Nneka Ogwumike will take the reins of LeBron James’s voting nonprofit ahead of this year’s election, with a focus on women’s and reproductive rights.
James founded More Than a Vote in 2020 amid the anti-racist protests and uprisings after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. For the 2020 election, the athlete- and artist-led group primarily focused on voting access for Black Americans. It worked with the NAACP to get more poll workers, ran ads on TV and online, worked with sports venues to become polling locations, and raised roughly $4.2 million, according to The New York Times. The group’s work has largely halted since then, but it is finding new life ahead of the 2024 election.
“So proud to pass the torch to Nneka Ogwumike and an incredible team of women for this next round,” James posted on social media. Their voice is the most powerful right now and we need to get behind them. I encourage y’all to join the fight with us, led by these great ladies and More Than A Vote!”
Ogwumike said in a statement that “no one else should have the power to make decisions over our bodies and our healthcare.”
She is the president of the WNBA’s players’ union and volunteered as a poll worker in the 2020 election alongside her sister, Chiney, now a basketball analyst at ESPN.
Stephanie Schriock, the longtime president of EMILYs List—a group focused on electing pro-choice Democratic women—will advise the group.
Abortion and other reproductive healthcare are a major issue in the 2024 election. Kamala Harris championed abortion rights in office, while former President Donald Trump has walked a fine line between distancing himself from Republicans seeking the most restrictive laws, and taking credit for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
“It’s more than just abortion,” Ogwumike told the Times. “It’s all about educating people about all the different roles that exist in society that support and protect the freedoms of women when it comes to family planning, I.V.F., birth control, everything. There’s just a lot that’s at stake.”
Earlier this year, the WNBA announced a partnership with the company supplying the first FDA-approved over-the-counter birth control pill. Players also negotiated more maternal and childcare options in their 2020 collective bargaining agreement. Players on parental leave receive their full WNBA salary, and those with children get a two-bedroom apartment and a $5,000 stipend for childcare. Veteran players can be reimbursed up to $60,000 for family planning fees, including freezing their eggs, undergoing fertility treatments, or choosing adoption or surrogacy.
