About Stephanie
Progress matters - don’t let the structures happen to you, you need to happen to them.
I started as a political Organizer (with a capital O) in my hometown. During my first week of work someone wrote to the local paper and said that no one would ever knock on any doors in my community — they were too conservative and too old (their words, not mine). Within weeks I had dozens of people out talking to their neighbors. No one told me about that newspaper article until after the campaign. That was the moment for me. Sure, there are a lot of reasonable assumptions, but in the end they are just that — assumptions. That's what drives me. How many of our structures are based on the idea that we always do things a certain way?
That first race was Elizabeth Warren's Senate campaign in Massachusetts in 2012. I managed five field offices and more volunteers than I could count (just kidding, it was 4,052). Moving on to the official side came next — and while I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of the process I also saw a lot of the broken pieces that explained why nothing seemed to get done. After working in local government for several years, campaigns pulled me back in and I drove down to Alabama to help Doug Jones win his Senate race. That's where I fell in love with long shot races that were tough not because of candidate policies, but because of structural hurdles. Overcoming those hurdles became the guiding principle of my career.
Finally, after many races in between, I managed the complicated Seattle ranked choice voting ballot initiative to a win with just 1,972 votes to spare. That clinched it. Structural change was what lit a fire under me and where I found my people. Now I work all over the country for organizations that feel stuck (I'm looking at you, democracy) and want to make big change but can't get out of their own way.
Cirrus clouds are the ones that show up at around 30,000 feet — the weather is fine now, but change is, quite literally, on the horizon. That's how Cirrus Strategies navigates every issue: we start with a 30,000 foot view, and then I go all the way down to the nitty gritty details (rain drops if you will) to get to work.
Highlights
Experience
Designed and executed the Seattle ranked-choice voting ballot initiative, winning by 1.9% (5,972 votes) after building a coalition from scratch in a city that had never passed structural electoral reform
Managed a $2.1M congressional campaign across five media markets and 25 counties, directing 20+ consultants and staff through polling, messaging, digital, and field strategy simultaneously
Candidate Campaigns
Directed statewide operations for a presidential primary campaign in South Carolina, overseeing a $4M budget and coordinating staff, field offices, events, and surrogate scheduling across the state
Election Reform
Seattle RCV | FairVote Washington — Designed and executed the city's first successful ranked-choice voting ballot initiative, winning by 1.9% in a campaign built from the ground up
Article IV | State and Legislative Strategist — Built and executed ballot initiative and legislative campaigns across 6 states, developed cross-ideological coalitions, and created grantmaking frameworks for national funders
FairVote Washington | Strategic and Legislative Consultant — Developed multi-year endorsement and campaign strategy, co-authored legislation and ballot measures, and advised on coalition and legislative engagement
Unite America | Political Development — Led political engagement strategy, built systems for candidate vetting and outreach, and served as primary liaison to conservative former members of Congress
Warren for President | SC Operations Director — Oversaw statewide operations and a $4M budget across field offices, events, surrogate scheduling, and cross-functional team coordination
Michelle De La Isla for Congress | Campaign Manager — Managed a $2.1M DCCC Red to Blue campaign across five media markets and 25 counties, directing 20+ consultants and staff
Doug Jones for US Senate | Deputy GOTV Director — Helped run a record-setting field campaign in Alabama that delivered one of the most unlikely Senate victories in recent history.
Hillary for America | Rhode Island Communications Lead — Led communications strategy and execution for the Rhode Island primary operation
Joe Donnelly for US Senate | Deputy Field Director — Directed field operations for a competitive Indiana Senate race
Bill Daley for Mayor | Deputy Field Director — Managed field strategy for a major Chicago mayoral campaign
Ben deRuyter for State Senate | Campaign Manager — Ran a state senate campaign on Cape Cod as lead strategist and manager
Elizabeth Warren US Senate Office | Southeast Regional Director — Managed constituent and stakeholder relationships across the Southeast for three years, gaining deep insight into how policy and government actually work from the inside
Cape Cod Commission | Special Projects Coordinator — Supported regional planning initiatives, bringing a systems-thinking lens to community development and infrastructure challenges