# Liuba Grechen Shirley on why our political system wasn't built for moms — and how to fix it

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/liuba-grechen-shirley-on-why-our-political-system-wasn-t-built-for-moms-and-how-to-fix-it
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/liuba-grechen-shirley-on-why-our-political-system-wasn-t-built-for-moms-and-how-to-fix-it.md
Podcast: [Firestarters with Shannon Watts](https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386)
Published: 2026-05-15T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shannonwatts.substack.com/p/liuba-grechen-shirley-on-why-our
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/197695474/523c165a957e007883de65599a5e4dc5.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/episodes/liuba-grechen-shirley-on-why-our-political-system-wasn-t-built-for-moms-and-how-to-fix-it
Duration seconds: 1881

## Resource

Liuba Grechen Shirley is the Founder and CEO of Vote Mama , an interconnected trio of organizations dedicated to electing mothers, transforming the political system, and advancing family-friendly policies. Liuba's career highlights include her historic congressional campaign for New York’s 2nd District, where she achieved the highest vote share of any Democrat against the incumbent in 25 years and raised over $2 million without corporate PAC money. And she also made history as the first woman to receive federal approval to spend campaign funds on childcare. In this conversation, we discussed what motivated Liuba to get into politics, the biggest structural barriers moms encounter when they decide to run for office, how moms bring a different lived experience to policymaking, and how moms can get more involved in local politics and beyond. Connect with Liuba: Website | Instagram | Substack If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

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