Sophie Lehman departed her job as Contra Costa County’s manager of elections operations last June. Several months later, Lehman was the point of contact for what eventually would be a $2 million election grant for the California county going into the 2024 election cycle.
Before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg poured an unprecedented $350 million into the Center for Tech and Civic Life to help state and local officials administer the 2020 election, the nonprofit group first distributed millions in grants to election officials in key counties and cities nationwide, including the swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.