about us

Jessica Grounds, managing partner and principal strategist, has devoted her life to empowering women to become political decision makers and leaders.

Jessica is also the Executive Director of Running Start, a non-profit that she helped to found which is dedicated to educating girls and young women about the importance of running for elected office. Previous to working with Running Start, she was the President of Women Under Forty Political Action Committee (WUFPAC) and currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors. At the end of 2009, Jessica left her position as Vice President of Stones’ Phones, a campaign strategy firm, where she consulted Democratic candidates and organizations throughout the country. In her various roles she has helped the campaigns of hundreds of women seeking elected office. At the beginning of 2010 she launched Solid Grounds Strategy, a consulting firm devoted to assisting female candidates who have never run for office before.  That year she also co-founded Women’s Campaign Consortium to work collectively with with a team of women consultants to advise women candidates in races around the country.

Before consulting candidates, Jessica worked on multiple campaigns including former California Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, Congresswoman Lois Capps, and Congressional candidate Francine Busby.  She was also the Training Lead for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign for the Iowa Caucuses.

Jessica completed a graduate program in Women, Policy and Political Leadership at the Women & Politics Institute at American University. She has published research on gender differences in leadership style within Congress and has completed research on new trends in campaign messaging for women candidates. Jessica is a contributing author for Sage Publications 2008 edition of Campaigns, Elections & Electoral Behavior.  She is currently pursuing an Executive Master’s in Leadership from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Jessica has lectured on campaign communications at Johns Hopkins and American Universities, Yale Law School and has done candidate and political trainings for Women’s Campaign Forum, the Women & Politics Institute, National Association of Women Business Owners, Human Rights Campaign, the American Medical Association candidate training workshop, Women’s Information Network, National Democratic Institute, the State Department, the National Council of Women’s Organizations, and the Women’s Campaign School at Yale.

In 2009, Jessica was named a Rising Star in Politics magazine.  In 2010, Jessica was honored to receive the Young Woman of Achievement Award from the Women’s Information Network (WIN).  Jessica grew up in San Diego, California, and graduated from Pepperdine University. She has lived in Washington, DC since 2003.