The Truth About Mitch McConnell's Daughter Porter
If you've ever come upon the Twitter page of liberal activist Porter McConnell, whose short bio states, "Economic justice, feminism, and DC politics. Director @takeonwallst. Views are my own," you'd likely assume her last name bears no relation to conservative Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But you would be mistaken. Porter is, in fact, McConnell's youngest daughter and has built a career upon touting views decidedly opposite to those of her famous father. And if it perplexes you as to where her impassioned feminism and liberal mindedness comes from, knowing a bit about her mother may clarify things.
Porter's mother is Sherrill Redmon, who divorced McConnell in 1980, a year after Porter was born (via The New Yorker). Redmon holds a Ph.D. in American history, and after leaving her marriage and the state of Kentucky, she took over a women's history archive at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she collaborated with the famous Gloria Steinem on the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project.
Following in her mother's footsteps with regard to values and her father's with regard to her passion for politics, Porter McConnell earned a Master's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Williams College before beginning an impressive career in advocacy and activism, according to her bio on Take On Wall Street.
Mitch McConnell's daughter Porter is an activist
Early in her career, McConnell served as a legislative aide for a Massachusetts State Senator and also served as a program analyst for a small foundation, working to make grants in education policy and climate change, according to her Take On Wall Street bio. She then took her work international, spending time in Bogotá, Colombia, where she built a network of Latin American NGOs that worked to implement social enterprise activities. She also worked for Oxfam American and the ONE Campaign.
When McConnell moved to Washington, D.C., she narrowed her focus to address the misdeeds of financial corporations. From 2013-2017, McConnell ran the Financial Transparency Coalition, a global network of governments and experts working to stop illicit financial flows out of developing nations, according to her LinkedIn. Her work there included responding to the release of the Panama Papers. McConnell has also provided analysis for media outlets including NPR, The Guardian, Reuters, AlertNet, Daily Nation Kenya, EU Observer, Fusion, and Voice of America.
Porter McConnell runs Take On Wall Street
McConnell now serves as the campaign director for Take on Wall Street, whose mission is to "build a financial system for working people, white, Black, and brown, not big Wall Street banks." Founded in 2016, the group consists of over 50 community organizations, labor unions, consumer activists, and faith groups working toward a financial reform agenda to "address the predatory economic power of Wall Street banks and billionaires and build a financial system for working families."
The most recent blog post on the organization's website was written by McConnell herself to encourage supporters to get involved and take action. She wrote, "We are building a movement, and we need your voice." She went on: "The rules of finance determine who gets and doesn't get money. Finance has swallowed up the economy: Wall Street polices the economy for the privileged, corporations and rich people. But it doesn't have to be this way. Together, we are taking on Wall Street power, and restoring Wall Street to servicing the real economy and not the other way around."
McConnell currently lives in D.C. with her husband, Thomas Flores, who is an author and an associate professor (via The Daily Mail).