Celinda Lake is a

pollster An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

and

political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

for the Democratic Party in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Background and education

A native of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, Lake was born and raised on a ranch. She earned her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and survey research from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and also received a certificate in political science from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

. She attended Smith College as an undergraduate. In 2002, Smith College awarded her its Distinguished Alumna Medal.

Career

Lake and her firm, Lake Research Partners, work on healthcare, education and the environment. She has worked with a large variety of organizations, such as the AFL-CIO,

SEIU Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

, The White House Project, Planned Parenthood, Democratic National Committee, Sierra Club, Human Rights Campaign,

NARAL NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

, Barbara Lee Family Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation, VoteVets Action Fund, the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best know ...

, and more. Lake has worked as a pollster for many prominent politicians. She has worked with Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Blanche Lincoln, Senator Jon Tester, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise, Congressman Tim Walz, Houston mayor

Annise Parker Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...

. She also served as a pollster to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose loss she credited to "the failure of the White House and Congress to confront Wall Street." She also served as leader of focus group research for

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's successful 1992 Presidential Campaign. Lake focuses especially on women candidates and women's concerns. She

co-authored Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

a book, ''What Women Really Want'', with

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

pollster

Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway (née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster, who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previous ...

References

External links

Celinda Lake Articles, USA Today

Celinda Lake on ''The Charlie Rose Show''
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Celinda Lake Asleep at the Switch in Massachusetts Special Election
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Celinda 21st-century American women writers American political consultants American women political scientists American political scientists American political writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Pollsters Smith College alumni University of Michigan alumni Women political writers Writers from Montana Year of birth missing (living people) American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers