New Heights Communications

08/06/2024

Freeda Womb is her name, and ensuring our right to reproductive freedom is the game.

Americans for Contraception’s IUD Express tour with “Freeda Womb” — a 20-foot, inflatable IUD — is in full swing and coming to a city near you! Between Philadelphia (seen below), Chicago and more, Freeda isn’t shy about inserting herself in conversations about the important need to protect the right to contraceptives amid escalating attacks across the country. Read more in Earl Hopkins’s piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer here: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/contraception-iud-womens-rights-advocacy-20240719.html

New Heights was honored to partner on this event. Next stops on the tour today and tomorrow: Freeda will be chillin’ in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines!

07/10/2024

We’re excited to welcome our new director, Taj Magruder, and senior associate, Hana Hancock, as featured in POLITICO Playbook. Welcome, Taj and Hana!

TRANSITIONS — … Taj Magruder and Hana Hancock are joining New Heights Communications. Magruder will be a director and is a Pennsylvania Department of Education and Philadelphia Department of Commerce alum. Hancock will be a senior associate and previously was comms manager for The Trust for the National Mall.

07/02/2024

Debunked! 👏 In The Trace's analysis, Guns Down America Executive Director Hudson Munoz rectifies the misconception that "firearm merchant category codes" (which can detect fraud and suspicious activity related to fi****ms and ammunition) breach privacy:
“The codes are not even the most granular information that the credit card companies have about merchants” - “but they help create efficiency in the system when trying to identify abrupt changes in broader purchasing patterns.”

👏 hold 👏 the gun industry 👏 accountable 👏

On July 1, new laws will take effect in Tennessee and Georgia that Republican legislators say will prevent banks and credit card companies  from tracking firearm purchases.  At least 15 states — all but one of them Republican-led — have passed similar laws in the past two years, barring financ...

06/20/2024

New Heights has some new faces!

🌟 Morgan Snyder, our new Communications Manager, brings experience from federal and state government, high-stakes political campaigns, and the private sector. She most recently served as Deputy Upstate Press Secretary for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

🌟 Anna Connelly, our newest Senior Associate, has spent her career in the worlds of strategic communications and public relations. Most recently, she was a Corporate Reputation Consultant at FTI Consulting where she helped global retail and consumer products companies navigate "special situations" like enterprise-wide cyberattacks and IPO listings on the NYSE.

Welcome to the team, Morgan and Anna! ✨

06/18/2024

Elon Musk and RFK Jr. are back at it again, now sounding the alarm on supposed voting machine irregularities in Puerto Rico. But fear not, they've come up with the groundbreaking solution of... paper ballot backups!

Who knew?! Oh wait, Verified Voting has been advocating for paper backups and post-election audits for the last 20 years. Guess Elon and RFK missed that memo while they were busy reinventing the wheel.

New Heights jumped on this story faster than Musk on a Twitter controversy and placed Pam Smith, Verified Voting's president and CEO, front and center in the media and on podcasts, reminding us all that our elections are run securely and the tried-and-true method of, you know, post-election audits.

06/04/2024

We are ecstatic to announce the well-deserved promotions of three outstanding team members:
🌟 Erika Gulija has been promoted from Director to Vice President.
🌟 Nicole Watkins has advanced from Associate to Senior Associate.
🌟 Promise Pitman has moved from Intern to Associate.

Congratulations, Erika, Nicole, and Promise, on your achievements! 🎉

06/03/2024

Over the weekend, New Heights President Christy Setzerspoke to The Hill and the Financial Times providing key insight and analysis about the impact Donald Trump’s 34-count felony conviction could have on the 2024 presidential election.

Setzer presented a clear and bold frame for Democrats to use by asking voters a simple and important question when speaking with The Hill: “Do you want to vote for the first-ever felon for president?”

“There’s a tremendous opportunity to reshape the contours of the campaign [and] to be on the offensive,” Setzer continued. “But only if we go hard and vocal.”

When speaking to the Financial Times, Setzer added:

“Sometimes Democrats get so precious, so afraid to get their hands dirty or afraid to anger Trump’s supporters . . . our party misses the opportunity. Let’s not do that here, on a story that has the power to fundamentally change the trajectory of the race, and history.”

“We need a phalanx of campaign surrogates out in force, comparing Trump, America’s first felon on a major party ticket, to Biden.”

Links to both stories 👇 👇
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4697364-democrats-push-back-at-argument-guilty-verdict-strengthens-trump/

https://www.ft.com/content/38a0bf6a-e2a7-4471-9608-2a4293891950

Democrats think the president can win by emphasising his Republican rival’s status as a felon

05/29/2024

Sr. Vice President Aurora Matthews presented on a Verified Voting-sponsored webinar to the public about messaging research we conducted with Lake Research Partners. This messaging research on post-election audits is the first of its kind and will help us — and hopefully help election officials — communicate important information on risk-limiting audits and other election processes to voters this November.

05/28/2024

Meet our newest directors, Natalia Latif and Joel Mendelson 🎉

🌟 Natalia has nearly a decade of experience in legislative and political communications. She was most recently the Communications Director for the Uncommitted National Movement and a Senior Associate at Fireside Campaigns.

🌟 Joel brings over 15 years of experience in campaign and strategic communications, having led efforts for nonprofits and political campaigns. He was previously the Director of Communications at Grounded Solutions Network and Jobs With Justice.

Welcome to New Heights Communications, Natalia and Joel! ✨

05/23/2024

One of the many reasons we’re excited about Natalia Latif joining our team as a Director is thought-provoking pieces like these. Check out her new article, "The Myth of Bodily Autonomy," where she delves into the complexities of reproductive justice within the Muslim community. This piece is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the intersection of faith, bodily autonomy, and reproductive rights.

Read the full article here:

Natalia reports on the impact of Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Muslims seeking reproductive care and the range of responses from Muslim organizers and scholars.

05/14/2024

Our partners at Ballot Initiative Strategy Center hosted one of the largest convenings of progressives this election cycle, bringing together campaign leaders and frontline organizers defending direct democracy nationwide. Check out the recap video to learn more about the ballot measure landscape ⬇️

04/12/2024

We're so thrilled to be working with Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom to enshrine reproductive access in Colorado's constitution - 225,000 signatures to protect healthcare access? Yes please.

A Colorado abortion rights group is trying to amend the state constitution to include the right to an abortion.