Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Mitchell.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My name is Sarah Mitchell and I am the newly elected President of Women Organizing Women Democrats. I am the founder of the Collin County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and was the Local Group Leader for two years. Those two years, 2017 to 2019, included a lot of interaction with elected officials from city to state to national. As 2020 approached, I knew the census and the elections all the way down the ballot were too important to leave to a nonpartisan approach so became involved with Liberal Women’s Action Network and Women Organizing Women Democrats.
After the stillbirth of my daughter at the end of 2018, I attended a Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Remembrance Walk and ran into a dear friend from my childhood, Audra Torres. We talked about creating a group that avoided the painful platitudes we were constantly confronted with, and in mid-2019, we founded the 501(c)3 nonprofit Elf Army of Light, a non-religious organization providing support, community, and resources for bereaved families experiencing pregnancy loss and infant death. We currently have a five-person volunteer board which are all founding members; they include Katy Glazik, an RN, and Camille Smith, a CPA. During COVID-19, we had some amazing local small businesses like Delicious Doom chocolates and Dirty B Soaps partner with us to create comfort boxes to provide parents in hospitals as these families were unable to gather for closure. The boxes were funded completely with donations, as even in the midst of everything going on we have some fantastic community-minded donors who understand the impact of grief.
Professionally, I actually go by my married name, Sarah Lassberg, and have my own practice as a trusted financial resource partnered with New York Life. They literally are the reason I have been able to have the ability, flexibility, connections, and resources to create Elf Army of Light, and one of the reasons I chose the company was not only their 175-year history or the fact they are mutual, it was their work through the New York Life Foundation and initiatives like the Coalition for Grieving Students, of which I am a trained presenter. It’s really empowering to know that while I help Texas families and business owners create good habits and processes to create a legacy for their family, grow wealth for retirement, and offer benefits for their employees, I am able to support my family and my community in the ways that have most impacted my life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Prior to switching careers into New York Life, I worked at the same finance company for 14 years. I started as a funding analyst, went to become a buyer and underwriter, managed a team of buyers and underwriters, became a process consultant, and while I loved what I did and the teams I worked with, it was a very stressful and often toxic environment. My husband and I actually met at the company, worked with each other for 13 years before he got laid off the same year our daughter died. Through the entire time I worked there, I didn’t mention to anyone until the very end when I had two amazing and supportive women confidantes on my team that I had struggled with pregnancy loss. In fact, the first pregnancy I had in 2013 was a miscarriage and after the doctor appointment where we were told our fetus didn’t develop and there was no heartbeat, I actually went into work because I felt like not being there was letting down my team. They never knew why I was late that day.
In 2017, when I had two miscarriages, one on International Women’s Day and one on a day where my entire department was supposed to participate in a team baseball game, I was in one of those toxic situations and really started to question my worth and my contributions. It all came to a head after my daughter was stillborn, and I realized that was simply a distraction from what I was supposed to be doing. Of course, completely leaving a stable income and benefits and going into an industry with ups and downs in order to create and devote attention to a nonprofit was a risk even before COVID-19 hit seven months later. Thankfully, the Partner that brought me in, Frank Mesina, reminded me of my worth, my skillset, and thanks to him and my amazing community of activists, I have literally never looked back. This is one of the reasons I focus on openly talking about and breaking taboos like grief and mental health. When I gave my two weeks’ notice to that company, people I had known for years felt comfortable sharing their stories, and their families’ grief and I realized there was a massive undercurrent of pain that was never addressed. And that happens to this day every time I share my story. When you share the first step, you realize you were never walking alone.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Women Organizing Women Democrats is a growing community that focuses on empowering, electing, and connecting Democratic women. Our mission is to encourage more participation of women in local, state, and national politics. We have had some truly powerful previous presidents, and I am honored to follow in their footsteps. Last year we had more Democratic and more women candidates than we’ve ever seen run before, and through donations, we gave tens of thousands of dollars to local women candidates. This year our goal is to dive deeper into local coalition-building and community engagement through our Activist Mobilization Project. Right now, people feel alone, isolated and have had four years of bigotry and Christian Nationalism combined with white supremacy continue to show their systemic reach.
Our goal is to remind people that we are stronger when we empower each other, and we have so much more in common than we realize. We should celebrate our differences, not use them as a weapon. Sometimes Democrats focus too much on fighting themselves over messaging, and it’s really important to remind people that our specific connection to a particular cause and whether or not we like a particular slogan is irrelevant. What matters is that we know the economy is stronger under Democratic leadership, abortions are lower under Democratic leadership, maternal and infant mortality is lower under Democratic leadership. We need to break stigmas about talking openly on climate change, inequality, diversity, equity, inclusion, and science. We need to understand how to talk to those who don’t understand the reality of police brutality, women’s reproductive rights, lack of healthcare access, gun violence prevention, and other uncomfortable conversations without undermining someone else’s story or slogan.
What are your plans for the future?
Women Organizing Women (WoW Dems) is really excited about upcoming collaboration, communication, and organization with local clubs that share our values and goals in North Texas counties. We already had partnerships with partisan clubs in the area, and our goal is increasing awareness of the fact the people who have been organizing, volunteering, and involved in your community were Democrats all along!
The Activist Mobilization Project is our current big initiative, begun by our awesome former president, Debbie O’Reilly. The goal is to let our local Democratic women know who we are, how to get involved, and that they aren’t alone and to build relationships, not just a voter bloc. We’re going to build a force to be reckoned with because we care about our community, we don’t shy away from talking about our values, and we use our differences as the glue that holds us together.
Pricing:
- Annual membership $30
- Student annual membership $15
Contact Info:
- Email: president@wowdems.org
- Website: wowdems.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowdems/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WOWDemocrats/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WOWDemocrats
Image Credits
Dallas Professional Women, Capital One
