Skip to content
  • Essence GU
  • Beautycon
  • NaturallyCurly
  • Afropunk
  • Essence Studios
  • Soko Mrkt
  • Ese Funds
  • Refinery29
  • WeLoveUs.shop
  • 2026 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
  • Celebrity
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Lifestyle
  • Entrepreneurship
  • News
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
  • Subscribe
Home • News

Three Women Of Color Selected For DNC Senior Leadership Roles

Waikinya Clanton, Rachana Desai Martin, and Reyna Walters-Morgan secured top leadership positions within the DNC ahead of the 2020 elections.
Three Women Of Color Selected For DNC Senior Leadership Roles
The headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is seen in Washington, DC, August 22, 2018, after reports indicated that the DNC notified the FBI of an attempt by hackers to infiltrate the organization’s voter database. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
By Breanna Edwards · Updated October 23, 2020
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

The Democratic National Committee knows that the 2020 election is going to be diverse; one needs only to look at the plethora of different presidential candidates and the 2018 elections to know this.

As such, the DNC is hoping to build on that, appointing three qualified women of color to three of its most senior leadership positions ahead of the election season.

According to Refinery29, the DNC has promoted Waikinya Clanton from director of African-American outreach to senior advisor to DNC Chair Tom Perez. Rachana Desai Martin, who was serving as the interim chief operating officer, will now fill that position permanently. And Reyna Walters-Morgan has been tapped as the director of protection and civic engagement.

“Our rich diversity of background and experience is what has made the new DNC a political force in electing Democrats up and down the ticket in every corner of the country,” DNC CEO Seema Nanda told Refinery29 in a statement. “These three phenomenal women embody our core ideals and will bring new energy to our leadership team as we continue to lay the groundwork to take back the Senate and the White House in 2020.”

“As we head into one of the most important elections of our lifetime, we are building a world-class team in order to beat Donald Trump and elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” Perez added. “Rachana, Waikinya, and Reyna bring a wealth of knowledge to the party and we are lucky to have them on our team. Their work will be felt far outside the building as we continue to strengthen our party and build on the victories from the last two years.”

TOPICS:  2020 elections Democratic National Committee DNC Rachana Desai Martin Reyna Walters-Morgan Waikinya Clanton