[1] O'Neill was elected as part of a four-member team called "Feminist Leadership NOW" that took office July 21, 2009.

O'Neill resigned from her position as chief of staff to Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg of Montgomery County, Maryland in June 2009, to work full-time for NOW.

[5] The election was very close—won by eight votes,[2] with outgoing president Kim Gandy supporting the other team[6] led by Latifa Lyles,[7] a 33-year-old African American who emphasized youth, diversity and new technology.

[2] The Washington Post said she "campaigned to reenergize what she called an outsider strategy of 'tapping into energy and outrage' felt by grass-roots feminists across the country over 'the ground we lost' during the Bush administration".

[8] She was strongly critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which attempted to place limits on taxpayer-funding of abortions (except in the cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother) in the context of the November 2009 Affordable Care Act.