Meet Chelsea Peterson Thompson, GM of NGP VAN
I was just seven years old when my mother took me to my first political event in our hometown. We lived in South Dakota, at the center of the “Battle for the Heartland,” and I was already falling in love with the political process. I was excited listening to all the candidates that winter, though the person that I remember the most wasn’t on the ballot, even though I knew she should be: Hillary Rodham Clinton. I still remember one of the main points she hammered home:
All children should have access to healthcare.
Until then, I didn’t realize we lived in a country that considered healthcare for kids a privilege. We had healthcare. My sister and I went to the doctor every year—didn’t everyone else?
Now I was fired up. A switch flipped in me that would never turn off: We live in a country where our rights and the rights of others cannot be taken for granted. We have no choice but to be activists and fight together.
So that’s what I’ve done. A decade later, I knocked on my first door, asking rural South Dakotans to vote for Senator Tim Johnson. During the following months, I spoke to voters in their homes, at events, on the phone — anywhere we could have a conversation, we had it. We organized everywhere. It was a long, hard-fought election — one that wasn’t called until early the next morning. We won by 524 votes.
I had never been more energized and exhausted at the same time. I’d knocked on more than 500 doors and made more than 500 calls. TPJ won — South Dakota won — and I was hooked.
In the years since, I’ve had the privilege of serving on teams fighting for many things I wish we could take for granted. During some of those fights, I had others in mind — like protecting voting rights and access to affordable healthcare. Others felt particularly personal — like protecting reproductive freedom and the rights of my LGBTQ+ community. In all of them, I’ve worked with some of the most incredible people you can imagine.
Many of those people I still have the pleasure to work with today. It’s one of the things I’m proudest of as I lead NGP VAN; our company is made up of some of the most dedicated and passionate campaigners, activists, and organizers I’ve ever met. These are people who foster inclusion, who expect equality, who show up for each other and our community, and who celebrate Pride with more than a logo swap.
The other thing I’m very proud of: we get results. Our team knows there is no “try”, there is only “do”. I have the privilege to serve at the helm of the winningest technology platform in the history of Democratic and progressive causes — a position we plan to keep as we work together every day to discover new ways to help our community win.
We know that when we work together, we win together, which is why we’re actively looking for new ways to partner with as many other leading Democratic tech providers as we can — to collectively build a “platform for democracy” that can’t be beat.
It’s clear the fight is as critical as ever. In states across the country, our families, identities, safety, and bodies are on the ballot. This Pride, however, I’m choosing to celebrate the fight — to honor the incredible people and organizations in this together, and to recognize what we can accomplish when we work as one.
