ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today, the national grassroots organization Ready for Hillary announced that Quentin James has been named Black Americans Director. Quentin joins a growing constituency team that includes LGBT Americans Director Lisa Changadveja and Young Americans Director Rachel Schneider.
In his new role, Quentin will mobilize leaders in the black community who want to see Hillary run for president in 2016. “I’m very excited to join Ready for Hillary and the amazing team they have assembled,” he said. “Across the country, there is a tremendous amount of grassroots support in the black community for a Hillary run for the White House, and Ready for Hillary is the place to gather and build upon that support. We must continue to engage and empower community leaders to sustain the record level of turnout we saw in last November’s elections. I look forward to this challenge.”
A graduate of Howard University, Quentin worked as a field operative on then-Sen. Obama’s team in Greenville, South Carolina in 2008. He then served as Deputy Youth Vote Director in Ohio and worked to double turnout among students at The Ohio State University. He went on to work in the Capitol Hill office of Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI). For the past four years, he has served on the National Board of the NAACP and most recently, he served as director of the Sierra Club’s youth program. He is the co-founder of Vestige Strategies, a consulting firm focused on civic and community strategies. His wife Stefanie Brown James was the former African American Vote Director for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
Ben Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP said, “Quentin has been an effective organizer for the NAACP since he was 16 years old. From his role as a statewide volunteer leader in South Carolina to his service on our national board of directors over the past four years, he has devoted his talents in service to the black community. Quentin understands both the challenges we face and the opportunities before us, and I am absolutely confident that he will be successful in his new role.”
