Amanda Litman

Author · Keynote Speaker · Co-founder, Run for Something · Brooklyn, NY

Short Bio (1 paragraph)

Amanda Litman is the co-founder and president of Run for Something, the organization that has recruited 250,000+ potential candidates and helped elect 1,650+ progressive leaders to down-ballot office since 2017. She is the author of When We're in Charge: The Next Generation's Guide to Leadership (Crooked Media Reads / Atria, 2025), named a best business book by the Financial Times, and Run for Something: A Real-Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself (Atria / Simon & Schuster, 2017), with a foreword by Hillary Rodham Clinton. She served as National Email Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She has been named to TIME100 Next (2022, written by Hillary Rodham Clinton), Fortune 40 Under 40 (2020), Politico 50 (2018), and Bloomberg People to Watch (2019). She is a 2025–2026 Obama Foundation USA Leader. She speaks on next-generation leadership, civic engagement, and building organizations under pressure. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Extended Bio

Amanda Litman co-founded Run for Something on Inauguration Day 2017 with Ross Morales Rocketto, in response to the 2016 election. The organization recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office — school boards, city councils, state legislatures — across the country. Since launching, it has recruited more than 250,000 potential candidates and helped elect more than 1,650 progressive leaders, the majority of whom are women and people of color.

Her 2025 book, When We're in Charge, is a no-bullshit leadership guide for millennial and Gen Z professionals stepping into management. Based on interviews with 100+ leaders across politics, business, media, tech, and education, it makes the case that the next generation can lead with authority, set real boundaries, and build healthier team cultures — without replicating the leadership they experienced on the way up. It was named a best business book by the Financial Times in June 2025 and endorsed by Adam Grant, Anne Helen Petersen, Jon Favreau, Ilana Glazer, and Tori Dunlap, among others.

Her 2017 book, Run for Something, is a practical guide to running for local and state office. Written after the 2016 election for people who wanted to do something about it, it features a foreword by Hillary Rodham Clinton and remains a go-to resource for first-time candidates.

Before Run for Something, Litman served as National Email Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and lives in Brooklyn, NY with her family and a rowdy rescue dog.

Books

• When We're in Charge: The Next Generation's Guide to Leadership (2025) — Crooked Media Reads / Atria Books / Zando. ISBN: 9781638931928. Named a best business book by the Financial Times.
• Run for Something: A Real-Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself (2017) — Atria Books / Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 9781501180446. Foreword by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Awards & Recognition

• TIME100 Next (2022) — written by Hillary Rodham Clinton
• Fortune 40 Under 40 (2020)
• Politico 50 — 50 Ideas Driving American Politics (2018)
• Bloomberg People to Watch (2019)
• Obama Foundation USA Leader (2025–2026)
• Financial Times Best Business Books — When We're in Charge (June 2025)

Speaking Topics

• Next-generation leadership — what millennial and Gen Z leaders do differently
• Leading to meet the moment — preventing burnout through clear expectations
• Building organizations under pressure — mission-driven teams with limited resources
• Civic engagement and democracy — why individual action still matters
• Running for office — what the next generation should know

Selected Media

• Vanity Fair · Teen Vogue · CNBC · Forbes · The Guardian · Rolling Stone · TIME Magazine · The Atlantic · Fast Company · The Nation · The Bulwark · Anne Helen Petersen / Culture Study
• On with Kara Swisher · Pod Save America · The Ezra Klein Show · Here's the Thing with Alec Baldwin · It's Open with Ilana Glazer · Choice Words w/ Samantha Bee · Assembly Required w/ Stacey Abrams
• Morning Joe · The Takeout on CBS · All In with Chris Hayes · GMA3 · Late Night with Seth Meyers · The Rachel Maddow Show · PBS NewsHour

Full media archive →