UltraViolet Action Welcomes Arisha Hatch as New Executive Director

For Immediate Release: February 5, 2026
Contact: media@fwdshift.com

Hatch brings extensive expertise on media and tech accountability issues and a passion for feminist organizing.

Washington, D.C.— Today, UltraViolet Action announced that Arisha Hatch will assume a new role as the organization’s executive director. A nationally recognized civil rights activist and movement leader, Hatch, who has been serving as UltraViolet Action’s interim executive director, offers extensive expertise on media and tech accountability issues.

“Passing the torch to Arisha Hatch is one of the greatest honors of my time at UltraViolet Action. I’ve seen her build movements, inspire teams, and win campaigns that seemed impossible—since day one, she’s brought that same fierce determination to this role,” said Shaunna Thomas, Co-Founder of UltraViolet. “Arisha understands UltraViolet’s mission and has the vision to take it further than I ever imagined. Our members, our partners, and the communities we serve are in the best hands. I’m eager to continue supporting UltraViolet Action under Arisha’s leadership, and I couldn’t be more grateful to her for taking on this role at this time in our country’s history. We will emerge as a stronger, better, safer society for women and all people because of people like Arisha stepping up. I invite everyone to consider supporting her and UltraViolet Action at this moment, because she is the vital movement leader we need.”

“Arisha brings exactly the leadership our movement needs at this critical moment,” said Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, UltraViolet Education Fund Board Chair and Chief Strategy Officer at Way to Win. “Her proven track record of building powerful campaigns and mobilizing communities, combined with her strategic vision for intersectional feminist organizing, makes her uniquely positioned to lead UltraViolet forward.”

“This appointment represents a pivotal moment for our organization. Arisha’s visionary leadership, coupled with her deep understanding of what it takes to build and sustain a powerful feminist movement, gives us tremendous confidence in UltraViolet Action’s future,” said Alicia Jay, UltraViolet Action Board Chair and National Director of Partnerships at the Movement Voter Project. “She has the Board’s full support as she leads our team, strengthens our impact, and positions UltraViolet Action to meet the challenges ahead. We are fortunate to have her at the helm.”

“It’s exciting to see Arisha step into leading UltraViolet’s next chapter. She brings a unique combination of strategic clarity, deep movement experience, and an ability to lead in ways that invite people in and move them to act,” said Karen Finney, UltraViolet Board member and senior political and strategic communications leader. “At Color Of Change, she showed what’s possible when organizing is grounded in joy, culture, and real accountability—building pathways for thousands of people, especially Black women, to see themselves as leaders. I’m looking forward to the vision, energy, and expertise Arisha will bring as UltraViolet Action continues to grow its impact.”

Before her previous, interim role with UltraViolet, Hatch worked as the head of campaigns and programs at the racial justice organization Color of Change, where she was a key figure in state and national campaigns for voting rights and accountability in policing, media, and tech. She spearheaded Color of Change’s offline community organizing program, focusing on a relational-organizing approach, and launched Color of Change PAC, a political action committee that works to elect progressive candidates who are committed to advancing racial justice and equity.

“Every one of my nearly 17 years in progressive advocacy has led me to this moment—and it’s not a moment to be quiet in,” said Hatch. “Amid creeping authoritarianism and increasingly louder anti-women rhetoric from the right, UltraViolet has been outspoken in its fight for a future where women and gender expansive people can thrive and be free. I’m honored and thrilled to take the helm of an organization both fearless and collaborative in its approach towards defending feminism, particularly at a time when our voices are under constant attack.”

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UltraViolet Action works directly to mobilize constituents and lawmakers and is a 501(c)(4) organization working to change sexist policies, practices, and beliefs.