Jehmu Greene

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Jehmu Greene (born June 22, 1972) is a Democrat political activist. She served as President of Rock the Vote from 2003 to 2005.

Under her leadership, Rock the Vote's membership grew from 1,500 to 1 million, the organization registered a record 1.4 million new voters, worked with over 200 celebrities, and helped propel record youth voter turnout in the 2004 elections. She was the first African American to serve as President of Rock the Vote and also the first President to sit on the Board of Directors. From 2000 to 2003, she served in numerous positions at the organization including Executive Director, Deputy Director, Campaign Director, Public Relations Director, and Partnership Director.

Jehmu's extensive background in public service and issue advocacy have propelled her to become one of the nation's leading experts on voting, activism and pop culture in the country. She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Prospect Magazine, Demos, and Young Voter PAC and is an Advisory Board Member of the Partnership for Public Service, Vote for America, the White House Project's Vote-Run-Lead Project and Freedom's Answer. She was also a co-founder and Advisory Board Member of the 2030 Center, an economic and public policy organization for young adults, and previously served on the Executive Committee of the Youth Vote Coalition, Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurial Development Institute and the Advisory Board of Campus Green Vote.

Jehmu served on the Credentials Committee for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. After the 2004 elections, Jehmu was appointed by Terry McAuliffe, outgoing DNC Chairman, to serve on the Commission on Presidential Timing and Scheduling. The Commission concluded it's work in December 2005 and submitted it's report to the current DNC Chairman, Howard Dean. To address diversity, representation, and participation issues in a meaningful way, the Commission recommended that there be an additional one or two first-tier caucuses inserted between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary.

She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including MTV News, The Daily Show, Inside Politics, 360 with Anderson Cooper, Dennis Miller Live, The O'Reilly Factor, CBS Nightly News, NBC Nightly News, Bloomberg Television, NPR's News and Notes with Ed Gordon, NPR's Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, and Tavis Smiley's State of Black America on the broadcast side. She has also been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Time Magazine among others.

Jehmu has been recognized as one of Essence Magazine's 40 Women Under 40 Shaping the World, and received the National Conference for Community and Justice's Community Service Award, American Association of University Women's Women of Distinction Award and National Council for Research on Women Women Making a Difference Award. Essence Magazine also recently named Jehmu one of the 35 Most Beautiful and Remarkable Women in the World.

Prior to Rock the Vote, she served as the Director of Women's Outreach and Southern Political Director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Jehmu also served as the Program Director for the Center for Policy Alternatives' Youth Voices Project and National Student Voter Education Day, Volunteer Coordinator for the University of Texas at Austin Neighborhood Longhorns Program, and Executive Director of the Texas Young Democrats. In addition, she has worked on numerous campaigns, including Clinton/Gore '96, Harvey Gantt for U.S. Senate, Lloyd Doggett for Congress, Jim Mattox for U.S. Senate, and Ann Richards for Governor.

Jehmu was a founder and Managing Partner of Urban Hang Suite (UHS), an Internet company that specialized in social and networking services for African American professionals in Washington, DC. When UHS closed its doors in 2003, it had more than 15,000 members.

In 1999, Jehmu traveled to Botswana and South Africa on behalf of the United States Information Agency (USIA) to encourage young voters to participate in the upcoming elections.

Jehmu was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Austin, Texas, where she attended the University of Texas at Austin. Politics, public policy, and activism have been a mainstay of Jehmu's life.