Alison Perelman, Democratic Convention Platform Committee Member
“Helping Philadelphia capitalize on its progress and promise.”
From Beaver County to Bucks County, delegates are traveling across the Keystone State to support Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. This week we’re sharing the delegates’ remarkable stories of resilience and tenacity.
How did you become involved with politics?
As I was finishing my PhD, I had to decide if I wanted to stay in academia or become a practitioner. I quickly realized that the primary mission I wanted to serve was helping Philadelphia capitalize on its progress and promise. The most direct way to effect change is through the levers of government, so after I completed my doctorate I began work in Philadelphia City Council.
There is no government without politics, so my next stop after City Council was running a political organization — Philadelphia 3.0 — that supports candidates and engages in issue advocacy. That’s where I am today.
What do you love most about Pennsylvania?
Philadelphia! My hometown is a beautiful, gritty, complicated place. It inspires the work I do every day.
Can you recall the moment when you decided to support Hillary?
I’ve been a Hillary supporter since Bill was in office. I went to a very progressive all-girls school and we spent a lot of time discussing the criticism Hillary faced in her efforts to do more than bake cookies.
I’m also pretty wonky and do policy work for a living, so I have so much respect for her policy chops. I supported Hillary in 2008 but at that time I don’t think I had the personal or professional experience to truly understand the importance of grit. But I do now.
What does being a Democrat mean to you? What does the historic moment of nominating the first woman to a major party ticket and electing a first woman president mean to you?
This week, we’re nominating the first woman to top a major party ticket in the birthplace of American democracy, which also happens to be my hometown. The confluence of these factors fills me with a tremendous amount of pride.
I’ve been a Hillary for President supporter since 2008 and a feminist since I knew what the word meant. I’m also a passionate Philadelphian, and ecstatic that such an historic moment is happening in my city. There is also the more quotidian but more personal side of this. I have a two-year-old son. If Hillary is elected, the first President he’ll have any real memories of will be a woman. That will forever shape how my son sees the world and it completely blows my mind.
