MEET THE PEOPLE LEADING THE WORK.
THE REGISTER HER TEAM
Rachael is a purpose-driven, passionate, strategic attorney and gender equity advocate. As Register Her’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rachael directs its mission to ensure that all eligible women have the invitation, information, resources, and support to vote. Rachael leads Register Her’s efforts to build an ecosystem to reach and include more women in our democratic process and to achieve gender equity in government and every aspect of American life.
Before co-founding Register Her, Rachael spent 18 years at VCA Inc., a public company with over 26,000 employees in 48 states and Canada, serving as Vice President and Co-General Counsel for most of her tenure. Throughout her career, Rachael was also a committed gender equity activist, spending substantial time volunteering with the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project in Los Angeles and as a Board Member of Fund Her, a political action committee dedicated to achieving gender parity in state government. Rachael voluntarily left VCA in December 2019 to pursue a second chapter of her career, focusing on gender equity and social justice. Rachael holds a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. While in law school and as a young lawyer, Rachael advocated for victims of domestic violence and asylum-seekers.
Maria is a community-centered, University of Texas at San Antonio alum who is deeply passionate about community impact and preservation. Raised in North Texas, they've seen first hand the impact of voting, policy, and civic education. Inspired to make a change, they co-founded a university chapter for the 2020 presidential campaign that showed them the ropes of civic engagement.
From there, Maria joined Jolt Action, a nonprofit focused on rallying the Latino vote. This is where their dedication for civic engagement flourished. They believe in the power of the people. With five years of field organizing experience, they bring grassroots mobilization centered around intergenerational and multicultural values to the Register Her team, ready to ensure our communities of women are heard!
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Nicole has a strong background working in communications and project support roles. While at the University of Florida, she studied in the business school. Nicole was an active member of the Women’s Student Association, where she helped organize efforts to support women across campus with job skills, social awareness projects, and community networking. During her time with this organization, she also assisted with an initiative backed by the League of Women Voters of Florida to educate students on the value of voting and to encourage voter registration. She now brings communications and creative problem-solving skills to the Operations and Communications role.
Over the past ten years, Nicole has also had the opportunity to live and work overseas and has more recently taught English to students in Central America. These travels have given her many unique experiences in countries and cultures very different from the US, which has helped her to recognize the importance of social activism within her own country. She is very grateful to work alongside a team of such motivated and inspiring women, all working to positively impact the country.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Valerie McGinty
Co-Founder & Board Chair
Valerie McGinty is a civil rights and consumer appellate attorney and gender equity champion. As Register Her’s Board President, Valerie leads the board and helps develop strategic partnerships with organizations, foundations, and donors.
Before co-founding Register Her, Valerie founded Fund Her in 2017, which has helped elect 79 women in six states to statewide, legislative, and local office. A passionate believer in the power of democracy, after studying the results of the 2020 election Valerie saw that another way women could lead our democracy forward was at the ballot box and that no existing organization was devoted exclusively to the voter registration of women and especially women from underrepresented communities. She and Rachael joined forces to launch Register Her in 2021. Valerie has been recognized for her public service with the Consumer Attorneys of California Marvin E. Lewis award, for her legal advocacy as the 2014 Street Fighter of the Year, and she was the 2013 Chair of the Women’s Caucus, launching record-breaking membership and fundraising programs.
Shaniqua McClendon
Vice President of Political Strategy, Crooked Media
Pernille Lopez
Board Chair, Homeboy Industries & Former CEO, IKEA North America
Derick Brown
Senior Director, USF Leo T. McCarthy Center
Marie "Molly" Watson
Deputy Director, California Donor Table
Tyeshia Wilson
Director of Engagement, Philanthropy Together & Chair, HERitage Giving Fund
Parasto Shamlou
Executive Assistant, NewView Capital
On-the-Ground Community Organizers
Lanay
“Voting is important because it gives everyone a voice in matters that are most important to them.
Detroit, MI
Yaitova
Voting is important to me because my ancestors fought hard for years for women and people of color to gain the right of suffrage.
Dallas, TX
Isis
Being a part of historically marginalized social groups as a black woman in the South and daughter of a naturalized immigrant has made me particularly aware of the inequities in voting.
Dallas, TX
Jasmine
Arizona
Emily
North Carolina
Anna
North Carolina
Paula
Texas
Destiny
Pennsylvania