Math doesn’t lie. And after the November 2024 election, the numbers said it all: A staggering 92 percent of Black women voted for Kamala Harris — while the majority of White women voted for Donald Trump. It was a depressing outcome for Black voting women, who have been overlooked for centuries by policies and politics shaped predominately by White men.
But South Philly native Jasmine Sessoms refuses to give up hope. She’s dedicated her professional life to civic engagement: as Deputy Executive Director for The Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, as a government relations officer for Community College of Philadelphia, as Senior VP of Corporate Affairs at Hilco Redevelopment Partners, and as the founder of She Can Win, an initiative dedicated to getting women elected to office.
She’d seen success with She Can Win – Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson went through the training, as did Rep. Morgan Cephas, and many judges — but she wanted to do more, to open the door for women to take civic action in ways that aren’t centered exclusively on running for elected office. (She shuttered She Can Win in 2015.)
“It’s about having people from all walks of life, all sides of the aisle, really coming together and figuring out how we can create a fair and equitable government.” — Jasmin Sessoms
So in February 2024, Sessoms launched Center 1968 — named for the year New York’s Shirley Chisholm became the first Black Congresswoman. At the time of founding the Center, Sessoms was once again working for Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), this time as Chief Engagement Officer. In the Center’s first year, Mayor Cherelle Parker became inaugural chairwoman. Parker was hands-on in greeting influential visitors to the Center and offering answers and advice when Sessoms would seek her out. And many influential people — then-VP Kamala Harris, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Al Sharpton, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, to name a few — came to speak, mostly around the importance of voting, and also to get information about the Center and its mission. (Moore was particularly impressed, telling Sessoms that every state needs something like the Center.)
“Our goal was to train Black women not only or necessarily to run for office, but how to write policies and advocate and become voting ambassadors in their neighborhoods,” Sessoms says. Because, yes, Black women do vote in droves — but they still don’t run in nearly the same numbers that their White counterparts do. That’s largely because of the precise barriers the Center is focused on overcoming: a lack of exposure to politics, a lack of networks and support — be it mentorship or fundraising. Rutgers’ Center for American Women And Politics reports that while Black women make up 7.8 percent of the U.S. population, zero women currently hold elected federal positions, and since the founding of our country, only .5 percent — that’s point-five — of all members of Congress have been Black women.
“The Center’s goal is to take the energy that Black women already have and fine-tune it, hone and focus it, while opening doors that we are typically shut out of,” Sessoms says.
A suite of programs that lead to opportunities
In an ironic twist of fate, less than a year into running the program, Sessoms had to advocate for herself when, under Trump’s presidency, support for DEI programs dried up at CCP. “There’s a lot of turmoil at CCP,” she says. “They just didn’t see a fit for the Center any longer under Trump’s regime. They had to play it safe. No hard feelings — it just wasn’t a good fit.”
Rather than fold the program, Sessoms left CCP, starting a public affairs firm called Firm 1968, and taking Center 1968 with her. “I wanted to push forward. I knew we were onto something. I know it’s something that’s so needed in today’s environment,” she says. As an independent nonprofit, funding for the Center’s programs comes from grants and fundraisers.
Now, Center 1968 runs a suite of programs that has reached more than 350 women, through social media, nonprofit partnership, churches, word of mouth, on campuses, and beyond. There’s the Barbara Jordan Fellowship, named for the first Black woman to be elected to the Texas Senate. It teaches Black women how to craft policies, lobby for them, and get them made into laws. It’s a nine-week program that meets in-person twice a week. The most recent cohort included 13 women, including Alisah Lewis-Cobb, 20. A North Carolina native and third-year student at Temple who’s majoring in criminal justice with a minor in political science, Lewis-Cobb saw a flyer at Temple and decided to apply.
The experience was more meaningful than she’d expected. “A lot of times, I will be honest, I don’t feel represented. So I loved being in a space surrounded by people who look like me and have had similar experiences,” she says.
After completing the program, she leveraged her experience to apply for — and secure — her current internship with Congressman Dwight Evans. “The Barbara Jordan Fellowship inspired me to take chances and apply for things that I wouldn’t have,” she says. “It encouraged me to pursue whatever endeavor I want, and showed me that I belong in these spaces as much as anyone else.”
In the future, she plans to get a Master’s in Criminal Justice Administration and Policy, and would love to work for the federal government in Washington, D.C. “I believe our criminal legal system needs reform, and I hope to be a loud advocate for that cause,” she says.
In addition to the fellowship, there’s the Ella Baker Briefing, an Instagram series that’s all about breaking down complex policies. Currently, the Briefing is focused on making sense of Trump’s Executive Orders. Previously, Briefings focused on what’s coming out of the State House, bills like the Omnibus Bill, the Crown Act, the Joy Bank. One of their most popular Briefings focused on breaking down the City’s budget into bite-sized pieces. “Being more informed will make us better as a society, as a whole, and that’s a role the Center really wants to play,” Sessoms says.
A particular point of pride for Sessoms is that the work is completely nonpartisan. As part of Center 1968’s monthly Have Some Agency speaker series, a recent event featured three Black female political leaders from three different parties talking about issues of the day, like tariffs and student debt. “The world still sees us as all being the same,” Sessoms says — this, despite the fact that the views the leaders expressed varied widely.
“We have to be unapologetic. We deserve to be in whatever room we step in. Too often we have been subjugated to back seats or have had to stand alongside a man to make things happen.” — Kendra Brooks, Philadelphia City Council
Philadelphia Councilwoman Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party advocated for canceling student loan debt; Oklahoma Republican Charity Marcus was all for people repaying debt; and Democrat Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, a former advisor to the Biden-Harris administration, fell somewhere in the middle.
“It got heated, and was a really interesting conversation, and that’s what the Center is,” Sessoms says. “It’s about having people from all walks of life, all sides of the aisle, really coming together and figuring out how we can create a fair and equitable government.”
Looking ahead, Sessoms hopes to expand the work beyond Philadelphia, ideally partnering with colleges — with a focus on community colleges and HBCUs — around the country. Locally, she’s in talks with Temple, St. Joe’s, and Delaware Community College.
“One of the things Jasmine and I share is the same ‘shero,’ in Shirley Chisholm,” says Councilmember Brooks. As Black women, Brooks goes on, “We have to be unapologetic. We deserve to be in whatever room we step in. Too often we have been subjugated to back seats or have had to stand alongside a man to make things happen. And I know that, like Chisholm, Jasmine and I are both committed to opening the door for more of us as we move along.”
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