Sasheer Zamata, the actress, stand-up comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” player, doesn’t think of herself as a political comedian. “I talk about my life, and being a woman, and being a black woman in America,” she said.

But on a bright morning in early fall, she tucked her leopard-print high heels under the table at the no-frills offices of the American Civil Liberties Union in Lower Manhattan. As an artist ambassador for the A.C.L.U.’s Women’s Rights Project, she had come to talk politics.

“I love you because you’re our pre-Trump ambassador,” said Jessica Weitz , the A.C.L.U.’s director of artistic engagement, who also works with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alyssa Milano and others. “Before it was cool,” Ms. Zamata added.

The plain conference room, decorated with a few wilting plants and a “Women’s Rights Are Civil Rights” poster, overlooks New York Harbor and the helipad where the president sometimes lands.