I’d like to take a moment to reintroduce myself. I’m Lauren Groh-Wargo, and in 2018, I worked with this incredible community to launch Fair Fight with the mission of defending and repairing our democracy by fighting voter suppression. Since then, that work has included waging critical legal battles, building a statewide and national infrastructure to fight voter suppression and support voting rights, and bringing together a network of strong supporters — all working together to achieve our mission. 

Key to our efforts have been two landmark lawsuits that highlighted the sustained attacks on voting rights and engagement in Georgia, each with national implications. These lawsuits became multi-year efforts, drawn out by multiple national crises and complicated by a changing legal landscape — including devastating Supreme Court decisions and new state laws restricting voting access that together have stripped judges of the authority to adequately protect voting rights. While our mission and moral obligation charged us to continue pursuing legal relief and protection on behalf of voters, the costs of these efforts have outstripped our projections. These costs have unfortunately come at a time of contraction in funding resources that has affected many groups in our space, making our current trajectory unsustainable.

While these realities are disappointing, we are not discouraged. With your support, Fair Fight has greatly advanced the pro-democracy agenda, pushed back and mitigated the impacts of voter suppression, and realized important wins and gains for all Americans.

This week, we announced changes to our organization that allow us to hone our mission and adapt to serve Georgia and American voters for the 2024 cycle and beyond. Our objectives are clear:

• Refocus: We will target Fair Fight’s activities on the core functions of voter protection, communications, and operations. 
• Restructure: An organizational restructure is underway. We are reducing our current team and realigning staff and resources to align with our mission. While difficult, this is critical to ensure the long-term viability of Fair Fight and to ensure a meaningful impact in the months and years ahead. We are working closely with our team to support them in every way possible during this transition, and know they will continue to make important contributions to this cause and many others.
• Reorganize: At the Fair Fight Board’s request, I have stepped up as Interim CEO to steward the reorganization and work with the team on developing and advancing the strategy. Cianti Stewart-Reid has resigned as Executive Director and will be pursuing other opportunities. We are grateful for all of her contributions and commitment to Fair Fight and its mission over the last three years.

Our goal is to revise the operating model so that Fair Fight is strongly positioned for the battles ahead. Our core mission remains: to fight back against those who seek to disenfranchise voters and take away our freedom to vote and live the lives we choose as Americans. Their attacks continue to spread and escalate, so our commitment must be unwavering.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you and everyone who has supported Fair Fight over the last six years with your time, energy, resources, and financial contributions. Together, we have made tremendous progress, and the work continues. I will be in touch as we chart our course to hear your thoughts and share our plans.

In addition, I need to ask: If you’re in a position to make a donation right now, can you help launch this new phase of our work on the strongest possible footing with a contribution of $10 or any amount? Your dollars would make a real difference at this moment as we regroup and gear up for the rest of 2024 and beyond.

With a strong commitment to continuing the Fight and a deep gratitude to this community,

Lauren Groh-Wargo
Interim CEO, Fair Fight