18.2: Future Winners and the Long-Game: What Nonprofits Can Learn From Political Campaigns with Tanya St. Julien

Tanya St. Julien is a community leader, advocate for educational equity, and Chief of Staff at Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE). In this episode, Tanya talks about her experience in the political space and how her organization promotes and supports civic leaders in their run for office. There is a lot that the nonprofit sector can learn from the faithful long game this organization plays for each of its candidates. Tanya teaches us so much about how to be buoyed by wins and think of everyone as ‘future winners’.

Episode highlights: 

02:12 - Who is Tanya St. Julien? A black woman trained in policy constructing hope for people and the inspiration behind her work.

08:10 - Deep faith & religiosity: How to begin on a journey of hope and cultivate a belief in humans. 

13:39 - School boards as a gateway to civic leadership: Resilience in the political space and the impact of members in school districts. 

20:53 - A change in perspective: What political fundraising can teach organizations about the value in the process and iteration.

27:32 - Tanya’s experience fundraising: The networks of influential people and how their funding shapes American politics. 

34:18 - Playing the long game: How the political machine thinks about investing in the long run.

40:34 - Self-worth and fundraising: Why class, race, and gender intersect with access to support and how Spark levels the ground for underrepresented groups.