# Lilly Sasse
> [!dossier] Campaign Director of [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/We Choose Us|We Choose Us]] — an entity the State of Minnesota has recorded as not legally existing — while registered as a lobbyist for [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/ISAIAH|ISAIAH]]. Received the **NASS John Lewis Youth Leadership Award from Secretary of State Steve Simon on July 31, 2023.** **Prior vault coverage: zero files.**
**Up:** [[Actors and Architects/MAIN|Actors and Architects]]
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## 1. THE SIMON RECOGNITION — CONFIRMED, with the primary source
The allegation in the [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter (July 2026)|Lindell–Rosen letter]] of a 2023 recognition **is true**, and the primary record is a Minnesota Secretary of State press release.
**MN SOS press release, July 31, 2023.** Secretary **Steve Simon** presented the **National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) John Lewis Youth Leadership Award** to two Minnesotans:
1. **Ava Roots** — Minnesota Youth Council Representative, Minnesota Alliance with Youth
2. **Lilly Sasse — Campaign Director, We Choose Us**
Simon: *"We're proud to present this award to two exceptional young people who are making a difference in their communities and the state."*
**And, in the same release — the sentence that matters most:**
> Simon: *"Ava and Lilly have both gone above and beyond to **partner with our office** to advocate for youth voices and ensure we have a forward-thinking democracy representing all Minnesotans."*
Sasse: *"A thriving democracy is foundational to meeting the needs of our communities."*
> [!important] **This is the Secretary of State, in an official press release of his office, describing the campaign director of an advocacy coalition as having "partnered with our office."** It is a stronger statement of relationship than anything the Lindell–Rosen letter alleges, and it is published on the office's own website. Verified verbatim from the primary source, 2026-08-01.
The award recognizes individuals **25 or younger**.
[sos.mn.gov press release](https://sos.mn.gov/about-the-office/news-room/sec-simon-awards-national-john-lewis-youth-leadership-award-to-two-minnesotans)
**Cross-check performed and cleared.** The June 11, 2024 NASS Medallion Award went to Mike Dean of LeadMN, not Sasse. No conflation between the two awards.
**Stated neutrally:** this is a formal recognition, from the office of the state's chief election official, of the campaign director of a coalition whose affiliated political fund had — the previous cycle — spent **$281,436 in independent expenditures supporting that same official's re-election.** All three facts are documented. The significance is contested and this node takes no position.
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## 2. BIOGRAPHY
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Joined ISAIAH** | **January 2021**, "to build what is now We Choose Us" — her own authored bio, [SSIR, July 23, 2026](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/minnesota-protecting-our-neighbors) |
| **Campaign Director, We Choose Us** | from the June 2022 public launch; quoted in that title August 2022 |
| Also styled | "co-founder and director of We Choose Us" (Minnesota Reformer, June 22, 2025); "campaign director for **We Choose Us Action**" (her own Star Tribune counterpoint). **She uses both titles interchangeably in public** |
| **MN registered lobbyist** | **#5268**, principal **ISAIAH** (5316). Registered email of record: **
[email protected]** |
| Withdrawn registration | principal **"We Choose Us" (#8049)** — withdrawn **July 6, 2023** |
| Education | **University of Minnesota graduate, 2020** — InfluenceWatch, partisan secondary |
**Prior roles — CONFIRMED NEGATIVES.** Searches specifically for Sasse at TakeAction Minnesota, SEIU, the DFL, and as campaign staff returned **nothing**. **The only employer of record is ISAIAH, from January 2021.** Her LinkedIn is robots-disallowed and could not be retrieved — that is the one place a fuller employment history would live, and it is a genuine gap.
**Self-described achievement, not independently verified:** credited in her own SSIR bio with leading "major democracy reform campaigns that helped pass the largest expansion of voting rights, voter access, and campaign finance reforms in Minnesota since the 1970s during the 2023-2024 legislative session."
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## 3. THE STRUCTURAL POSITION
**She signs as an officer of an entity the state has recorded as not legally existing, while being registered as a lobbyist for the entity that owns it.**
The CFB's July 6, 2023 minutes record the moment this was formalized — Sasse appeared before the Board by Webex with **Brian Kao** (ISAIAH Operations Director, Faith in Minnesota Secretary) to withdraw the We Choose Us principal registration on the stated ground that *"We Choose Us is a project of ISAIAH and is not a distinct legal entity."*
She continued signing legislative testimony as "Lilly Sasse, Campaign Director, We Choose Us" for at least two more years after that withdrawal.
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## 4. LEGISLATIVE FOOTPRINT
Letters and testimony signed "Lilly Sasse, Campaign Director, We Choose Us":
| Bill | Date |
|---|---|
| SF3616 | Feb 20, 2024 |
| SF3871 | Feb 22, 2024 |
| SF0009 | Jan 23, 2025 |
| SF1071 | Feb 13, 2025 |
| **SF1911** (Minnesota Civic Fund), to Chair Jim Carlson | **Mar 11, 2025** |
| SF3045 / SOS budget letter (17 organizations) | **Apr 21, 2025** |
On SF1911 she filed one day after ISAIAH's Lars Negstad filed separately on the same bill.
**The April 21, 2025 letter urged full funding of the Minnesota Secretary of State's operating budget** for FY2026–27 and FY2028–29 — addressed to Gov. Walz, Speaker Emerita Hortman, and Majority Leader Murphy.
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## 5. DOCUMENTED PUBLIC APPEARANCES
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| **July 31, 2023** | Receives NASS John Lewis Youth Leadership Award from **SOS Steve Simon** |
| Jan/Feb 2023 | Quoted as outside validator at the launch of Rep. [[Actors and Architects/Actors/Emma Greenman|Emma Greenman]]'s **Inclusive Democracy Caucus** (The 19th) |
| **June 22, 2025** | Speaks at the **[[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Defending Democracy Summit (June 22 2025)|Defending Democracy Summit]]**, south Minneapolis church, alongside AG Keith Ellison, SOS Steve Simon, and Rep. Emma Greenman. Quoted on the Hortman assassination: *"It is clearly an act of political violence that is able to fester in the current political climate."* |
| **July 23, 2026** | Co-authors "Protecting Our Neighbors" in the *Stanford Social Innovation Review* with **JaNaé Bates Imari**, co-executive director of ISAIAH |
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## 6. CROSS-REFERENCES
- **Directs:** [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/We Choose Us|We Choose Us]]
- **Registered lobbyist for:** [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/ISAIAH|ISAIAH]]
- **Recognized by:** [[Actors and Architects/Actors/Steve Simon|Steve Simon]], July 31, 2023
- **Spoke alongside:** [[Actors and Architects/Actors/Keith Ellison|Keith Ellison]] · [[Actors and Architects/Actors/Emma Greenman|Emma Greenman]] — June 22, 2025
- **At issue:** [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter (July 2026)|Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter]]
- **When:** [[2021]] · [[2022]] · [[2023]] · [[2024]] · [[2025]] · [[2026]]
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## SOURCES
[MN SOS — John Lewis Youth Leadership Award, July 31 2023](https://sos.mn.gov/about-the-office/news-room/sec-simon-awards-national-john-lewis-youth-leadership-award-to-two-minnesotans) · [MN SOS — NASS Medallion Award (cross-check)](https://sos.mn.gov/about-the-office/news-room/sec-simon-presents-national-association-of-secretaries-of-state-medallion-award) · [MN CFB minutes, July 6 2023](https://cfb.mn.gov/pdf/bdinfo/minutes/2023_07_06_regular_session.pdf) · [SSIR, July 23 2026 — Sasse & Bates Imari](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/minnesota-protecting-our-neighbors) · [Star Tribune — Sasse counterpoint](https://www.startribune.com/our-democracy-defense-pledge-is-nonpartisan-you-can-see-who-signed-it-in-minnesota/601174039) · [Minnesota Reformer, June 22 2025](https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/22/a-week-after-political-assassination-democracy-group-tries-to-chart-a-way-forward/) · [KTTC, Aug. 8 2022](https://www.kttc.com/2022/08/08/newly-founded-minnesota-coalition-campaign-hosts-launch-party-rochester/) · [The 19th — Inclusive Democracy Caucus](https://19thnews.org/2023/02/women-minnesota-democracy-caucus/) · legislative testimony PDFs at [lrl.mn.gov](https://www.lrl.mn.gov/) · *partisan-critical, flagged:* [InfluenceWatch — We Choose Us Action](https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/we-choose-us-action/)
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