Shonda Rhimes Joins Michelle Obama’s Voting Rights Organization

Shonda Rhimes is the latest Hollywood power-player to be teaming up with former First Lady Michelle Obama as she launches a new midterm campaign through her nonpartisan voter’s rights organization, When We All Vote.

Rhimes, 52, joins a varied group of celebrities who have been named co-chairs of the organization. This includes Stephen Curry, H.E.R., Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Megan Rapinoe, and even more celebrities from all persuasions.

Rhimes told People that she was “excited to once again partner with Mrs. Obama and my fellow When We All Vote co-chairs as we continue to help educate communities on the importance of participating in all elections to help bring forth changes to both the local level as well as our country as a whole.”

According to When We All Vote, the co-chair’s responsibilities will involve using their platforms “to drive voter registration, education and turnout in the 2022 midterm elections and beyond.” The group also provides a more specific example, which is that some co-chairs will be sending texts to people who just turned 18 reminding them to register to vote.

Rhimes and her production company Shondaland were first contacted by Obama in 2019 to help with When We All Vote. The Grey’s Anatomy scribe championed the cause on social media and her company website and even interviewed Obama for Harper’s Bazaar in 2020 about the importance of voting.

“It can also be your way of saying that you care about your community and the people in it, that you are going to keep showing up and making your voice heard, even when the candidates don’t set your heart on fire. Because if you wait for that to happen, you might be waiting a long time,” Obama told Rhimes at one point of the back-and-forth.

When We All Vote just released its latest star-studded PSA on Monday, which featured Obama and the co-chairs asking viewers “Are You Ready?” for the upcoming November midterms.