Shaniqua McClendon

Shaniqua McClendon has worked in politics for a decade and currently serves as Vice President of Politics at Crooked Media, home to the popular podcast, Pod Save America. In this role, Shaniqua led the creation of Vote Save America, a voter engagement program that helped create a blue wave of Democratic victories in the 2018 midterms and has driven more than $42 million in donations to progressive causes and candidates in the 2020 cycle. Prior to Crooked Media, Shaniqua began her career as a White House Intern for President Barack Obama. She then went on to Capitol Hill where she served as a policy advisor to Senator Kay R. Hagan and Legislative Director to Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, where she spearheaded the creation of the first-ever Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus. Shaniqua is originally from North Carolina, and earned a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at UNC Chapel Hill, she developed a deep interest in how politicians and public policy shape people’s lives. She also earned a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Service.