Ilyse Hogue

Ilyse Hogue, June 19, 2012

Ilyse Hogue is the successor to Nancy Keenan as President of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Education

Ilyse Hogue holds a Master's of Science in Resource Ecology Management from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor's of Art in Environmental Science from Vassar College.

Personal Life

Neffinger and Hogue at the International Center for Journalists 2011 Awards Dinner

Hogue is the partner of John Neffinger. Neffinger is a Communications Coach and Strategist who has a decade of experience preparing speakers and speeches for public audiences. He has trained Congressional candidates, expert guests on national TV programs and corporate executives. In the 2008 election cycle, John worked more than two dozen Congressional candidates, and he served as a commentator on MSNBC and NPR. He has also served on the staff of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he worked for former National Economic Advisor Gene Sperling.

GreenPeace

In 1999, Ilyse Hogue worked as a Forest Specialist for Greenpeace.

Rainforest Action Network

In 2001 Ilyse Hogue worked as Director of the Global Finance Campaign at the Rainforest Action Network. The organization uses direct action, grassroots mobilization, and high profile media campaigning to preserve the world's remaining old growth forests and their traditional inhabitants.

Support for Young Democratic Socialists

In 2001, Hogue stated,

"Young Democratic Socialists frequently leads the charge in the fight for a just society. YDS is an important partner, not because of size, but because of vitality and style."

Young Democratic Socialists is the youth arm of Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the US.

MoveOn.org

From 2006- 2011, Ilyse served as Director of Political Advocacy and Communications for MoveOn.org. In her over five years at MoveOn, she was responsible for shaping political strategy and developing communications initiatives to give MoveOn's five million members a voice in Washington. An expert in both electoral and advocacy campaigns, she has mobilized MoveOn members and worked closely with leaders in Congress and the White House to advocate for progressive legislation on financial regulatory reform and health care. In these capacities, she has served as a spokesperson to the media, frequently analyzing breaking news on both televisions and in print.

Center for Corporate Policy

Ilyse Hogue serves on the steering committee for the Center for Corporate Policy, a partner organization of the Institute for Policy Studies. The Center for Corporate Policy is a non-profit and states that it is a non-partisan public interest organization working to curb corporate abuses and make corporations publicly accountable.

Meetings with Elizabeth Warren

On both Nov. 29 and Dec. 7, 2010, Hogue met with then assistant to President Obama and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, Elizabeth Warren. Since Jan. 3, 2013, Warren has served as Junior Senator for Massachusetts.

Campaign for America's Future

On June 1, 2009, Ilyse Hogue spoke alongside Roger Hickey, Mitch Stewart, Anna Burger, Deepak Bhargava and John Podesta in a session entitled "Progressives in the Age of Obama" at "America's Future Now!," the 2009 national conference of Campaign for America's Future.

On June 7, 2010 Hogue spoke alongside Gloria A. Totten and Markos Moulitsas in a session entitled "Driving Reform; Defeating Resistance" at "America's Future Now!," the 2010 national conference of Campaign for America's Future.

On October 3, 2011 Hogue spoke alongside Nick Penniman, Bob Edgar, John Bonifaz and Marge Baker in a session entitled "Corporations Corrupting Democracy: How Citizens Can Take on Money Power." She spoke the following day alongside Virginia Kase, Heather Holdridge and Peter Murphy in a session entitled "What's the Matter with What's the Matter with Kansas? Service, Community, and Base Building Strategies in an Age of Declining Confidence in Government." Both sessions were held at "Take Back The American Dream," the 2011 conference of Campaign for America's Future.

Writing for The Nation

From March 3, 2011, Hogue has been a contributor to The Nation, the magazine which has described itself as the "flagship of the left."

Media Matters for America

Hogue has served as Senior Adviser to Media Matters for America where she focused on advocacy programs to undercut the power of right-wing media.

Friends of Democracy PAC

Ilyse Hogue and David Donnelly founded and are co-directors of the Friends of Democracy PAC. The PAC seeks to reform lobbying rules, rules around donations to candidates, and greater transparency and disclosure of money in politics.

Obama 2012 "Rockstar"

In a Dec. 27, 2012 article, the Huffington Post listed Hogue as one of 50 women "who made the 2012 election." The article stated,

"Meet 50 women who were the behind-the-scenes rock stars of the 2012 election. This list includes women leaders who made a difference in all aspects of the election: presidential campaigns and Congressional campaigns, community organizing, get-out-the-vote efforts, data management, digital strategy, think tanks and more. Each of these women made a tremendous contribution to this year's election cycle and here, we highlight their efforts and successes."

Regarding Hogue, Nisha Chittal the article's author wrote,

"Ilyse Hogue founded the Friends of Democracy, a super PAC aimed at electing candidates who champion campaign finance reform. In the 2012 election cycle, Friends of Democracy launched several campaigns highlighting the outsized influence of lobbyists and special interests."

NARAL

Ilyse Hogue and Nancy Keenan

On Jan. 14, 2013, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced that Ilyse Hogue had been chosen to replace Nancy Keenan as president of the organization. Commenting on her new position Hogue stated,

"I am absolutely thrilled to be given the honor of leading this great organization,” Hogue said. “This is a critical moment to engage a new generation of young people in the conversation about what choice means in a modern age. We have a unique opportunity to ignite the pro-choice values most Americans share, solidify our longstanding pro-choice base, and expand its reach moving forward."

Statements on Abortion

Ilyse Hogue has made the following statements on abortion:

• On Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan:

"[A] process is underway to undermine women’s voices in our own destiny. Mitt Romney has already flip-flopped from a pro-choice Senate candidate and a governor who promised to be “a good voice” among Republicans on reproductive health to his new incarnation as Paul Ryan’s running mate and an anti-choice leader. While Ryan allows lesser candidates like Akin to carry the water on extreme views held by the right-wing patriarchy, his equally radical views become mainstreamed as his anti-woman credentials are embraced by the party leadership." - Aug. 19, 2012

• Reproductive Health Central to Economic Security:

"With two income households a necessity and reproductive health central to economic security, convention promises will remain just those until—in the words of one older male delegate from New Hampshire—“we stop talking about these as women’s issues. They are economic issues and family issues.”" - Sep. 5, 2012

• We Are Losing Substantial Ground on Reproductive Choice:

"No speech [at the 2012 Democratic Convention] provided a genuine analysis of why we are losing substantial ground on reproductive choice, most of them instead settling for the easy win against the GOP villain." - Sep. 5, 2012

• Life More Difficult When We Lose Control of Reproductive Freedom:

"Allow me to assert that all aspects of our lives get categorically more difficult when we lose control over decisions about family planning and reproduction." - Oct. 5, 2012

On Karen Handel:

• "In an election year already about bishops and birth control, being a spokesperson for the radical anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-equality movement probably plays more to her political nature than going quietly into the night." - Feb. 7, 2012