Em Burnett
they/them
Em Burnett has over a decade of experience as a political communications professional with a deep background in Maine politics and civic technology. Getting their start as a field organizer for the Maine Dems in 2012, Em quickly built a niche as a digitally-savvy organizer. They began advocating for the effective and transparent use of technology in government in 2013 and founded the civic technology group OpenMaine, the start of a decades-long quest to advocate for more effective, transparent twenty-first century technology in government.
Em's work as a digital communications professional took them to California, where they managed and implemented digital strategy for some of the largest US Senate, House and governors' races in the country. They came home to Maine in 2016 and Em's work has since touched nearly every type of campaign in the state, from working on voter education campaigns about ranked choice voting implementation in 2018 to managing communications for a variety of state House and Senate races, launching a US Senate race and managing the communications and strategy for Portland mayoral, city council, and other local races.
In addition to working on political campaigns, Em writes, works on open source software initiatives, and creates community organizing projects and schemes of all shapes and sizes.
Why I do this work
I consider it an honor and a challenge to get to communicate about politics for a living. Growing up in Sanford as the child of two local journalists, my childhood was shaped by the experience of watching local newspapers – and my parents' jobs – getting dismantled and removed entirely from our communities. The reality is that the absence of local news as it once existed shapes my job every day: voters have less trust in our institutions and people are getting our news from a scattershot of different sources. This makes my job not just one of persuasion but fundamentally of education: people want to understand political issues and change the world for the better. My job is to give everyone the tools and information they need to make an informed decision.
Through my experience working and winning campaigns at the local and state level, I know that there's a broad disconnect between the political messages voters receive and the messages they connect and resonate with. The old playbook doesn't work anymore. We need to talk to people as equals, in ways that bring them along, help them understand the stakes, and paint a picture of a better world.