TEAM
Sarah Lipton-Lubet
PresidentFor the better part of the last two decades, Sarah has been an advocate for reproductive freedom, gender equity and progressive change. Most recently, she served as Vice President for Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she led a skilled team in designing and implementing a bold vision for advancing access to abortion through legislative and regulatory advocacy, public education and culture change. Previously, through roles at the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Reproductive Rights, Natural Resources Defense Council and Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, Sarah worked to advance the rights of pregnant workers, push back against religious refusals, and promote government accountability. Working against the right-wing takeover of the courts has been a cornerstone of her career. Sarah graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a BA in American studies and earned her JD from Yale Law School. She clerked for the Honorable Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Honorable Richard Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Aaron Belkin
FounderDr. Aaron Belkin is a scholar and advocate who, since 1999, has served as founding director of the Palm Center, which the Advocate named as one of the most effective LGBT rights organizations in the United States. He designed and implemented much of the public education campaign responsible for helping end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 2011. Aaron summarized the keys to successful advocacy in the e-book, How We Won: Progressive Lessons from the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which Arianna Huffington praised as a “best practices guide for civil rights fights.” He has written and edited more than thirty scholarly articles, chapters and books.
Ghazal Rahmanpanah
Director of OperationsFrom project management to coalition-building and organizational development, Ghazal’s career has spanned both global and domestic advocacy spaces and remained firmly rooted in social and racial justice. Previously, as Director of Special Projects for The League — a social impact firm focused on elevating culture and narrative change strategies — she supported the organization’s growth and structural development. In 2016, she was lead Project Coordinator for the We Won’t Wait Campaign, a coalition of national organizations spotlighting women’s and economic security issues in the lead up to the presidential election. Anchored by a large-scale voter engagement program and a two-day national summit, the campaign engaged over 3 million people in 31 states and created a platform for women of color and low-income women. Ghazal is a graduate of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, where she received an M.A. in International Policy Studies and an M.B.A. in International Economics and Business Development, as well as a B.A. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Political Science.
Alexa Barrett
Director of CommunicationsAlexa Barrett is a dedicated communications professional who joins Take Back the Court with a background in rapid response press relations and strategy. She most recently served as press secretary for the government watchdog Accountable.US, where she worked to put a spotlight on the rich special interests funding lawmakers behind harmful and extreme right-wing policies. Previously, she bolstered efforts to fight back against the Trump health department’s attacks on abortion access at the reproductive rights group Equity Forward. Alexa graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 2018 with a B.A. in American History.
Chelsey Davidson
Policy Director and CounselChelsey Davidson is a progressive advocate with significant experience in election protection and environmental advocacy. She is the former Senior Research Director of the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project. While at Stanford Law School, she has produced policy memos and documents ranging from divestment strategies, the impact of climate change on human movements, and violations of the Vacancies Act in the Trump administration for the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy, the Administrative Conference of the United States, and the International Refugee Assistance Project. Chelsey has worked on cases for indigenous tribes and environmental non-profits while a clinical student at Stanford’s Environmental Law Clinic. In 2019, she externed for the Honorable Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California. Chelsey has a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. from the University of Richmond in Leadership Studies and PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics).
Kate Kendell
Campaign ChairFor 22 years, Kate Kendell led the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Kate is a nationally recognized spokesperson for LGBT rights and has an active voice in major media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Advocate, NPR, CNN, and many others. Despite the national success of NCLR under her tenure, her most rewarding responsibilities still include fostering alliances on the community and organizational levels, and advocating from a grass-roots perspective on issues concerning social justice.
Jamison Foser
Jamison Foser is a consultant and writer with extensive experience in progressive research, communications, and strategy, having worked for more than two decades in national politics. He served as senior advisor at NextGen America (previously NextGen Climate) for the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, where his responsibilities included leading opinion research and message development. Prior to NextGen, he served as Policy Director at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Foser helped create Media Matters for America, the nation's premier progressive media watchdog organization, and served as the organization’s first Executive Vice President. Early in his career, Foser worked at the DNC for two presidential campaigns and served as Research Director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for the 2002 cycle.
Marie Aberger
Media/communicationsMarie Aberger is Founding Partner of Be Clear, a progressive communications firm, and former communications aide for the Obama White House, Airbnb, and the State of Rhode Island. She has extensive experience developing and executing communications strategy, messaging, and event rollouts as well as crisis communications. Until January 2017, she served as Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor to Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo, the state's first female governor. Previously, Marie worked in the White House on the communications teams of both President Obama and Vice President Biden, and on the Public Affairs team at Airbnb, where she was a spokeswoman for public policy and regulatory issues and helped lead grassroots organizing efforts in Portland, Oregon, which became the first major U.S. city to pass legislation favorable to home sharing.
Matt Lehrich
Media/communicationsMatt Lehrich is Founding Partner of Be Clear, a progressive communications firm, and a former White House spokesman and U.S. Department of Education communications chief. As Communications Director and acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education, Matt was the top communications advisor to the Secretary and led a team of more than 100 public affairs professionals. He joined the Department after serving as a vice president at global public relations leader Porter Novelli, where he led brand positioning campaigns and provided crisis communications counsel to Fortune 500 companies, global philanthropic organizations, and leading industry associations. Prior to his work at Porter Novelli, Matt held multiple positions in Barack Obama’s White House, including Assistant White House Press Secretary, managing communications on a wide range of domestic policy issues including education, justice, labor, energy and environmental issues, science, and technology.
Murshed Zaheed
Murshed Zaheed is one of the top hybrid legislative, policy, and digital strategists in American politics. He has more than 20 years of experience as a progressive leader, organizer and advocate in a career that stretches from the Congressional corridors in Washington DC to the Bay of San Francisco. He has worked and consulted for top nonprofit organizations, corporations, and national campaigns creating winning multi-channel grassroots advocacy campaigns and communications programs. Prior to finding Pacifica, he served as the Political Director of CREDO Mobile – a social change-oriented corporation renowned for being a progressive powerhouse of activism and philanthropy. Murshed’s years of experience as a senior leadership aide in Congress include his position as Director of New Media and Senior Leadership Advisor for late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He was also a member of Gov. Howard Dean’s groundbreaking digital team during his 2003–2004 presidential campaign. Murshed has a B.A. in political science from UCLA and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the bars in Washington D.C. and in Massachusetts.
Dan Pfeiffer
Dan Pfeiffer is the co-host of Pod Save America. One of Barack Obama’s longest serving advisors, he was White House director of communications under President Obama (2009-2013) and senior advisor to the president (2013-2015). He is also the author of two books: Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump (2018), and Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again (2020).