The Loss That Launched a Legacy: How Defeat Inspired the Vision for Taylor Collective Solutions
By Kimberly Taylor, Taylor Collective Solutions
After the 2004 election—a year spent canvassing across the country, hosting rallies with Gloria Steinem and then-Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt—I was exhausted, disheartened, and uncertain about what came next. We had fought with everything we had to defeat George W. Bush, and the loss was devastating. But I also knew something important: I wasn’t finished. I just needed to channel my passion differently.
In early 2005, two board members from a national nonprofit dedicated to electing women to federal office approached me. I knew them both professionally, and they encouraged me to apply for their Executive Director position—even though they already had a finalist. Their hesitation? That candidate lacked fundraising experience, something I had in spades. So, I jumped in. Over several weeks, I traveled back and forth between New York and D.C., meeting nearly a dozen board members.
During those interviews, something clicked. I saw the breadth of what I had built over the years—communications, crisis response, campaign strategy, community outreach, fundraising, event planning, and managing both people and budgets. I realized just how much I had to offer. I didn’t get the job, but the experience sparked something bigger. In hindsight, not being selected was a gift; it gave me the clarity to fully understand my purpose.
Not long after, I remembered a dream I had back when I was a social worker. I used to bring in consultants for team-building and leadership training, and I’d think, That’s what I want to do someday—help people grow, solve problems, and make an impact from the outside in. That dream was about to become real.
I reached out to three women friends who were consultants I admired, asked them to share their playbook, and all three showed up for me. One still sends me clients 20 years later. Another, Tina Stoll, was working with Senator Patrick Leahy and had just met with then-Congressman Bernie Sanders, who was preparing for his U.S. Senate run. She immediately realized that he needed someone aligned with his progressive values and told him to call me.
His campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, did just that. I met with him and Bernie, and they hired me on the spot to be the national finance consultant for the campaign. Around that same time, Mike Lux, another long-time colleague, called to say he was launching a new project: Campaign for a Cleaner Congress, aimed at holding corrupt members of Congress accountable. He asked me to come on board and offered me an office at his suite in the AFL-CIO building right next to the White House.
And just like that, with $5,000 in savings and two new clients before I’d even announced my business, Taylor Collective Solutions was born. I resigned from Planned Parenthood, hired my then-intern Jillian Cooney as my first assistant, and got to work.
Since day one, our mission has been rooted in a single, unwavering belief: Bringing people, organizations, and communities together for the greater good. At Taylor Collective Solutions, we know that real change begins with the individual—when people feel seen, heard, and empowered, entire communities thrive. That’s why everything we do centers on connection, belonging, and amplifying voices that have too often gone unheard. Whether we're partnering with elected leaders, grassroots organizations, advocacy campaigns, or community coalitions, our focus is always the same: build trust, nurture relationships, and uplift the people at the heart of the work. Because when we care for individuals within a community, we are caring for the soul of our society—and that is where lasting impact begins.
Every meaningful step forward in my career has come because a strong woman extended a hand and pulled me up. Taylor Collective Solutions exists to keep that chain going—by building power, voice, and momentum for the people and movements working to make this world better.