Experience
Jo Deutsch facilitates a legislative workshop for the Association of Flight Attendants.
Lifelong CHANGE AGENT
Jo Deutsch offers you a lifetime of commitment and passion as a successful change agent. Her political activism started as a teenager working for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Florida. Next came activism through her work with the Association of Flight Attendants, where she helped pass the total smoking ban on U.S. commercial aircraft. Recently, working with Freedom to Marry, she won the right for same sex couples to marry nationwide.
In addition to these historic accomplishments, she advocated for the rights of women, the LGBT community, and labor union members. With her heart as well as her brain, she has fought for a diverse range of issues and programs, shaping the national conversation and changing the country in a positive way.
Jo Deutsch and friends attend a rally in Washington, D.C. for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Throughout her career, Jo has used her skills in public speaking, facilitating, communications, and lobbying to train activists in order to build political and grassroots power and momentum.
PAST WORK AND EXPERIENCE
Jo has spent over 30 years fighting for social justice. She brings real life individual experiences to the national conversation to advance women’s and LGBT rights and to empower working families. Working for the Women's Research and Education Institute, Human Rights Campaign Fund, the Feminist Majority, Business and Professional Women’s Federation, the Association of Flight Attendants, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Jo advocated through lobbying and political activism.
Jo Deutsch speaks with then First Lady Hillary Clinton at a political event.
FREEDOM TO MARRY
As Federal Director for Freedom to Marry, Jo served as primary lobbyist on Capitol Hill. In this role, she built and managed partnerships with a diverse range of lawmakers, constituencies, and allies from both sides of the aisle. She lobbied for overturning the Respect for Marriage Act and for the freedom to marry nationwide. She created and led the Respect for Marriage Coalition, the largest coalition supporting the freedom to marry comprising over 100 national organizations.
Jo Deutsch speaks with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), and Susan Murray at the 2011 U.S. Senate hearing to assess the impact of the Defense of Marriage Act on families.
Jo developed campaigns and programs that led to strong bi-partisan support. These included creating and coordinating Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, a program that marshaled support among young conservatives for marriage equality, and Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a program that linked local, state and federal work through the support of 750 Mayors in 49 states. She recruited 226 Mayors as well as 40 cities to sign an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court for Obergefell v. Hodges. This constituted the largest group of mayors signing a brief in the history of the Supreme Court.
Education and family
Jo is a native Miamian who has called the Washington, D.C. area home for over 30 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and her Master of Arts degree from The George Washington University. She lives with her family in Maryland.