Heather Lurie, Co-Director
Heather is the Co-Director of the Electing Women Alliance and the Senior Consultant for Electing Women Denver.
Heather has served on several community boards including as Chair of the NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado Foundation board, VP of Public Policy for the Junior League of Denver, Founding Board Member of the Girls Athletic Leadership Schools, Advisory Board for the Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado and is currently the President of a local family foundation board.
She was named one of the Top 25 most powerful women in business by the Colorado Women’s Chamber and received the Women’s Foundation’s Be Bold award.
Heather earned her undergraduate degree in English Literature and Women’s Studies at Miami University and her J.D. from The Ohio State University College of Law.
Stacy Mason, Co-Director
Stacy is co-founder and Executive Director of WomenCount and Electing Women Bay Area and co-Director of the Electing Women Alliance. After working for many years in political journalism while based in Washington, D.C. Stacy turned her attention to women in politics beginning in 2008.
Prior to that, she served as editor-in-chief of Roll Call, the newspaper that covers the U.S. Congress; associate publisher of The Federal Paper, a newspaper focusing on the White House and politics; and development director at The Economist.
She holds a bachelor’s in international relations from Tufts University and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. In addition to her political work she has served on several local Boards in the Bay Area and is a current Board member at American Jewish World Service, a global human rights organization.
Alexandra Acker-Lyons, Political Director
Alexandra Acker-Lyons has worked at the intersection of electoral politics, the nonprofit sector, and philanthropy for over 20 years. She serves as the Political Director for Electing Women Bay Area and the Electing Women Alliance and is the President & Founder of AL Advising, a philanthropic and political consulting firm specializing in female donors.
Alexandra previously served as Director of the Youth Engagement Fund at the Democracy Alliance, where she managed a collaborative fund of individual and institutional donors. She led the Young Democrats of America as Executive Director during the historic 2008 election cycle. In the 2010 cycle, she served as the Executive Director of Democratic GAIN, overseeing the professional organization for political operatives.
Alexandra is a recognized political commentator and has traveled internationally as a trainer for the National Democratic Institute. She is also the author of The Political Ladder: Insider Tips on Getting a Job in Politics.
Alexandra currently serves on the Boards of the Alliance for Youth Action, Colorado Democracy Alliance, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Action Fund, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Action Fund. She graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Originally from Nyack, NY, Alexandra lives in Denver, CO with her husband and son.
Megan Clayton, Digital Director
Megan is an independent consultant who has worn many hats in the world of digital communications and fundraising. She got her start in politics working on campaigns in her home state of Indiana. Since then, she has helped shape the online narratives of members of Congress, municipal governments, and advocacy-focused nonprofits, with a special focus on civil and reproductive rights.
In 2022 she founded her own communications consultancy, Upper Canal Consulting, which is based in Indianapolis’s Upper Canal neighborhood, where she lives with her husband, their cat and their dog.
Sara Mwamlima, Development Manager
With over a decade of nonprofit development experience, Sara has significantly boosted fundraising efforts across various national and international organizations.
Inspired by her parents, Sara’s commitment to women’s leadership and human rights led her to work closely with her mother at Women’s Federation for World Peace and to found her own organization, Backpacks for Africa, addressing educational needs in her father’s homeland.
Driven by her vision of increasing female representation in political leadership and fostering a culture of philanthropy, Sara advances these goals in her role as Development Manager at WomenCount & EWA. Outside of work, she enjoys playing basketball, volleyball, and gardening with her dog, Chanel.
Annalise Pflueger, Programs and Events Manager
Annalise serves as the Programs and Events Manager for Electing Women, supporting EWA groups across the country, coordinating national events, and facilitating network expansion efforts. She is passionate about working to elect more women at all levels of office and building a more representative democracy.
Prior to joining Electing Women, Annalise served as a Fellow at the Meridian Center for Diplomatic Engagement and a Research Assistant at the International Finance Corporation. She has a background in humanitarian aid and nonprofit work and has worked at Legal Services Corporation, DARA International, and Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.
Kierra Powell, Engagement and Communications Manager
Kierra serves as the Engagement and Communications Manager for Women Count and EWA, where she works to raise awareness about our work and increase engagement across multiple audiences, including donors, candidates, other organizations in the political ecosystem, and digital communities. She is passionate about helping women build and sustain political power through various forms of community. Before joining WomenCount, Kierra spent the last decade working in a variety of journalism roles, in communications throughout many levels of government, from the New York City Council to U.S. Congress, on political campaigns, and in various roles within the non-profit space. In her free time, Kierra enjoys spending time with family and friends and exploring new restaurants in Brooklyn.