Hillary Lehr

SEEDS OF ACTIVISM. Hillary Lehr has always been driven by a curiosity about using technology to scale social impact has guided her career and led to her current role as CEO of Quiller: an AI copilot designed to help teams at social impact organizations draft top-quality, highly customized content. From emails and texts to op-eds and digital ad copy, Quiller aims to make content creation more efficient and effective, enabling organizations to focus on their core missions.

Her journey began as a student activist at UC Berkeley, where she studied environmental science and anthropology. Her first taste of success came with the UC Go Solar campaign, which helped draft the first definition of sustainability for the UC Regents.

After graduating, Hillary’s first job was with the Rainforest Action Network, where she worked on grassroots organizing just as Facebook and Twitter were beginning to transform how people connected around social issues. This experience led her to specialize in the digital side of campaigning at Causes.com, the first Facebook application to enable users to make donations to nonprofits. At Causes, Hillary managed nonprofit partnerships and user research initiatives, leveraging her experience to ensure the platform’s tools were built on the best practices of organizing.

HUSTLE AND GROWTH. In early 2016, Hillary joined Hustle, a startup that introduced a new type of text messaging for voter and supporter engagement. “I was employee number eight,” Hillary recalls. “I went and met the founder in a coffee shop. He showed me the tool and I immediately saw how it could be powerful. I joined the company on the spot.”

After Hustle and a yoga retreat, Hillary joined Higher Ground Labs, a political tech investment firm to manage their portfolio and accelerator programs. “I built a new perspective on the investing side of the startup ecosystem,” Hillary says. “It requires a high-altitude view, providing a comprehensive look at the industry as a whole.”

During her time at Higher Ground Labs, Hillary incubated Quiller. Trained on thousands of pieces of content written by and for Democratic and progressive strategists, Quiller is particularly adept at creating content that resonates with these audiences. “I’m particularly excited about our down-ballot candidates because the proportion of impact that a generative AI resource can have for a less-resourced candidate is huge.”

Hillary’s path has not been without its challenges, especially as an LGBTQIA+ founder. To help her navigate these moments, Hillary points to several mentors. “Betsy Hoover, my old boss at Higher Ground Labs, has a superpower in creating space for possibilities where others might not see any.” She also admires founders like Cheryl Contee, the first Black female founder to have a company exit to a Fortune 500 company, and investors like Arlan Hamilton, who “use their unique perspective to spot opportunities that might be otherwise overlooked and underprioritized.”

LEADING WITH AUTHENTICITY. Hillary believes that LGBTQIA+ people have a superpower in being a bridge between communities, able to translate and create shared understanding. Her advice to aspiring queer founders is to develop a craving for feedback and a healthy relationship with rejection. “When you need to adapt or translate to get a group of stakeholders to see your point of view,” Hillary explains, “it’s not about compromising your authenticity. It’s about leveraging your superpower—the ability to navigate and connect multiple worlds at once.”

Looking ahead, Hillary envisions Quiller continuing to leverage AI for more relevant and personalized experiences with organizations, brands, and candidates. She is passionate about using responsible AI to create fulfilling engagements for voters and donors, ultimately increasing satisfaction with the democratic process. “As a woman, as a lesbian, as a queer founder and CEO, I’m proud to strive and to achieve, and to do it in away that fits who I am.”