Happy Black History Month, friends!

After an incredibly successful 2020 cycle, where for the first time we elected candidates to every level of government, The Collective has hit the ground running this year and continues to expand and grow with our five affiliate organizations, The Collective PAC, The Collective Super PAC, The Collective Education Fund, Collective Future, and The Southern Strategy. We remain leaders of the fight to create a truly equitable democracy where our nation's local, state, and federal governments have diverse and talented elected leadership, and Black people are fully represented in positions of power to create the policies necessary to progress our communities forward.

Over the past year, The Collective has continued to staff up and we're excited to introduce you to our newest directors:

• Aneese Johnson, the former Digital Organizing Director for the Biden/Harris Campaign, has joined the team as our new Digital Director. Aneese is also the founder of a digital consulting firm that has worked with Mike Bloomberg, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, and Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes.
   
• Ianthe Metzger is The Collective's new Communications Director. Formerly, Ianthe served as the Deputy Director of Campaign Communications at EMILY's List and on the communications teams for the Human Rights Campaign and the AFL-CIO.
   
• Kevin Olasanoye is our new National Organizing Director and brings a wealth of experiences from his time working on numerous campaigns from the municipal to the presidential level. Most recently, Kevin served as the Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.

In 2020, The Collective PAC endorsed 158 candidates, with 151 making it on the November ballot, and 66 of them going on to win their general elections. For the first time, The Collective PAC's candidates won at every level of government. The Collective PAC also...

• Directly contributed $301k+ to 97 of our endorsed candidates during the November general election
• Bundled/raised $2.15 million for over 80 endorsed candidates' campaigns
• Raised over $130k+ indirect funds for Rev. Raphael Warnock's US Senate runoff campaign

Endorsing and supporting progressive Black candidates is a core part of our work. In 2021, The Collective PAC will be hyper focused on supporting local and state races and is proud to have endorsed the following 15 Black candidates in January and February with many more to be announced in the coming months:

To learn more about The Collective PAC's currently endorsed candidates visit www.collectivepac.org/candidates.

The NIC is a leadership entity composed of individuals committed to financially supporting The Collective PAC, broadly spreading our message and gaining new partnerships and opportunities for the organization. If you're interested in learning how you can join this important entity within The Collective, please reach out to Jack Lofgren, National Finance Director, at [email protected], or click here to access the NIC Sign Up page.

• The Grio: The joy of building Black political power in the face of white supremacy
• USA Today: Vice President Kamala Harris steps into history as first woman of color to hold the office
• NPR: 'Fully Erased': With Harris' Rise, There Are No Black Women In The Senate
• NBC News: 'Collaborate, don't duplicate': How Black women's groups helped deliver the election to Biden, Harris
• WhoWhatWhy: Black Women Senators: And Then There Were None

• March 11, 2021: Women's History Month Panel: Uplifting the Leadership of Black Women in the Democratic Party
• March 24, 2021: "Justice for All" Speaker Series Panel: Reforming the Criminal "Injustice" System Through Black Leadership

Our 2020 Vote To Live Campaign, a project of Collective Future and The Collective Education Fund, was a huge success -- becoming one of the largest Black voter engagement programs in the country. With your support and contributions, the Vote To Live Campaign garnered:

• 114,406 completed voter registration forms
• Called and converted 18,567 no and low propensity Black voters to vote
• 26 participating HBCUs in our Vote HBCU voter registration initiative
• 25,000+ free rides provided during the general election in 8 target states
• Provided over 77,000+ free rides to the polls during the Georgia runoff election
• 29.5 million digital impressions of voter education messaging to Black voters

Thank you for being a part of The Collective Fam! Be sure to follow us on social media (Twitter/IG: @collectivepac) for the latest updates and join us at an upcoming virtual event.