This is a longer email about how the DNC is organizing earlier in the cycle than ever before.

Good morning — my name is Muthoni, and I’m the DNC’s new National Political and Organizing Director.

I came to the DNC because the importance of this election cycle can’t be overstated. Families across our country are hurting, and this is our final chance to vote out Donald Trump and his GOP enablers before the 2020 redistricting process re-shapes our political landscape for the next decade.

The DNC has never invested in organizing for the general election this early in a presidential cycle. We’re leaving it all on the field, but in order to do that, our party needs the early resources necessary to power the essential programs it’ll take to organize and win in all 50 states.

We have unfinished business in the states. It’s on all of us to unite people with the common thread of our values, to organize alongside local communities, and to put our eventual 2020 Democratic presidential nominee and the Democratic candidates running for seats across our country in the best possible position to win.

All of that and more will be the DNC’s mission over the next 19 months, and we’re already hard at work laying the foundation for victories in all 50 states this year and next. Thanks to the early support of grassroots Democrats like you, we’re building smarter, stronger, and more inclusive plans to mobilize and engage voters nationwide. Together, we’re furthering the work Democrats have done to truly make the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House “the people’s house.”

One DNC program I’m especially proud of is Organizing Corps 2020 — the DNC’s groundbreaking new organizing program to recruit and train young, talented leaders to organize their communities to defeat Trump and the GOP. A defining aspect of this program is that we’re paying our Corps members. As someone who wouldn’t be where I am in my career today without access to paid internships, I cannot stress how important this program will be in shaping the future of our party.

Democrats know that diversity — diversity of ideas and of leadership — is something that can’t take a back seat if we hope to win. We’re doubling down on our commitment to lifting up the constituencies who make up the lifeblood of our party through programs like A Seat at the Table, an initiative to meaningfully engage and organize with Black women; Mujeres Mobilized, a program to engage, empower, and organize alongside Latinas; and New Blue Crew, which aims to mobilize young voters and student leaders.

Giving these communities the space to further their own power is how we’ll defeat Trump and the GOP next year while building the long-term strength of our party. Paired with a robust 50 state strategy where we organize in every ZIP code, I believe from the bottom of my heart that Democrats can fight and win in states all across the map.

You and I both know that we can’t treat this presidential election cycle as business as usual. That’s why we’re investing earlier and working harder than ever to build a strong DNC capable of taking on Trump and Republicans and electing Democrats from the local school board to the Oval Office.

I can’t wait to see all that we accomplish together.

Yours in the fight,

Muthoni

Muthoni Wambu Kraal
National Political and Organizing Director
Democratic National Committee