GIFFORDS Names Emma Brown as New Executive Director

Washington DC — Today, GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced that Emma Brown is joining the team as its new executive director. GIFFORDS celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, and Brown takes the helm as the organization prepares for its next decade and next phase in the fight to end gun violence. Under her leadership, GIFFORDS will renew and deepen its focus on notching wins in tough political battlegrounds and push for commonsense gun safety policies in every community. Prior to joining GIFFORDS, Brown most recently served as Senator Mark Kelly’s campaign manager for his successful 2022 reelection to the U.S. Senate. 

“I am thrilled to welcome Emma Brown as GIFFORDS’s new executive director. I have had the opportunity to see her leadership and innovation up close and I know she is the perfect person to help me lead GIFFORDS into its next era. Over the last 10 years we’ve built an organization that passed more than 620 gun safety laws in states across the country, enacted the first federal gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, and countered the gun lobby. Now, we will expand our efforts in key states and lean into our roots of bringing gun safety messages to all towns, all cities, all communities—even in the unlikeliest of places. I’m excited to have Emma aboard for this new chapter.”

“I am humbled to be stepping into this role at a critical moment in the fight to end gun violence in America. Across the country, I have seen the urgency and impact of this issue, as well as the broad consensus on the common-sense solutions that will save lives. GIFFORDS enters its next phase with a renewed focus on widening the gun safety conversation while strengthening our unique coalition in key states. I am honored to join the team for this next phase and look forward to continuing the critical work that Gabby Giffords has led over the last decade.”

Emma Brown became the executive director of GIFFORDS in January 2024, where she oversees the organization’s work to save lives from gun violence by shifting culture, changing policies, and challenging injustice.

Prior to leading GIFFORDS, Emma served as campaign manager for Senator Mark Kelly’s 2022 reelection campaign in Arizona, where she ran a $100 million effort that reelected a Democratic senator in Arizona for the first time in 34 years. In 2020, Emma served as the coordinated campaign director for President Biden’s campaign in Arizona, leading the largest voter contact program in state history and marking the first time a Democratic presidential campaign carried Arizona since 1996. During that cycle, she also served as Senator Kelly’s deputy campaign manager.

Emma has also run battleground congressional and state legislative programs in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, and she was named the “State Campaign Manager of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants. Originally from Virginia, Emma is a graduate of Colby College and is based in Washington DC.

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