EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Name: Jazmin Perez
Title: National Director of Recruitment & Retention, Vanguard Field Strategies
Location: Austin, TX
Bio: Some people would consider me to be a dynamic, young political operative with a diverse and impressive experience in both campaigns and public policy – and that’s really just the person writing my resume. (aka me!)
I was born in Houston, Texas and raised in a small rural town. I love what I do! I’ve had the pleasure of developing and managing grassroots programs, communications, and day-to-day operations of numerous legislative and campaign efforts in the Texas Legislature, US Congress, and political races across 20 states.
My career in politics kicked off just before graduating from Sam Houston State University when I built student support coalitions for Congressman Kevin Brady’s campaign.
During the 2016 election cycle, I traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania where I was an integral part of the award-winning leadership team that managed 350 field team members to ensure victorious outcomes for Senator Pat Toomey and President Donald J. Trump. We led a brilliant team that knocked over 1.5 million doors!
After Pennsylvania, I had the honor of being one of seven young women selected from across the country for the Star Fellowship Program with Running Start, a non-partisan organization that encourages young women to run for office. Through this program, I worked on major health care policy in the Office of Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. I also had the opportunity to work in the Office of Congressman Will Hurd.
In addition to managing campaigns and grassroots operations, I served as Strategy Director for a digital and mail firm where I implemented communication strategies across print, mobile and digital platforms for over 60 campaigns across the nation. Before joining Vanguard Field Strategies, I served as the Communications Director for a state representative in the Texas Legislature.
What you do at Axiom/how you serve our clients: At Vanguard Field Strategies, I’m part of a truly amazing leadership team that provides campaigns with direct voter contact and engagement. I’m responsible for all of the recruitment efforts and staffing grassroots operations across the country.
Fun fact: I originally wanted to work for the FBI – I majored in Criminal Justice and even took a couple semesters of Arabic. Then, in my senior year at Sam Houston State I had the opportunity to attend a campaign bootcamp and work on my first campaign. I immediately fell in love with politics. I had so much fun working on a campaign, traveling, and learning about the process of electing solid leaders to represent us at the city, state, and federal level. By the time I had graduated, I had worked on a couple campaigns and went on to manage a mayoral race in a large Houston suburb, and I never looked back.
What trends do you expect to see in the 2020 election: In today’s environment, campaigns are eager to find new and innovative ways to reach and engage with voters directly. Campaign messages may get lost in the clutter and election day is on the horizon. Our grandparents turned phone banks into citizen armies. In 2020, will we see new tech emerge to engage with voters directly in a time when attending meet and greets, rallies, and fundraisers is strictly restricted and social distancing orders in effect, leaving us with Zoom fireside chats with the candidate.