Meet Julia Heselton, senior director of solutions architecture
At NGP VAN, we’re proud to have an incredible team of dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly on campaigns and advanced progressive causes nationwide. One of those standout team members is Julia Heselton, who brings over 20 years of experience in the progressive technology space to her role as senior director of solutions architecture. When we spoke, she shared what initially sparked her passion for getting involved in politics and how her experiences continue to fuel her commitment to the progressive movement.
What drove you to get involved in politics?
I grew up around Detroit, and my dad worked for General Motors. He joined The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) in his twenties, and it was clear to me that he saw the impact it had on him personally. It was also clear that he understood what being in a union meant in the bigger picture.
As a union member, he took his membership seriously, and it became part of our family dynamic, too. Like we didn’t eat grapes when I was a kid because of the Delano grape strike. We stopped subscribing to the “Detroit Free Press” when the union went on strike. So, from a very young age, I got a lot of exposure to the idea of advocacy, and the power of collective action and the impact behind it.
And then in high school, I worked on my first political campaign for Carl Levin and helped him win re-election to the U.S. House. After that, I went to college at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, and then served in the Peace Corps in Eastern Europe. I came back and worked in a public health job before starting as an organizer at Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
How’d you end up at NGP VAN and what’s your role?
It really became clear to me why labor protections were needed everywhere during my time at SEIU. The union I worked at was a public service workers union, and we were focused initially on unionizing school bus drivers in Charlestown, Massachusetts. After that, we started another campaign to work with home healthcare workers.
So, I realized that unions weren’t just there to protect workers from unsafe working conditions, but they were needed because all workers needed fair representation for laws that were being passed that would impact their careers. That realization was kind of the first time that I brought the political and union work together to understand why organizing was so integral in the fight for a better future.
I loved organizing. I learned so much as an organizer, but I realized that it probably wasn’t the exact career path for me. The union had just started using this organizing software called Organizer's Toolbox, and I learned that the software company was hiring a support position. So, I made that switch from union organizing to technology support, then joined VAN in 2009 just before NGP and VAN merged in 2010.
I worked in support for a few years before I was promoted to serve as the company's first account manager. I worked with some of the movement's leading organizations, including large labor unions and soft-side data and tech collaboratives. In my role now as the senior director of solutions architecture, I help my team prepare for demos, host webinars, craft sales enablement materials, work on strategic and election readiness initiatives, and more.
What does it mean for you to work at a company that has been (and continues to be) integral to the success of so many historic victories across the country?
Working here reminds me that our movement is always in motion, and that there’s always work to be done. But there are also plenty of times where I can see how far we’ve come. Like, look at all we’ve accomplished over the past few decades. There are hard moments too. And times when I think the world is going to end. But then, I understand that sometimes all it takes is a shift in my perspective to turn that anger and anxiety into action.
I've been working in progressive tech for 20 years now, and the thing that I think is constant is things are always changing and being able to meet those changes is only possible if you have taken the time to build a team and community to mobilize and own the job when it needs to be done. And I think we’re in one of those moments right now — and we’re seeing our movement step up to own it. Just like my dad understood what it meant to be a UAW member in the bigger picture, I understand what it means to be a part of this continuing fight to advance the progressive movement.
