She reported on education while on staff at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and her writing has appeared in outlets including the Miami Herald, The Root, Loop21, AlterNet, On the Issues, and Feministing. For four years McClain served as a strategist and media director at ColorOfChange, the nation's largest online black political organization. She played a leading role in campaigns that resulted in civil rights victories, including the withdrawal of more than two dozen corporations from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).