Get to Know Us: Lacey from Care2
Care2 community, meet Lacey! I’m so excited to introduce her as part of our continuing staff spotlight series. Lacey is our Online Organizing Strategist here at Care2 and she inspires us every day with her creative approach to advocacy. Her job is to collaborate with Care2 petition authors and progressive organizations to make the world a better place, one petition and one rally at a time.
Some highlights from her incredible career include working with union leaders from all over the United States to stop the corporate-driven Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, camping out at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. to “greet” international trade negotiators with anti-TTIP gift bags, and becoming the Queen of Elephants here at Care2. (Wondering what that means? Basically she’s in charge of helping to send abused elephants to animal sanctuaries!) She’s also a proud mom to both her adorable little activist-in-training son, Finn, and her fluffier-than-possible dog, Milo. And get this — her son has already been to countless protests, including several that Lacey organized while pregnant. Lacey is also married to a doctor-in-training, which helps fuel her passion for protecting the rights and mental health of medical students and new doctors.
But that’s not all there is to know about Lacey. Read our Q&A with her below to learn more!
What’s your favorite activist chant ever?
I love the call-and-response chant that goes: “Tell me what democracy looks like.” / “This is what democracy looks like”
Favorite part of being at Care2?
Many of the Care2 members I work with have never written a petition before, but they were so outraged by an injustice that they just had to take action. I love helping them perfect their petition, promote it, deliver it, and do whatever it takes to get a victory. So not only do I get to help make a difference on a lot of different issues, I get to help strengthen our democracy by mentoring new and passionate activists. That’s pretty cool in my book!
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about advocacy, good or bad?
Advocacy is about 90% frustration and 10% elation. But that elation when you win and know that you have done your part to make the world a better place is worth all the frustration and hardship you experience along the way. And even if you don’t win, there is still a lot of pride that goes along with knowing you did everything in your power to stop injustice.
How do you keep motivated?
My son keeps me motivated. I don’t want him to grow up in a world where women and people of color are second-class citizens or where immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community live in constant fear. I want him to be able to see an elephant in the wild and know what it is to hike through a national park breathing clean air and drinking from clean streams. I want to show him that by speaking out and being an active citizen, he can create meaningful and positive change.
Favorite emoji?
The one with the guy dancing: 
When you get stuck on an advocacy problem, what resources to do you use to solve it?
I talk to my colleagues and fellow activists. Talking through a problem and brainstorming with people I respect and trust in the activist community is always good for both the campaign and the soul.
What’s your favorite Care2 petition or campaign you’ve ever worked on?
This petition. It started out small and then grew into the National Day of Solidarity to Prevent Physician Suicide. My husband is training to be a doctor, so it is also a very personal issue for me.
Photograph courtesy of Robert Pluma