Maya Rupert
Author Speaker Advocate Strategist
Maya Rupert is an author, a podcast host, a political strategist, and a social justice leader. She has been recognized by national outlets including Ebony Magazine and The Root for her leadership in the Black community. Maya received her B.A. from U.C. Santa Barbara and her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley. She clerked for the Honorable Eric L. Clay of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2020, she served as campaign manager for Julián Castro’s presidential campaign and is only the third Black woman to have managed a major presidential campaign. When Secretary Castro exited the race, she joined Elizabeth Warren’s campaign as a Senior Advisor. In 2021, she managed Maya Wiley’s NYC Mayoral campaign.
Maya contributed a piece to the anthology How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation, released in 2018. Maya has previously been awarded NABJ Salute to Excellence awards for her writing. Maya has also been a contributing writer to a number of outlets where she frequently addresses the intersection of race, gender, culture, and politics. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Teen Vogue, and Slate.
Her book, The Real Ones, was published by Dutton Books in 2026.
She is the host of When We Win with Maya Rupert, a limited series podcast with Lemonada Media. The show was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for for Outstanding Podcast – Limited Series.
Maya is a nationally respected voice on progressive politics and the future of the Democratic party. She has appeared as a guest on national television and radio including for MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and SiriusXM.
Maya has spent much of her career as a leader in nonprofit organizations and a leading voice in social justice movement politics. She has led on issues including racial justice, reproductive rights and justice, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, and environmental justice. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, she was a Senior Advisor to the President at the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she led the external relations and governmental work. In Spring of 2022, she was a Harvard Institute of Politics Resident Fellow, where she led a study group on dismantling the myths that keep many people out of careers in politics.
