She has served as Alabama’s state coordinator for Black Voters Matter where she facilitated programs and strategic coalitions to increase voter engagement.

For many years, Cara has been working to expand poll access, gain early voting, resist voter ID laws, and restore voting rights to individuals.

Under an intersectional lens, she promotes policies that address race, gender, economic status, and other aspects of equity. Her work motivates residents of Alabama to collaborate and organize for growth and change.

​Cara was born and raised in Birmingham, AL. Early on, she was exposed to ideas related to marketing, recruitment, and professional development while working for her family’s cleaning service. She later became successful in network marketing after building a team of more than 2,000 entrepreneurs across the United States and Canada. Later, after spending time as a homeless mother following a marital separation, Cara turned personal hardship into opportunity when she created an apartment locating service to help individuals and families find their ideal homes. Her experience with homelessness and eviction caused her to become determined to instigate change for others.

Following George Zimmerman’s verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder trial, Cara co-founded the Birmingham Chapter of Black Lives Matter. As the chapter grew, Cara participated in a pilot by the Department of Justice to build trust between police and marginalized community members. She also spearheaded a local action on Mother’s Day to Bail Black Mothers from jail and organized action following the police shooting of Emantic Bradford, a young black man who was at the mall on Black Friday in November 2018.

Over her years of organizing, Cara has assisted and collaborated with many movements in Alabama, such as Fight for $15, Alabama’s fight to end predatory lending, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Stand as One, Faith in Action, Shut Down Etowah/Alabama’s Immigrant Rights movement, NAACP Alabama, Alabama Arise, SONG Alabama, etc.

​

During this time, she discovered that there was an urgent need to strengthen political and electoral power. Cara worked on Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign and locally with voter engagement and political education.

Also in 2016, Cara drove across the state providing rides to our poor and elderly to their doctors appointments. Often, people had to travel over 50 miles from their homes. These long rides gave Cara a chance to hear stories about the significant bills that poor black people were strapped with, keeping them locked in poverty.

With all this experience under her belt, Cara decided to run as the Democratic Party candidate for Public Service Commission Place 1, a role that would significantly change the lives of lower-income Alabamians by influencing the ways that utilities are priced and administered in the state.

Because of the historic number of black women running for office, Cara made the Essence Chisholm List, was featured on Brooke Baldwins American Woman and in Glamour Magazine. She scored Endorsements from Black to the Future, Working Families Party, MoveOn and many other fantastic organizations. She believes that by running for office, she expanded local understanding of the public service commission and its ability to address issues that trickle down to communities of color.

​Despite not winning her first election, Cara is continuing to develop her skills with community organizing, marketing, campaigning, and planning, as she works for and with statewide and national organizations committed to improving voting rights and electoral power in the south. She hopes to expand her base and learn from other people across the country working hard to do the same in their communities.

Cara McClure founded Faith and Works with the goal of increasing local power through civic engagement. Faith and Works does not endorse any specific candidate or political party.