".

She shared her 4 "M's' for activists: Members (Grow your membership); Message (Be the messenger); Money (Raise money so it doesn't all have to come out of your own pocket); and Movement (We need to show up. Show up for each other. Show up for events).

SUSAN LABANDIBAR (Swing Blue Alliance), SUSAN WAGNER (Markers for Democracy) and JULIE GREENBERG (31st St. Swing Left) spoke about the origins of the Grassroots Collaboration Project: its purpose, vision, and current actions. They previewed a Directory of Grassroots Groups, and spoke about an upcoming Substack "The Grassroots Connector". Susan Wagner's closing words were particularly memorable: "When we have our arms around each other, we will be successful".

The soul of our nation is under siege in local school board meetings across the country. Extremists, disguised as local concerned citizens, are trying to destroy our public school system through banning books, degrading teachers, attacking LGBTQ children, erasing American history, and underfunding. This is part of the MAGA Republican agenda to take away our freedoms as Americans.

The January 19, 2024 Friday Power Lunch looked at how we can protect public schools in the face of this onslaught and send extremists packing

Our opening music video was "Doctor My Eyes" by troubadour Jackson Browne. This new video of this classic 1970s hit features members of the original band that recorded the song back in 1972 joined by musicians from around the world as part of a "Playing for Change" music video mashup. As the song ponders, "Doctor, my eyes have seen the years. And the slow parade of fears without crying. Now I want to understand." On today's program we will try to understand what is going on at school boards and how we can "Send the Extremists Packing."

GUESTS:

LINDSEY DAVIS STOVER, a veteran of the Obama White House and candidate for Congress in 2018, spoke about her path from politics to starting a tequila company. Lindsey is one of the founders of 1953 Tequila, an additive-free, ultra premium tequila founded, farmed, distilled and led by women. In 1953, women secured the right to vote in Mexico so the name honors the courage, tenacity, and boldness of the women who fought for equality then and those who continue to pursue equality for women around the world today.

KARIN CHENOWETH, longtime public education researcher and writer and founder of Democracy and Education, gave an overview of the attacks on public education and described why she started an organization to train and support school board candidates.

MICHAEL COOK is a School Board member from Plano, Texas. He shared his story of how he went from being a concerned parent stepping up to make change rather than just complain. When he decided to run for school board, he learned there was little training or infrastructure support for his candidacy. He developed his own crash course in political campaigning by talking to everyone who would talk to him and figured out how to run and win.

BETSY CONNOLLY shared her story how after serving 10 years on a good-governance school board in Conejo, California, she found herself a minority member in a far-right takeover attempt. Faced with that challenge, Betsy could have departed with an "I told you so", but chose instead to organize her community and co-found the PAC Conejo Together. Betsy was part of a successful effort to bring political organizing into down ballot elections and win against local MAGA extremism.

NICOLE COLE, who ran and won a seat on the school board in Battlefield District in 2021 in Spotsylvania, spoke about what led her to start a PAC and lead a path to victory.

DR. LORITA DANIELS, another Spotsylvania School Board Member, reminded us that door knocking is key to your success! She shared a personal story where a direct conversation changed a no vote to a household of YES votes.

The January 12, 2024 Friday Power Lunch hosted the annual Virginia Grassroots Coalition's Priority Legislation Press Conference. The Press Conference was led by LUISA BOYARSKI, Director of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition, and highlighted the Coalition's legislative priorities.

THE CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY WORKING GROUP, represented by Sharon Shutler, presented the group's priority bills. Sharon was joined by DELEGATE RIP SULLIVAN who is the patron of multiple bills on climate and clean energy, including solar, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for data centers.

THE PUBLIC EDUCATION WORKING GROUP, represented by Marianne Burke, presented its priority bills. She was joined by both SENATOR GHAZALA HASHMI and DELEGATE SAM RASOUL. Senator Hashmi and Delegate Rasoul are patrons of multiple bills that ensure adequate funding for Virginia public schools. They discussed how funding is decided and the process now underway to transition to more equitable funding for low income and large populations of non-English and high need students. Also discussed were wrap-around medical and dental services on school campuses and a gun violence pilot initiative with a focus on middle schoolers.

THE GOOD GOVERNANCE WORKING GROUP, represented by April Breslaw, presented its priority bills. April was joined by DELEGATE ELIZABETH BENNETT-PARKER, patron of a bill to expand electronic meeting access for state, regional, and local public bodies. Delegate Bennet-Parker addressed the good government results achieve by expanding equity and access to the diverse voices of public boards and commissions, their staffs, and volunteers.

THE FAMILIES AND WORKERS WORKING GROUP, represented by Marie Ann Leyko, presented their priority bills. Marie Ann was joined by DELEGATE VIVIAN WATTS, patron of bills that protect political canvassers and promote equity in the workforce through gender-balanced and diverse corporate boards.

THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM WORKING GROUP, represented by Nancy Morgan, presented its priority bills. She introduced a video of DELEGATE DAVID BULOVA, patron of a bill that would set campaign contribution limits.

The GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION WORKING GROUP, represented by Luisa Boyarski, featured a video of DELEGATE ADELE MCCLURE speaking about bills she patrons that prohibit individuals convicted of domestic abuse (specifically in dating relationships) from possessing a gun. Delegate McClure concluded on the note that "no abusive partner should have access to guns."

LUISA BOYARSKI (Virginia Grassroots Coalition) Kicked us off by discussing this legislative session.

DENVER RIGGELMAN (Author, January 6 Committee Investigator, and Former Congressman) spoke about his book "The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th" and the threat that Christian White Nationalists pose to the 2024 election and the future of Democracy.

Messaging expert ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO (Founder and Principal of ASO Communications) discussed how activists can respond to the threats against Democracy. Many of the topics she covered are part of season 3 of her podcast "Words to Win By."