After a comprehensive search process, the Voters Not Politicians family of organizations is thrilled to welcome Christy McGillivray as our new Executive Director!
Christy joins VNP at a pivotal moment for our organization as well as for democracy in our state and in our nation, and she is fired up to lead our people-powered movement into the future of pro-democracy reform.
Christy brings over twenty years of experience as an organizer, policy advocate, researcher, and educator to her new role as Executive Director of the Voters Not Politicians family of organizations.
With research experience spanning the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Christy’s policy knowledge will be a key asset as VNP keeps Michigan at the forefront of innovative and effective pro-democracy reforms. Her extensive political experience includes six years as a Community Organizer and Campaigns Director with Clean Water Action, union organizing with the American Federation of Teachers in Michigan, and most recently, leading campaigns as the Legislative and Political Director for Sierra Club Michigan.
From her experience with Sierra Club in particular, Christy knows how to work hand-in-glove with volunteers to power a truly grassroots movement. That experience will certainly serve her well as she becomes the next leader of VNP’s army of active and engaged volunteers.
In her vision for VNP’s future, Christy outlined three main priorities: fighting for democracy by doing democracy and showing the public that our democracy, when it is allowed to function properly, can deliver effective change for people; staying nonpartisan to maximize support from across the political spectrum–especially for people that feel that neither political party offers them a home; and prioritizing campaigns that change the rules of the game by rooting out the corruption and the structural failures that are undermining our democracy.
As she joins VNP at the start of our next major ballot initiative to get money out of politics in Michigan, Christy is the ideal fit to lead the kind of transformational change Michiganders are looking for at this moment. Her passion for democracy will undoubtedly motivate and mobilize thousands of everyday Michiganders to once again join our fight for a democracy where all political power is inherent to the people.
In her words, “Democracy isn’t something we are given permission to do. It is our birthright. It is at the core of what it means to call oneself American. It unites all of us. And, our country has always grappled with internal anti-democratic movements. From the get-go, our Constitution came with baked-in back-doors that legalized violent dehumanization, and the truth of our country should be told as a slow progression, (and regression), of living up to our democratic ideals contradicted by those back doors.
Our ancestors had to fight as hard as we will have to fight now, but their history is our legacy. They showed us that we can do beautiful and impossible things. We must.
Because democracy is not a dusty academic idea. Democracy is a living, breathing thing we do with each other, for each other. I can’t wait to fight with all of you, for all of us.”
P.S. On that note, if you have hopes and dreams for VNP in this new chapter, please email them to Christy. She wants to hear from you: [email protected].