NGP VAN Names Maya Benson and Sara Vernon as Regional Training & Success Leads to Power "Organize Everywhere" Nationwide

New field hires will deliver hands-on support to campaigns and organizations, strengthening grassroots organizing for the midterm elections

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its continued commitment to Organize Everywhere, NGP VAN today announced the hiring of seasoned organizers Maya Benson and Sara Vernon as Regional Training & Success Leads, expanding its on-the-ground support for partners and clients nationwide for the 2026 midterm elections.

These new roles mark the next phase of Organizing Everywhere, a strategy to ensure campaigns, state parties, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations have year-round access to the tools and support they need to organize, mobilize, and win. By placing experienced practitioners directly in the field, NGP VAN is deepening its commitment to meeting clients where they are, not just online, but in state and county democratic party offices, campaign offices, community spaces, and staging locations across the country during the most critical moments of an election cycle for Democratic and progressive causes.

"Organizing Everywhere means putting real support where it matters most—in the field, alongside the organizers and teams doing the hard work every day," said Chelsea Peterson Thompson, General Manager of NGP VAN. "Maya and Sara bring a strong combination of on-the-ground organizing experience and technical expertise, with the ability to translate tools and data into real impact. Investing in leaders like them ensures our partners have the hands-on support they need to organize everywhere and win in 2026."

Sara Vernon brings a decade of experience at the intersection of organizing and data. She began her work training staff and volunteers on VAN for patient-centered organizing with Planned Parenthood during the 2016 election. Since then, she has managed data across nonprofit networks, labor unions, and campaigns, most recently serving as the National Education Association's Data Literacy Specialist. Based in Washington, D.C., Sara is known for helping teams build strong, sustainable data practices that power effective organizing.

Maya Benson is an organizer at heart with experience spanning field, mobilization, and campaign technology. She started her career on Elizabeth Warren's Senate reelection campaign in Massachusetts and her presidential campaign in Iowa, before continuing her work in Arizona during the 2020 election. She later joined NGP VAN, partnering with state and local campaigns to adopt organizing, fundraising, and digital tools, and went on to train emerging campaign staff at DigiDems and support clients at Civis Analytics. Maya is driven by making technology more accessible and effective for the people doing the work on the ground.

Together, Benson and Vernon will:

• Deliver in-person trainings for campaign staff, organizers, and advocacy teams, including during key moments like campaign launches and GOTV efforts
• Serve as on-the-ground partners to help organizations tailor tools and strategies to their goals
• Translate complex technology into practical, actionable solutions that drive voter engagement and long-term impact
• Bring real-time field feedback back into NGP VAN's product, training, and support strategies

These new union roles build on NGP VAN's recent major infrastructure initiatives, including the creation of a dedicated API and Data Products Team and a seven-figure investment in modernizing its platform. These efforts underscore the company's continued innovation and dedication to strengthening the progressive technology ecosystem at scale while investing in people and partnerships on the ground.

About NGP VAN
NGP VAN is the winningest technology platform in the history of democratic and progressive causes, working tirelessly to innovate and advance the technology our clients rely on to bolster our democracy. A proud unionized employer, we help power the trailblazers, campaigners, and advocates fighting up and down the ticket for equality, racial justice, reproductive freedom, democracy, climate reform, and more— including the national Democratic committees and progressive organizations, thousands of Democratic campaigns, hundreds of labor unions, advocacy organizations, progressive and non-partisan PACs, and other organizations.

Press Contact:
Simone Hassan-Bey
NGP VAN
[email protected] 

SOURCE NGP VAN