About

Vote Mama envisions a representative government that sets the global standard for family-friendly policies—and a society where starting a family and raising children are not only safe and affordable, but joyful, and where all families have the support they need to thrive.

As the first organization dedicated to understanding how parenthood—especially motherhood—is a key identity for lawmakers, Vote Mama Foundation measures how well our government represents us, identifies the structural barriers that keep moms out of politics, and recommends nonpartisan reforms to make it easier for everyday parents to run and serve.

Our groundbreaking research provides concrete numbers to understand exactly how drastically underrepresented moms are in government. By the time American women are 45 years old, 85% are moms. Yet, Vote Mama Foundation data shows that just 7.9% of state legislators and 7.2% of Congress are moms of minor kids.

Vote Mama Foundation is also the nation’s only organization tracking the access and usage of Campaign Funds for Childcare (CFCC) and Campaign Funds for Security (CFS), two barrier-breaking policies that allow more parents to run for and serve in political office.

We are laying the groundwork for a country where moms can sit at every decision-making table and deliver the policies that families need.

When our founder and CEO, Liuba Grechen Shirley, ran for Congress as a first-time candidate and a mom with two little ones, she looked to see how many moms of young kids were already serving. But in 2018 during her campaign, that data didn’t exist.

Liuba broke barriers during that campaign by becoming the first woman to receive approval from the Federal Election Commission (FEC)to use campaign funds for childcare expenses—removing a financial roadblock for working-class parents running for office and setting a precedent that all parents could follow. But to this day, not all candidates know about this resource and those who do can often feel uncomfortable using it, fearing political blowback.

Liuba launched Vote Mama Foundation in 2020 to solve these problems. We are the only organization looking at caregiving status as an identity of our elected representatives, and we are the nation’s experts on Campaign Funds for Childcare (CFCC), both tracking its usage and educating policymakers and the public about its benefits in making government more representative.

Since our founding, we’ve expanded our work to include Campaign Funds for Security (CFS), amid escalating political violence. We’ve also begun measuring the effectiveness of caregivers once they get into office, to demonstrate that having more mamas representing us is the key to getting the truly family-friendly policies we all need.