Debra Cleaver

Debra Cleaver is an American nonprofit executive who founded Vote.org and VoteAmerica.

Early life and education Cleaver attended Pomona College, majoring in psychology with a minor in anthropology. She was active in LGBTQ activism on campus and graduated in 1999. She participated in the startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2016. For the 2008 election, she founded Long Distance Voter, a website that explained absentee voting requirements.

VoteAmerica was supported by a May 2020 Paycheck Protection Program loan received by Democracy Builders, a non-profit organization headed by Seth Andrew. In order for VoteAmerica to receive the money, its employees were briefly on the payroll of Democracy Builders.

Cleaver has been a regular commentator on election issues, including to debunk conspiracy theories, to discuss the voter registration process and challenges for voter registration, as well as ways to increase voter turnout.

In 2021, VoteAmerica sued the state of Georgia over its voter ID law.

Personal life Although the organizations she has founded are non-partisan, Cleaver's personal politics are liberal.