Born in Foresthill, California in 1977, Wicks graduated from Placer High School in 1995. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1999 with a B.A. degree in political science and history. In 2000, she began a two-year program for an International Master in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies of the Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, under the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace, but left in 2001 and did not complete the degree.
Career
Wicks has worked in the labor movement, on women's issues, and as a children's rights advocate. Wicks's started her political career in the early 2000s in the San Francisco Bay Area by organizing rallies against the Iraq War. She then worked on the unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean. As one of the early hires on the 2008 presidential campaign for Barack Obama, Wicks was active in grassroots mobilization and outcome-based organizing. She ran various state operations during the primaries and general election, including in California, Texas and Missouri. Wicks was then tapped by President Obama to serve in the Executive Office of the President as the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. From 2010 to 2011, Wicks "served as Rahm Emanuel’s campaign manager in early months of campaign and developed core strategy and positioning in race as well as early infrastructure." In 2012, she joined President Obama's re-election effort and served as the National Director of Operation Vote. She was responsible for mobilizing voters in demographic groups including African American, Latino, women, and the youth. From 2014 to 2015, Wicks transitioned the super PAC Priorities USA Action into a pro-Hillary Clinton vehicle and served as its executive director. In 2016, Wicks was named the California State Director by Clinton's presidential campaign in advance of the June 7 primary. Wicks previously worked as the political director of "Wake Up Wal-mart," a United Food and Commercial Worker-funded movement. She was a Fellow at Institute of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress focusing on public policies affecting women and families. Wicks has published opinion editorials for TIME, Politico, and the Daily Beast on current political events. She also gives regular speeches in the United States and abroad on organizing, leadership, women's issues, and the state of American politics.
