The Indiana Democratic Party has fired its Executive Director.

ZeNai Brooks was let go last week.  Brooks was hired in April.  She was the party’s candidate for State Auditor in 2022.   

It is unclear exactly why she was let go from her job, however, Indy Politics received a copy an e-mail Brooks wrote to the state party.

Hello, fellow democrats – Hope you are doing well.

I am writing to express my disappointment with my sudden termination from IDP this morning. As you know, I pride myself on transparency, operational excellence and my professional reputation so I want to be clear that I did not walk away from my IDP responsibilities as it has been implied or shared.

When I was hired at IDP, I was fully employed with another organization. After I left that role, I let Mike know I would get through the summer and French Lick with IDP only, to wrap my hands around things, and before the end of the year I would find another finance role to maintain my CPA license. I communicated my plans to accept a new CFO role to Mike during our weekly 1:1 in mid-Oct, two weeks before starting on Nov. 1st. It was never my intention to leave my role with IDP. 

A larger part of our plan as leaders of IDP was to look at other state parties to see what they have done and recommend an updated organizational structure to ensure we were fully staffed going into a big year next year (i.e State Convention, French Lick and National Convention).

 I am shocked and hurt by this, especially given the toll it’s taken on me personally and professionally. I am disappointed at party leadership and that we were not able to have a conversation on how I could balance the roles. I am frustrated by the hypocrisy playing out, as most folks in politics juggle multiple roles, paid and unpaid, including our Chairman and Vice-chair. My heart hurts for the impact this will have on communities I represent going forward.

I will say I am proud of the impact I have left as ED for 6 months. I have brought awareness to the state party, reflecting the big tent idea and expanding the voter and volunteer base. I was in the middle of implementing a strategic plan, which included a recruiting plan and a fundraising strategy. We launched our new website and refreshed French Lick so it’s more informative and engaging for young people and people of color. I have convened our constituency caucuses, legislative caucuses and even outside groups for monthly collaboration and updates. I’m even proud of the progress we made when I ran for statewide office last year. We have continued to see more young people and people of color come into the party and decide to run for office since then. Many of these folks reach out to me for advice, strategy and support. This is exactly what we needed to build the bench, unfortunately the larger picture for our party and our state wasn’t considered in this decision.

 This isn’t hard for me. I am called to it. I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength (Phil 4:13). That is why I remain committed to the same work of advocating for those underrepresented communities, especially Black, Brown and young people that I have talked about since last year. Anything I do is for the advancement of our community and ultimately, helps the party.

 While I am excited for my journey ahead, I am discouraged that my journey at IDP ends here. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out! See ya around 

Brooks’  firing did not sit well with the Indiana Democratic African-American Caucus…

IDAAC WOULD LIKE A EXPLANATION!!!

The IDAAC leadership and its members would like to know the reasoning behind this change and if it was based off of performance and if so was there a performance review that was communicated to her. ZeNai Brooks was (IS) a huge supporter of IDAAC, and IDAAC leadership supports her 100 %. Transparency along with accountability is not only important but also needs to be practiced in all forms of democratic process.

 Sincerely,

Lindsay Brown

IDAAC State President