Kiara Pesante Haughton

Kiara is Chief of Communications at Demos, where she oversees the organization’s narrative change, marketing, and brand-building strategies.

Named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by EBONY Magazine, Kiara Pesante Haughton is a progressive political strategist, public relations executive and justice advocate with nearly 15 years of experience specializing in campaigning in the South, strategic communications, crisis management, public affairs and partnerships.

Prior to Demos, she was a Senior Vice President in the Issue Advocacy practice at BerlinRosen, leading work at the intersection of electoral politics, racial justice and culture. She partnered with campaigns, political organizations, and nonprofits to tell the stories of people and families to spark changes in the systems that hurt too many.

For nearly three years, she ran the Communications shop at Civil Rights Corps, an organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the American legal system through innovative, anti-racist litigation. Through partnerships with communities and formerly incarcerated people, CRC brought landmark challenges to dismantle cash bail systems and predatory private probation schemes, to hold prosecutors accountable, and end the criminalization of poverty through exorbitant fines and fees.

A dedicated servant leader, Pesante Haughton is an active volunteer tutor with Reading Partners DC, a literacy program in DC’s public schools to help its most vulnerable young readers who are falling behind. She is an Ambassador for the Greater DC Diaper Bank, a volunteer leadership position to collect diapers, wipes, formula, feminine hygiene products, and other necessary mother-baby items for families that need them most. In 2019, she was appointed to serve as a Commissioner for the Board of Real Estate Appraisers for the District of Columbia for a four-year term. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Arika Trim Foundation, an organization supporting Black mothers through pregnancy and birth, community organizing justice organization Faith in Texas, and The Hill Preschool in DC.