Democrat Marilyn Lands landed a historic victory when she won the special state legislature election in Alabama. It's a reminder of both the importance of contesting every race and the salience of abortion access across the electorate. We know victories like these do not happen overnight — this outcome is a peek into the tireless work of organizers, campaigns, and technologists day in and day out. 

We are now seven months away from Election Day. Campaigns are staffing up, scaling their fundraising efforts, planning their voter outreach, and evaluating which technologies they'll use. As you build your tech stacks, a resource to view and bookmark is HGL's Political Tech Portfolio Snapshots: your go-to political tech buyers’ guide with at-a-glance, up-to-date information on the innovative tools and tech we've backed. Use it as a resource and share it with your colleagues. 

At Higher Ground Labs, we're fresh off the America Votes State Summit where we reconnected with the progressive ecosystem at our energizing Political Tech Community Happy Hour. Coming up, we invite you to apply to pitch at the Netroots New Tools Showcase and join/present at our upcoming AI Open Mic. Our companies are also hiring for several key roles. Read on below for all the details.

HGL is excited to partner with New Media Ventures to bring back the New Tools Showcase to Netroots Nations in Baltimore this July. One of the most popular events at Netroots, it's an opportunity for those developing cutting-edge political technology to showcase their innovative new tools. Selected finalists will pitch live in front of a 200-person room, where the audience will vote for the winners. 

Submit your tool for consideration as the Best New Tool, Best New Feature, or Most Innovative Use of Existing Tech. The deadline for submissions is April 16 at 8:00 PM EST.

Every month, HGL’s Progressive AI Lab, Analyst Institute, Cooperative Impact Lab, and Research Collaborative cohost an AI Open Mic. These are community learning events to hear from leading industry practitioners’ uses of AI to solve meaningful problems

Join us at our April AI Open Mic on Organizational & Operational Usage on April 9th. We'll explore the usage of AI for organizational workflows, operational use, and personal productivity. Do you have a 5-min case study you want to present? Reach out to [email protected] — we'd love to include you.

And thank you to the 266 attendees who joined our March webinar on Research, Polling, & Messaging!

The atmosphere was electric at the Political Tech Community Happy Hour at America Votes, co-hosted by Higher Ground Labs, Grow Progress, Quiller, Swayable, INTRVL, BallotReady, Impactive, Relentless, Social Currant, Change Research, Goodstock, and Civitech. It was fantastic to meet new friends and see so many familiar faces in the political tech community. We are grateful to our 220+ attendees — they are shaping the future of progressive movement organizing. 

Congratulations to everyone who won a 2024 Reed Award! We are especially proud of our portfolio companies, highlighted for their exceptional work in political campaigning and advocacy.

• Change Research (HGL2) | Most Innovative Product of The Year – Democratic and Best New Research Technique
• GoodChange (HGL6) | Most Innovative Poli-tech Startup
• Grow Progress (HGL2) | Best Use of AI by a Creative Agency – Democratic
• INTRVL (HGL5) | Innovation in Online Ad Measurement – Democratic and Innovation in Digital Ad Measurement
• People First (HGL3) | Best Advocacy Social Media Campaign and Best Influencer Marketing by a Political Campaign
• Quiller (2023 investment) | Best New AI Tool
• Vocal Media (HGL4) | Best Online Video for Ballot Initiative and Best Online Video for Public Affairs – Public Health – Democratic

Check out 30+ political tech job openings on the HGL Portfolio Jobs Board. Apply to be a Senior Software Engineer at BallotReady, Mail Program Director at Civitech, Recruitment Director at Relentless, Software Engineer at Quiller, and more.