Key
People-President
Barack
Obama
Obama for America,
One
Prudential
Plaza,
Chicago,
IL
[website]
2008 campaign organization
(page
updated and corrected March 26, 2014)
Note to
readers:
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is
currently being upgraded. Please
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OVERVIEW: The
re-elect
campaign
formally
launched and filed with the FEC on April 4, 2011, although top
members of the team were laying the groundwork earlier. The IT team
started two weeks earlier in the latter part of March building the
necessary infrastructure.
For the
first pay period (April 15) the campaign showed 42 people on the
payroll. It added about 20 people every two-week pay period
through the second quarter and showed 160 people on the payroll as of
June 30 (Excel). This did not
include consultants. The campaign also began building its
organization around the country; in a July 13, 2011 video the campaign
reported 60 field offices
in 39 states. Organizing
for
America,
which
operated
out
of
the
DNC
beginning
in
2009,
in
a
sense
served
as
a
campaign
in
waiting
and
many
people
switched
over
to
from
there.
The
Summer
Organizers
and
Fall
Fellows
(+) programs provided
further manpower. In an
October
13, 2011 email the campaign reported,
"In the past three months we've grown our organizing staff by 50
percent, and opened up three new field offices every week." By
the time the primaries started (+),
solid organizations were in place in many states, and more people were
being added. One senior staffer noted that "we
needed a lot of people" and suggested after the campaign that it might
have been helpful to
have had a recruiting team. It
was
unprecedented
to
have
an
organization
as
big
as
early,
and
the
campaign continued to grow. At
peak in July 2012 about 650 people were working at the headquarters in
Chicago; that number declined in the following months as staff were
sent
out to the states.
By October 2012 the campaign and state parties (Organizing for America)
had a bit over 4,000 people on the
payroll.
Campaign manager Jim
Messina says that the most important decision made was to put the
campaign in Chicago, where it could work free of inside-the-Beltway
considerations. Messina says that President Obama set the tone at
the outset, telling him that the campaign "has to be about the
grassroots." Although Obama's 2008 campaign had built an
unprecedented grassroots organization that proved successful, Messina
did not want to repeat that. His view was, "We need to run a new
campaign." (+)
So,
Messina
states,
"We
spent
a
year
building
a
whole
bunch
of
things."
He
says
he
received
a
useful
piece
of
advice
on
technology
from
Google
chief
executive
Eric
Schmidt,
"You
do
not
want
political
people."
Thus
chief
technology
officer
Harper
Reed
came
from
outside
the
political
realm,
and
the
campaign
brought
on
many
engineers
and
analysts
with
no
political
experience.
Among
its
roles,
the
technology
department
developed
tools
"to
make
door
knocking
easier."
One
such
tool
was
Dashboard,
"the
online
organizing
network for Obama 2012...it empowers you to take
on a major role in this campaign."
Messina described Dashboard as "the hardest thing we did in the entire
campaign." The
early Organizing for America effort at the DNC, all the field offices
and staff during the campaign, and the campaign's groundbreaking use of
technology and data, were all about building relationships.
Messina placed a major
emphasis on metrics. (+) "This
campaign has to be metric
driven. We're going to measure every single thing in this
campaign," he stated in a April 2011 campaign video. The campaign
was constantly modeling and testing. Will this message work with
low engagement voters? Is this person likely to donate? To
volunteer? The reason for this approach was
simple. Data allowed the campaign to use its time and money more
wisely. Messina tells a great story of a volunteer in Wisconsin
who was given just two doors to knock on in a particular block.
At one
of the homes the volunteer helped the person fill out an early vote
form.
The
other was an undecided voter, and the volunteer was provided with
specific information to address that voter's concerns.
The organization in the states was immense. As in 2008, when Campaign for Change was run through the state parties but was an integral part of the campaign, Organizing for America functioned in the same way for the re-elect. In the states there were a few Obama for America staff—typically the state director, the communications staff and the digital director—and a much more extensive Organizing for America team. In fact, they were all part of the same effort. It was a question of "who signed the check" and was "a distinction without a difference" but is something to be aware of. Paraphrasing an Organizing for America staffer: The Organizing for America staffers were employed by the state party. In most states, this was funded entirely or almost entirely through a transfer-down account which Obama for America transferred money to. Organizing for America staff/programs existed not only to support President Obama, but also to elect other Democrats.
Battleground states were particularly well resourced. The campaign staff included the state director and communications, digital, field, data, political, policy and research, Operation Vote, voter protection, GOTV, and operations personnel. Typically a general election director oversaw field, data and constituency. The operations department oversaw such functions as human resources, information technology, office and vendor management, literature design, volunteer resource allocation and budget management. Field had the highest visibility. All told the campaign had 813 field offices, each run by a field organizer. Ohio finished with 121 offices (compared to 89 in '08) and Florida with 104 offices (compared to 58 in '08). Field organizers in turn drew upon active volunteers who stepped forward to become neighborhood team leaders (+). Ultimately the campaign reported 10,000 neighborhood teams comprising over 32,000 of these dedicated volunteers working to organize in their communities. (If you attended an Obama rally, probably heard one or two of them speak as part of the program). Team leaders and volunteers identified supporters and more volunteers and registered new voters. One of the lessons of the 2010 debacle was that Obama's supporters would not "turn out magically." The campaign worked hard to expand the electorate, and it reported registering 1.8 million people at doors and another 1.1 million online.
Below is a sketch of this large and sophisticated campaign; the department headings below are rough, and there are some holes and gaps and a dose of educated guesswork about who fits where in some of the departments. See also: Obama for America HQ Department Descriptions, FEC, and countering views from the RNC: Feb. 10, 2012, June 8, 2012.
Campaign
Manager
Jim
Messina
White House deputy chief of staff for operations through Jan. 28, 2011; previously director of personnel for the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition. National chief of staff for Barack Obama's presidential campaign starting in June 2008. Chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Jan. 2005-June 2008. Chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), 2003-05; took a leave of absence to serve as director of former Gov. Tony Knowles' U.S. Senate campaign, June-Nov. 2004. Campaign manager on Sen. Baucus' 2002 re-election campaign. Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), 1999-2001. Served on Sen. Baucus' staff 1995-99, taking leaves of absence to manage Dane County executive Rick Phelps' campaign for Congress in the Sept. 1998 primary in WI-2 (finished second to Tammy Baldwin), and serve as field director on Sen. Baucus' 1996 re-election campaign. Chief of staff to state Sen. Mike Halligan, first part of 1995. Political director for the Montana Democratic Party. Managed Daniel Kemmis' re-election campaign for mayor of Missoula, 1993. In 1992, while a student, served as legislative campaign coordinator for the Montana Democratic Party and press secretary on Frank Morrison's primary campaign for governor. B.A. in political science from the University of Montana, 1993. Grew up in Boise, ID. twitter
Chief of Staff to the
Campaign Manager
Peter
Newell
(reported by the Washington Post on Nov. 25, 2011) White House liaison at GSA, 2010-11. Director of the White House Travel Office, 2009-10. Deputy director of advance, press advance (from May 2008), and member of the national advance team (from Feb. 2007) at Obama for America. Director of policy and planning (2005-07), and scheduler/policy director (2002-04) in the Office of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. VISTA, 2001-02. B.A. in communications from Boston College, 2001.
Senior Campaign Strategist/Consultant David Axelrod
Senior advisor to the President through Jan. 28, 2011; previously senior advisor to the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition and senior strategist to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Founded Axelrod & Associates in 1985, and served as senior partner of the campaign media firm now known as AKPD Message & Media; has worked on over 150 campaigns at the local, state and national levels. Ran the DCCC's independent expenditure program in 2006. Did the message and media campaign for Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate primary campaign. Served as media consultant on Sen. John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. Managed Paul Simon's 1984 U.S. Senate race where he upset Sen. Charles Percy. Eight years as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering national, state and local politics. B.A in political science from the University of Chicago, 1977. Born in 1955 in New York City. twitter
Director of Opinion Research David Simas
(June 2011) Per Lynn Sweet "coordinates polling
and messaging
research." Served as director and aide to White House Senior
Advisor David Axelrod. Director of operations and earlier deputy
chief of staff to Gov. Deval Patrick, 2007-09. Registry of Deeds
for Northern Bristol County. Served on the Taunton City
Council. Member of the Taunton School Committee. Practiced
law. J.D. from Boston College Law School, 1995; Stonehill
College, 1992. From Taunton, Mass..
Assistant
Caitria
Mahoney
B.A. in political science from University of Vermont, 2010; interned at the White House in summer 2010. From Newton, Mass..
Deputy
Campaign
Manager Jen Dillon
O'Malley
Executive
director
of the Democratic National
Committee from Jan. 2009. Battleground states director on the
Obama
campaign, starting in April 2008. Deputy campaign manager on John
Edwards for President after serving as state director on his Iowa
caucus campaign. Campaign manager on Rep. Jim Davis' 2006
gubernatorial campaign in Florida. Deputy campaign manager for
Sen. Tom Daschle's 2004 Senate re-election campaign in South
Dakota. Field director on Sen. Edwards' 2003-04 Iowa caucus
campaign. In 2002 O'Malley served as field director for the South
Dakota Democratic Coordinated Campaign, then as field director for Sen.
Mary Landrieu's runoff campaign. In 2001 she was campaign manager
for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. In 1999-2000 O'Malley was
volunteer coordinator for Gore in the NH primary, then worked as a
field organizer in New York and Pennsylvania, and in the general
election, she was regional field director for the Missouri Coordinated
Campaign in the St. Louis Metro area. O'Malley is a 1998 graduate
of Tufts University and hails from Jamaica Plains, MA. [Dillon's
husband Patrick served as White House Deputy Director of Political
Affairs to Jan. 2011]. twitter
Deputy
Campaign
Manager Julianna
Smoot
White
House
social secretary (announced Feb.
27,
2010, served into Jan. 2011) Chief of staff to U.S. Trade
Representative Ron Kirk.
Finance director on Barack
Obama's presidential campaign, then a co-chair of the Presidential
Inaugural Committee. Finance director at the
DSCC
in the 2006 cycle. Other experience
includes
work for then Sen. Tom Daschle's DASH PAC, finance director on Sen.
John Edwards successful 1998 campaign for U.S Senate and the
Association of Trial
Lawyers
of America.
Bachelor's degree in government from Smith College,
1989.
Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter
(reported by several news organizations
on Sept. 26, 2011; started "between
Thanksgiving and Christmas") Assistant to the President and
deputy senior advisor at the White House (deputy to senior advisor
David Plouffe). Counselor to Treasury Secretary Geithner to May
2009. Chief spokesperson for the Obama-Biden Transition.
Senior advisor and chief
of staff to Michelle Obama on the campaign, June-Nov. 2008.
Communications director on
Kerry-Edwards 2004 and John Kerry for President, announced Nov. 11,
2003.
Communications director for the 2004 Democratic National
Convention (also participated
in the press operations of the Los Angeles, Chicago
and New York conventions). Communications director
for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy starting July 2001. Senior vice president at the
public relations firm Robinson, Lerer and Montgomery.
Cutter
worked
for
President
Clinton
as
the
deputy
communications
director
at
the
White
House,
from
1999
to
the
end
of
the
adminstration.
Associate
Administrator
for
Communications
at
the
U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
J.D.
from
Georgetown
University
Law
Center;
B.A.
in
government
and
economics
from
Smith
College,
1990.
Originally
from
Raynham,
MA.
twitter
Assistant
Rachel Cohen
(Nov. 2011; started with
Cutter at the White House in Oct. 2011)
Scheduler for Sen. Barbara Boxer, 2010-11. Numerous
internships. B.A. in government and history from Georgetown
University, 2009.
Chief Operating Officer Ann Marie Habershaw
(April 2011) Chief operating officer at the DNC
March
2009-March
2011. Chief operating officer at M+R Strategic
Services, Inc., Feb. 2007-March 2009. COO at the DCCC for three
cycles,
2001-07. Director of finance and administration at EMILY's List,
1995-2001. B.S. in accounting from Bryant College, 1984 and an
M.B.A. from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001.
Assistant Cyndy
Hernandez
(Aug. 2011) Scheduler to Congresswoman Judy Chu, Oct. 2009-July 2011. Undergraduate degree in American studies and ethnicities from University of Southern California, 2009.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Teal Baker
(Sept. 2011) Consultant to the DNC Sept.
2010-March 2011.
Principal at the Podesta Group, 2009-10. Director of
entertainment on the 2009 PIC. National director of surrogates at
Obama for America, 2007-08. Worked at PodestaMattoon for several
years. Assistant to Kerry-Edwards 2004 Pennsylvania state
director Tony Podesta. Office manager and scheduler for
Congressman Brian Baird
(D-WA). Staff assistant, then scheduler in the office of
Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN). B.A. in political science
from Rhodes College, 2000.
Senior Advisor Robert Gibbs
(role formalized Jan. 2012) White House press
secretary through Feb. 11, 2011. Senior
strategist for communications and message on Obama's 2008 campaign;
started as communications director and senior traveling
communications aide. Joined Obama
shortly after
he
won the March 16, 2004 U.S. Senate primary. Press secretary for
John
Kerry for President for the first 10-plus months; resigned Nov.
2003.
Press secretary for the DSCC, 2001-02. Communications director
for
Debbie Stabenow's U.S. Senate campaign, 1999-2000. Press
secretary
to Sen. Max Cleland, 1999. Communications director for Fritz
Hollings'
1998 re-election campaign. Press secretary to U.S. Rep. Bob
Etheridge (NC). Worked for U.S. Rep. Glen Browder (AL-3)
including as executive assistant. Degree in political science
from North Carolina State University, 1993. Native of Auburn, AL.
Battleground States Director Mitch Stewart
National
director
of Organizing for
America.
Virginia state director on the Obama campaign in the
Fall; during the primaries Stewart served as Obama's Iowa caucus
director starting in Jan. 2007, then worked on the campaign in Nevada
and Minnesota, as field
director on the March 4 Texas campaign, and as state director on the
May 6 Indiana primary campaign. Coordinated Campaign director for
the
Minnesota DFL during the 2006 midterm elections. Field director
on
Sen. Tom Daschle's 2004 re-election campaign. Eastern Iowa
regional field director for Sen. John Edwards’ Iowa caucus campaign
(announced May 2003). A regional field director for the Louisiana
Democratic Party during Sen. Mary Landrieu's 2002 run-off
campaign. A regional field director for the South Dakota
Democratic Party during Sen. Tim Johnson's 2002 re-election
campaign. Has also served as a research assistant and staff
assistant in Johnson's Senate office. B.S. in chemistry and
biology from the University of South Dakota. Originally from
Vermillion, SD. twitter
Deputy Battleground States Director Mark
Beatty
(April 2011) National director of special
projects at Organizing
for America-DNC, Feb. 2009-March 2011. Deputy general election
director on Obama's Ohio Campaign for Change in Fall 2008, also part of
the 2008 Post-Election Task Force; Midwest
targeting director at Obama headquarters in Chicago, June-Sept. 2008;
Obama field staffer in Nevada, Kansas, Texas and Indiana, as well as
project manager for the post-primary task force. Associate at the
Boston Consulting Group, 2006-07. B.A. in political science from
Harvard College, 2006.
Note: After Election Day,
Beatty oversaw the Obama Legacy Project, putting together a
comprehensive analysis of results and feedback from staff and
supporters.
Battleground States
Coordinator Khan Shoieb
(Aug. 2012) Political
science student at Amherst College; Truman scholar and
studied politics and international relations at St. Catherine's
College, Oxford. From
New York, NY.
Field Director Jeremy
Bird
Deputy director of Organizing for America.
General election
director on Obama's Campaign for
Change in Ohio; during the primaries, he served as the Obama campaign's
South Carolina field director, Maryland state director and Pennsylvania
field director. Field director for Wake-Up Wal-Mart. Deputy
field
director for training and GOTV at the DNC in Fall 2004 (started late
July 2004 right before the Convention). Training director for
Democratic GAIN. One of the two Congressional District directors
on
Howard Dean's 2003-04 New Hampshire presidential primary. Bachelor's
degree from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, 2000; Master's
degree from Harvard Divinity School. Grew up in High Ridge, outside of
St. Louis, MO. twitter
Deputy Field Director Marlon Marshall
(reported by Marc Ambinder on April 5, 2011)
Field director at
the DCCC in the 2010 cycle. Deputy White House liaison to the
State Department. In
Fall 2008 Marshall served as general election director in Missouri on
Obama’s Campaign for Change. On Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign
he was field director for the May 6 Indiana primary, the March 4 Ohio
primary and the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses. In 2006 Marshall served
as field director on the Maryland Coordinated Campaign and earlier as
Prince George's County regional field director. Regional field
director for the Kansas Democratic Party in the 3rd CD for the last six
months of 2005. In summer and fall 2004 Marshall served as Kansas
City, MO field organizer/regional base vote director on the Missouri
Coordinated Campaign; he finished the campaign doing GOTV in
Ohio. Graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in
communication studies. Native of St. Louis. twitter
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Lauren Kidwell
A special assistant at the Department of
HHS. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign starting as regional field
director for South Central Iowa in the caucus campaign and as field
director on the Kentucky primary campaign. Regional field
director
for
the 4th CD with the Minnesota Coordinated Campaign in 2006.
Worked
in Senator Obama's DC Senate office from January 2005-June 2006 mainly
as a legislative correspondent. Regional director for NW Illinois
on Obama's 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate; field
staffer
in Central Illinois on Obama's primary campaign for U.S. Senate.
Graduate of the University of Illinois.
twitter
Great
Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Will
Leaverton
Master's degree in
political management from The George Washington University, 2009.
B.A. in history/political science from Texas Christian University.
...to
deputy
national
GOTV
director
at
close
West Regional Director Angela Barranco
Came to the campaign after working in the Sierra
Club's national press
office. Managed Congressman Russ Carnahan's 2010 re-election
campaign. Communications director for Congressman Joseph Crowley
(NY-7), 2008-10. Senior advisor on the Martin Heinrich for
Congress campaign, Fall 2008. Press secretary to Congressman Ciro
Rodriguez (TX-23), 2007-08. Campaign manager on Ken Jankins for
county legislator, 2006-07. Campaign manager on Christine
Jennings for Congress in FL-13, 2006, narrowly losing to Vern
Buchanan. Campaign and recount manager, then legislative and
transition director for Yonkers City Council President, 2005-06.
Field organizer in Sandoval County for NM Victory 2004. B.A. in
environmental biology from Columbia University in the City of New York,
2002.
West Gillian
Bergeron
(July 2011) Western
regional director (2010-11) and national volunteer coordinator
(2009-10) at Organizing for America-DNC. Started on Obama's
2007-08 campaign as the
Lowcountry regional volunteer coordinator on the South Carolina primary
campaign, then continued on to Alabama, Texas and Pennsylvania
(northeast, Scranton area; in the Fall served as deputy field director
on Obama's Colorado Campaign for Change. Graduate of the
University of South
Carolina, 2006. Native of Hilton Head Island. ...to deputy
national GOTV director at
close
Midwest Regional Director Meg Ansara
(Jan. 2012) Previously at Stand for Children as
Massachusetts
state director (2006-06) national organizing director (2007-08), chief
operating officer (2008-11) and chief of state operations (2011).
National trainer at the DNC, Fall 2004. In 2002 was volunteer
coordinator on Reich for Governor and earlier deputy advance director
on Wellstone for Senate. Wildlife fire fighter, June-Nov.
2001. Graduate of Oberlin College, 2001.
Midwest Melanie
Vant
Project coordinator (Jan.
2008-Aug. 2009)
and project associate (Jan. 2005-Dec. 2007) at RESULTS Educational
Fund. M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of
Government,
2011. B.A. in political science from The George Washington
University, 2004. ...to
Florida border
state director from July 2012
South Regional Director Tharon Johnson
Campaign manager for Sen. Kasim Reed's successful
campaign for Mayor of
Atlanta. Managed Congressman John Lewis's 2008 re-election
campaign of. Political and field director for Congressman John
Barrow’s
2004 campaign and his 2006 re-election campaign. Johnson also served
two years as Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman John Barrow.
Campaign manager for Labor Commissioner Michael
Thurmond’s 2002 re-election campaign. twitter
South Jorge Neri
(Aug. 2011) Midwest
and Southeast
organizer at the Center for Community Change, 2008-11. Organizer
at UFCW Local 1546 in Chicago, 2007. Robert Morris College.
...to
Nevada
field
director
from
July
2012
Northeast Regional Director Dan Kanninen
White House Liaison to the EPA. Legislative director to Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin from Dec. 2008. Wisconsin state director of Obama for America in the general election; during the primaries Kanninen took leave from his position as chief of staff to Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar) to work on the campaign in WI, OH (early vote lead) and NC (deputy political director and GOTV political director). Chief of staff to Jauch for four years, and has almost a decade of experience in the Wisconsin State Capitol. Attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Grew up in Superior, WI. twitter ...to Virginia senior advisor
Northeast
Meagan Gardner
(June 2011) A
national regional
director at Organizing for America-DNC, 2010-11; WV state director for
Organizing for America, 2009-10. In
Fall 2008 Gardner served as a regional field director on Obama's
Campaign
for Change in Ohio. B.A. in political science from Trinity
University in San Antonio, TX, 2006. ...to Iowa
field director from July 2012
National Field Coordinator Gurwin Ahuja
(July 2012) B.S. in business administration, finance from The Ohio State University's Max M. Fisher College of Business, 2012.
Intern Coordinator David Dietz
Graduate of DePauw University, 2011; helped out on the
Obama campaign
in Iowa and Nevada during Winter term 2008. Indianapolis native.
GOTV Director Rachel Haltom-Irwin
Senior advisor for outreach and operations, Government
Contracting
& Business Development at the Small Business Administration
2010-11. Director of the White House Internship Program,
2009-10. General election director for Indiana on Obama's 2008
Fall campaign; Obama for America college coordinator/youth
vote on the Iowa caucus campaign; also served as Indiana deputy field
director
during the primary. Assistant at Wal-Mart Watch, 2006-07.
MPA/MC from Harvard Kennedy School, 2012; undergraduate degree from
Washington University in St. Louis, 2004.
Deputy GOTV Directors Gillian
Bergeron, Will Leaverton and Geoff Berman
TRAINING DEPARTMENT
"oversees training and campaign curriculum
development for staff, volunteer leaders, volunteers, and the
fellow/intern training programs in all 50 states. There is a team
of 11 state-wide training directors in battleground states throughout
the nation, and 2 headquarters trainers in Chicago, all directed by
Sara El-Amine. The department is the first Training Department in
Presidential campaign history, and stems from Obama for America’s
commitment to training local citizens to be grassroots organizers."
National Training Director Sara El-Amine
(Summer Organizers, Fall Fellows) Since
joining the campaign during the Iowa caucuses in 2007, El-Amine has
worked in 12 states, serving in every position within the field
hierarchy at Organizing for America and Obama for America. B.A.
in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College, 2007.
Lebanese-American; grew up in Duxbury, MA. twitter ...to Virginia
GOTV director from Aug. 2012
Deputy Training Director Geoff
Berman
New York State field director for Organizing for America from June 2009. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign starting as a volunteer in the primaries and as a field organizer in southeast Missouri in the general election. Artistic director of the acting school at the Atlantic Theater Company, starting in 2005. Attorney at Weil Gotshal and Manges, 1996-2005. J.D. from University of Virginia Law School and M.A. in history from University of Virginia, 1994; B.A. degree from UCLA, 1991. (then national director of delegate operations and finally deputy national GOTV director) twitter. ...to deputy national GOTV director at close
Deputy Training Director Stacy Berger
Experience includes executive director of California
Young
Democrats.
Graduate of UC San Diego, 2002. California native. (to
Nevada GOTV director at close)
(announced
as Project Vote on Aug. 25, 2011) "communicate with and engage key
demographic
groups, such as African Americans, Women, Youth, Latinos, LGBT,
Veterans, Asian Americans and others."
Operation Vote Director Buffy Wicks
Vice
president for political affairs at AKPD Media. Deputy
director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Wicks
worked on Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting as
the
campaign's Western region field director in Chicago, then as
field director in California, deputy field director in Texas, director
of the campaign's national volunteer program ("Obama
Organizing Fellows"), and in the fall state director for
Missouri.
Political
director
for Wake Up Wal-Mart. Organizer in the 'Anti-War in Iraq'
campaign
in San Francisco, CA. Co-founded Hoi-Polloi, "a people’s
organization
created by a small group of conscientious thinkers striving for world
peace."
Campaign manager on Jay Fetcher's 2004 state Senate campaign in
Colorado.
Des Moines organizer on Howard Dean's Iowa caucus campaign.
Graduate
of the University of Washington, 1998. twitter
Operation Vote Deputy Director Michael
Blake
(announced Aug. 25, 2011) Most recently Deputy Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement where he directed outreach to the African-American and minority business communities. In the 2008 general election campaign Blake served as deputy state director/political director for the Obama-Biden campaign in Michigan; he started as deputy political director on Obama's Iowa caucus campaign. Director of external affairs for the Michigan House of Representatives before heading to Iowa. Prior to that, in 2006, he was the West Michigan campaign organizer for the Michigan House Democratic Caucus, organizing three state house campaigns. Member of the inaugural class of Obama's Hopefund "Yes We Can" training program. Graduate of the Medill School of Journalism from Northwestern University. New York native. twitter
Women Vote Director Kate Chapek
(Feb. 2012, succeeded Heather Colburn who
started in Aug. 2011) Consultant at Baughman Company (direct
mail),
2010-11. Account executive at MSHC Partners, 2010. Regional
communications desk at Change that Works, 2009-10. Campaign
manager on Joan Buchanan for Congress, mid-2009. Regional
coordinator at EMILY's LIst, 2005-09. Also Michigan GOTV director
for America Votes, Fall 2006. Communications director at Moving
America, Gov. Bill Richardson's organization, 2004. M.A. in
journalism from Georgetown University, 2009; B.A. from University of
Southern California, 2001.
Jewish Outreach Director Ira N. Forman
(Aug. 2011) Executive director of the National
Jewish Democratic
Council starting in Jan. 1996. Also research director of The
Solomon Project. Director of congressional relations at the
Office of Personnel Management. Fellow at the Center for National
Policy, 1990-93. New York director of National PAC, a large
pro-Israel PAC. Legislative liaison and political director at
AIPAC, 1977-81. M.B.A from Stanford University, 1983;
undergraduate degree from Harvard College, 1974.
Jewish Outreach Coordinator Max Slutsky
Media analyst, 2010-11, and Israel government fellow
at the Menachem
Begin Heritage Center, 2010-11. B.A. in political science and
Judaic studies from University of Michigan, 2010.
Youth Vote Director Valeisha
Butterfield-Jones
(announced
Oct. 25, 2011) Recently formed the Butterfield Group, a
management and communications firm. Deputy Director of Public
Affairs for the International Trade Administration at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, Oct. 2009-June 2011. Founder (2007)
president and CEO of the Women in Entertainment Empowerment
Network and served as executive director of the Hip-Hop Summit Action
Network. Executive director/executive vice president at Rush
Communications. Programing and marketing at HBO Sports,
2004-05. After graduating, Butterfield worked on the Campaign to
Re-elect Chief Justice Henry Frye. B.A. in political science from
Clark Atlanta
University, 2000. North Carolina native. twitter
Youth Vote Deputy Director Eric Zoberman
(announced Oct. 25, 2011) Field director for
Rock the Vote in the
2010 election cycle. Following President Obama's inauguration,
Zoberman led
United We Serve, a national service initiative of the new
administration. Joined the Obama Iowa caucus campaign in June
2007; during subsequent contests traveled the country working in field
and press and was the field director for St. Louis County, Missouri
during the General Election. Graduate of University of Maryland,
2007. twitter
Latino Vote Director Adrian Saenz
(Nov. 2011) Consultant at Message, Audience and
Presentation,
2011. Chief of staff to Congressman Harry Teague, 2009-10.
Chief of staff to Congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez (D-TX) from Jan. 2007
to Dec. 2008. Took leave from congressional office to serve as
state director for Obama's 2008 primary campaign in Texas.
National
field director at the DCCC in 2006. Press
secretary/communications director for
Congressman
Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX) 2000-05. Served as president of the
Congressional Hispanic
Staff
Association. Took leave from congressional office during the fall
2004
campaign
to serve as base vote director (Hispanic) on the New Mexico Democratic
Coordinated Campaign, based out of Santa Fe office. B.S. in
political
science from the University of Texas at San Antonio. twitter
Latino Vote Deputy Director Alida Garcia
(March 2012) Deputy campaign manager on Austin
Beutner for Mayor
of Los Angeles. Associate at K&L Gates, LLP, 2008-10.
J.D. from Columbia Law School, 2008; B.A. in communication from
Stanford University, 2005.
African American Vote Director Stefanie
Brown
(Jan. 2012) Founder and executive director of
Brown Girls Lead.
National director of the NAACP's Youth and College Division.
Also, president and CEO of SL.Brown
Enterprise, a community relations consulting company. Served as
national outreach coordinator for Global Justice, Inc. Program
coordinator of the Antioch Development Corporation's Stopping AIDS is My Mission Program (SAMM)
in
Cleveland.
Degree
in
business
management
from
Howard
University,
2004.
Native
of
Bedford
Heights,
Ohio.
twitter
African American Vote Deputy Director
Camille C.
Joseph
(May 2012) Special advisor and director of
intergovernmental
affairs (June 2011-July 2012) and director of public engagement and
policy (Nov. 2010-June 2011) in the Office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand;
a legislative correspondent. Field coordinator at Progressive
Strategies Group, 2008-09. Field organizer on the Obama campaign
in Fall 2008. Degree in politics, history from New York
University, 2007
LGBT Vote Director Jamie Citron
Worked at HHS' Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood
Partnerships. Started on Obama's 2008 campaign in early 2007 in
the finance department and eventually served as deputy LGBT vote
director. Worked for the Joint Action Committee for Political
Affairs. In 2006 Citron worked on Patty Wetterling's
congressional campaign as part of the HRC's Youth College
program. Attended Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. Grew up
in Highland Park, IL (the north suburbs of Chicago). twitter
LGBT Vote Deputy Director Aditi Hardikar
Graduate of University of Michigan, 2011. twitter
Veterans and Military Families Vote Director Rob Diamond
Diamond is also New York State Director.
Western Regional Operation Vote Director/Asian
Americans & Pacific Islanders
Director
Alissa Ko
(March 2012) Deputy PAC director at Consumer
Attorneys of
California, 2010-12. President of California Young Democrats,
2009-11. Political/community organizer for SEIU Local 1000,
2008-Jan. 2010. PAC/development coordinator at Consumer Attorneys
of California, 2005-08. B.A. in business economics from UCLA.
Southern Regional Operation Vote Director/Senior
Vote/Disablilities/Doctors Director Andrea Bazán
President of Triangle Community Foundation in Durham,
NC, 2005-11.
Served on board of the National Council of La Raza 2002-11, including a
year as chair, elected Jan. 2008. Executive director and chief
lobbyist at El Pueblo, Inc. in Raleigh,
NC, 1994-2005. Research and policy at the North Carolina
Department of
Health and Human Resources, 1997-2000. Field training
coordinator/project director at UNC Chapel Hill, 1994-97. MPH and
MSW from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1995.
Originally from Boston.
Faith Vote Director Michael Wear
(mid-May 2012) Executive assistant to the executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. B.A. in political science from The George Washington University, 2011. Interned on Obama's 2008 campaign, doing faith outreach. Native of Buffalo, NY.
Operation Vote and Political Data Manager
Dessa
Gypalo
(May 2012) Previously account executive, office
manager, junior
account executive and intern at Resolute Consulting, LLC, from Oct.
2007. Voterfile administrator at Central Strategies,
2008-12. B.A. in history, business administration from Roanoke
College, 2007.
Nurses for Obama
(announced
March 14, 2012)
Catholics for Obama
(announced
Aug. 13, 2012)
Rabbis for Obama
(announced Aug. 21, 2012)
Political Director Katherine Archuleta
(reported by CNN June 9, 2011) Prior to joining
the campaign Archuleta served as chief of staff to Labor Secretary
Hilda Solis. Senior advisor to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper,
starting in Oct. 2005, and the City of Denver's lead planner for the
2008 Democratic National Convention. Executive director of the
National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in Albuquerque.
Co-founded both Semilla Group, a women-owned consulting group focused
on community development, and the Center for Regional and Neighborhood
Action, a nonprofit organization engaged in regional growth
management. Aide to Federico Peña for a decade, including
his eight years as Denver Mayor (administrative assistant, deputy chief
of staff, and administrative cabinet officer), chief of staff to Pena
when he was Secretary of Transportation, 1996-97, and senior advisor
when he was Secretary of Energy, 1997. Director of special
initiatives at the Hunt Alternative Fund. Master's in
education from University of Northern Colorado, 1976. B.A. in
education from Metropolitan State College of Denver, 1971. Denver
native. twitter
Deputy National Political Director
Yohannes
Abraham
(announced Aug. 25, 2011) National political
director of
Organizing for America at the DNC. Served in the White House
Office of Legislative Affairs. Started as a Polk County field
organizer
on Obama's Iowa caucus campaign in May 2007; he served as GOTV
director on the Feb. 12 Virginia
primary campaign; in the Fall he was field director on the Virginia
Campaign for Change. Degree in political science from Yale,
2007.
Ethiopian American from Springfield, VA. twitter
Associate Political Director Omar Khan
(Aug. 2011; also later served as lead/Southern
political director) Congressional liaison at HUD,
2009-11. Vice
president of Young Democrats of America, 2007-09. In the 2008
cycle, Khan started as Nevada field director on the Biden for President
campaign, March 2007-Jan. 2008, then worked on Obama for America
starting as a field organizer, then director of operations for the
Texas State Convention team, and in the Fall as deputy political
director on the Florida Campaign for Change. President of Florida
Young Democrats, 2005-07. Deputy political director-Florida
Senate Victory at the Democratic Party of Florida, 2005-06; college
outreach coordinator for DPF in the latter half of 2004. B.A. in
political science from University of South Florida, 2004; served as
student body president, 2003-04.
Director of Special Projects Pablo Duran
Worked for many years for Rep./Sen. Tom Udall (NM),
starting in
2003. Degree in history and political science from University of
New Mexico, 2003. From Rio Rancho, NM.
Director of Political Operations Abby Witt
(Sept. 2011) Executive director of resource
development at Ivy
Tech Community College from Jan. 2011. Political director at the
Common Purpose Project, Sept. 2010-Sept. 2011. Joined Blue Engine
Message & Media, Oct. 2010. Assistant director in the Offices
of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement at The White House,
2009-10. Worked on Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting as a field
organizer in the Keene office on the NH primary campaign and serving as
regional field director in Delaware County, PA in the Fall. B.A.
in political science and public administration from American
University. Originally from Evanston, IL.
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Regional Political Director John Zody
Chief of staff (2009-11) and district director
(2007-09) in
the Office
of U.S. Rep. Barron Hill (IN-9). Director of civic
engagement/program manager at Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington,
2004-07. Deputy director for communications and planning in the
Office of Govs. Frank O'Bannon and Joe Kernan. Program manager at
the Indiana Department of Commerce, 1999-2001. Regional field
director in the 8th CD for the Indiana Democratic Party, 2000.
B.S. in public affairs from Indiana University Bloomington, 1999.
West Regional Political Director Lizet
Ocampo
(May 2012) Member services and outreach
coordinator to House
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, May 2011-May 2012. Legislative
assistant for the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House,
2009-11. Legislative staffer in the U.S. Senate, 2006-07.
AdWords associate/customer insights assistant at Google, 2006-07.
M.A. from Stanford University School of Education, 2006; B.A. in
political science from Stanford University, 2006.
Midwest Regional Political Director Sean
O'Brien
Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (IL),
2009-12.
Legislative director to U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler (NC), 2007-09.
Legislative aide and speechwriter to U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL),
2004-07, after starting as an intern. Worked in IT for eight
years. B.S. in national security and strategic studies from the
U.S. Naval War College, 2010; B.A. in American culture from
Northwestern University, 1996. From Manhattan.
Northeast Regional Political Director
Micah
Ragland
(May 2012) Communications director to U.S. Rep.
Sanford Bishop
(GA), Aug. 2011-May 2012. Director of media relations/government
affairs at Public Strategies, Inc. 2009-11. Deputy chief of staff
and communications director to U.S. Rep. Andre Carson (IN),
2008-09. Speechwriter in the Office of the House Majority Whip,
2007-08. Frontline Democrats finance director at the DCCC,
Jan.-July 2004. Legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Robert
Menendez (NJ), 2001-03. J.D. from North Carolina Central
University School of Law, 2007; B.A. in political
science/international relations from Morehouse College, 2000.
Political Coordinator Gabe Amo
Marshall Scholar at Oxford University. Interned
at the White
House in Summer 2010. Undergraduate degree in political science
from Wheaton College, 2010. Field director at the RI Democratic
Party in Fall 2007. Field organizer on Sheldon Whitehouse's U.S.
Senate campaign in Fall 2006. From Pawtucket, RI.
Senior Advisor Broderick Johnson
(announced Oct. 24, 2011) A founding partner of the Collins | Johnson group. Previously a partner at Bryan Cave LLP, where he headed the public policy and government affairs practice. Informal advisor to the Obama campaign in 2008. Senior advisor for congressional affairs on the Kerry presidential campaign. Vice president for congressional affairs at AT&T and Bell South. Served in the Clinton administration, 1998-2000, including as Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Chief Democratic counsel for the House Committee on the District of Columbia and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Assistant counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, 1983; bachelor's degree in philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross, 1978. Baltimore native.
Policy Director James
Kvaal
Deputy undersecretary of education from June
2010. A special assistant to President Obama on the White House
National Economic Council, Feb. 2009-June 2010. Senior fellow at
the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Policy director on
John Edwards' 2007-08 presidential campaign. Senior
policy advisor in Edwards' Senate office Jan. 2003-July 2004.
Legislative
associate on the Democratic staff of the House Education and Workforce
Committee, Jan. 2001-Jan. 2003. Worked on education policy in the
Clinton Administration from 1997-Jan. 2001, starting in Spring 2000 at
the White House National Economic Council and earlier at the Department
of Education's office of post-secondary education and the office of the
Deputy Secretary. J.D. from Harvard Law School, 2007; B.A. in
public policy from Stanford
University.
Born in Lexington, MA.
Associate Policy Directors
- Health Care
Christen Linke Young
(Dec. 2011) Policy analyst at the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, 2009-11. A regional field director on the Obama
campaign in Fall 2008. Public policy specialist at the Land Trust
Alliance, 2004-06. A field organizer on the Kerry-Edwards
campaign. J.D. from Yale Law School, 2009; B.S. in biological
sciences from Stanford University, 2004.
- National
Security
Marie Harf
(late Nov. or ea. Dec. 2011) Media spokesperson
for the Central
Intelligence Agency from June 2008. CIA analyst on Middle East
leadership issues from March 2006 to June 2008. Master's degree
in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. Bachelor's
degree in political science from Indiana University. Native of
Granville, Ohio.
- Economic Policy Jacob Leibenluft
(March 2012) Senior policy advisor for the
National Economic
Council at the White House, Jan. 2011-March 2012. Writer
for Slate. Luce scholar with Hong
Kong’s South China Morning Post, 2006-07. Undergraduate degrees
in history and economics from Yale, 2006; served as editor-in chief of
the Yale Daily News. From Chevy Chase, MD.
- Economic Policy Nikhil Joshi
(Jan. 2012) B.A. in economics and M.A. in public policy from Stanford University, 2011. Associate consultant for Bain & Company in the latter half of 2011. Research associate in the National Economic Council at the White House, Fall 2009.
- Energy and Environment Kelley Greenman
Environmental policy analyst at the U.S. Department of
Transportation
from May 2009. B.A. in environmental studies from Washington
University in St. Louis, 2009.
- State Policy Dominic (Dom) Williams
(March 2012) Came to the campaign from the
Office
of the New York
City Public Advocate, where he served as deputy advocate for economic
policy and senior policy advisor. International representative
for pension strategies at SEIU, 2008-10. Researcher on John
Edwards for President, June 2007-Feb. 2008. Teacher at the
Collegiate School, 2005-07. Worked on Brian Kavanagh's campaigns
for Council and Assembly. A.B. in philosophy from Princeton
University, 2005.
Policy Coordinator Leigh Arsenault
Policy advisor/special assistant in the Office of the
Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education. Worked on
Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting as a college
organizer based in Keene on the NH primary campaign, then on
the Oregon primary campaign and in the general election as national
youth vote director. Worked on state legislative races in
Vermont. Graduate of Middlebury College, 2006.
Policy Assistant Allison Hunn
(Nov. 2011; initially assistant to the director of
media planning from Aug. 2011) B.A. in foreign affairs, French
from the University of Virginia, 2011.
Policy Advisor (Energy and Environment)
Candace Vahlsing
(May 2012) Climate change program operations
(Oct. 2011-May 2012), legislative analyst (March-Nov. 2011), rotational
assistant (Aug. 2010-March 2011) and air pollution specialist (March
2009-July 2010) at the California Air Resources Board. M.S. in
environmental health sciences from UC Berkeley, 2008; B.A. in
international environmental policy from Hampshire College, 2003.
Policy Advisor (Health Policy Rachel
Hornstein
(June 2012) M.P.H. from UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health. B.S. in biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2010.
staff of 30
in the headquarters in Chicago...
Communications
Director Brent Colburn
(reported late Feb. 2012) Assistant Secretary
for
Public Affairs at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Director of external
affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A national
spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. In Fall
2008 served as communications director on the Obama campaign in
Michigan (and worked on the campaign in Virginia in the final three
weeks. Manager of the issues and advocacy practice at
Burson-Marsteller, 2007-08. Worked for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow
as deputy chief of staff to Oct. 2007, as spokesman on her 2006
re-election
campaign, and earlier as a senior advisor. Communications
director for Sen. Charles Schumer, mid-2004. Research director on
Howard Dean's presidential campaign, 2003-04. Worked at the
DCCC. A regional political
director for the Democratic Leadership Council. Graduate of the
College of William and Mary, 1998.
Deputy Communications Director Rachel
Racusen
(July 2012) Vice president of SKDKnickerbocker
(fka Squier Knapp
Dunn) from Feb. 2012. Director of public affairs at FEMA, May
2010-Feb. 2012. Communications director (from 2008-10), deputy
communications director (2006-08) and press assistant to House
Education and Labor Committee Chairman Rep. George Miller.
Account coordinator at Dittus Communications, 2005-06. B.A. in
political science from Union College, 2004.
Press Secretary Ben LaBolt
(widely reported on April 5, 2011; start mid-May
2011)
Communications director on Rahm Emanuel's campaign for Mayor of
Chicago. An
assistant press secretary to President Obama. Joined the Obama
campaign in Aug. 2007 and held a variety of roles including spokesman
on the primary campaign in Ohio and a deputy press secretary in the
general election. Press secretary in Obama’s Senate office.
Spokesman
on Sherrod Brown’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in Ohio in
2006. Press secretary to U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL),
2005-July 2006 and for a bit in early 2007. Seacoast regional
director
on Howard Dean's 2003-04 New Hampshire primary campaign. 2003
graduate
of Middlebury College with a degree in political science; president of
College Democrats at Middlebury, 2001-03 and helped out on Howard
Dean's
2000 re-election campaign. Native of LaGrange, Illinois. twitter
Deputy Press Secretary Katie Hogan
(widely reported on April 5, 2011; start mid-May
2011)
Associate director of press advance and press pool wrangler at the
White House. Assistant traveling press secretary (press wrangler)
on the 2008 Obama campaign Graduate of The George Washington
University, 2006. Chicago native (Beverly on the South Side).
Deputy Press Secretary Kara Carscaden
(July 2011) Vice president and special assistant
to
the president at
Rubenstein Communications, 2010-11. Rapid response manager in the
Office of the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, 2009-10. Senior
research associate at the DNC, 2008-09. Deputy press secretary to
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, 2006-07. M.A. in political management from
The George Washington University, 2007; interned for Sen. Charles
Schumer. Legal assistant in the
Appeals Bureau for the Manhattan District Attorney, 2003-04.
Field organizer for the NHDP, June-Oct. 2002. B.A. in political
science and art history from Wellesley College, 2002. twitter
Deputy Press Secretary Adam Fetcher
(July 2012) Previously press secretary at the
U.S. Department of
the Interior from July 2011. Assistant press secretary (Jan.-Aug.
2011), director of special projects in the Office of Public Affairs
(Jan. 2010-May 2011) and public affairs and press assistant at
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (March-Dec. 2009). A
field organizer on Obama's 2008 campaign. Membership marketing
coordinator at the JCC in Manhattan, Aug. 2007-June 2008. B.A. in
English from Carleton College, 2006.
Assistant Press Secretary Stephen Spector
Graduate of the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, 2011;
interned at the White House in Spring 2010.
Press Assistant Marc Aidinoff
Graduate of Harvard College, 2012.
Travelling Press Secretary Jen Psaki
(started travelling July 5, 2012) On leave from
position as senior vice president and managing director at Global
Strategy Group, where she started in Oct. 2011. Deputy
Communications Director
and Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House.
Traveling press secretary on Obama's 2008 campaign after starting out
as deputy press
secretary. Spokeswoman at the DCCC in the
2006 cycle. Communications director to Rep. Joseph Crowley
(D-NY).
In Fall 2004 worked on the Kerry campaign doing press for the
Kerry/Heinz
children. Deputy communications director and earlier assistant to
the state director on Sen. John Kerry's 2003-04 Iowa caucus
campaign.
Field organizer for the Iowa Democratic Party's Coordinated Campaign in
2002. Graduate of the College of William and Mary; studied
English
and sociology. From Stamford, CT. twitter
Travelling Press
Aide Molly Poppe
(July 2012; initially a press intern from July
2011-Jan. 2012, then a
media monitor from Jan.-July 2012) B.A. in political science from
The George Washington University, 2011.
Director of Regional Media Tom Reynolds
(Sept. 2011) Deputy director of the Office
of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Ohio deputy
communications director for Obama for America in fall 2008. In May 2008
Reynolds joined Qorvis
Communications as a director. National press secretary on
Bill Richardson's presidential campaign and earlier served as Iowa
communications director for the campaign. Press secretary to
Sen.Tom Harkin (D-IA). Communications director for Rep. Jane
Harman
(D-CA). Earlier, according to The
Hill, he worked for a public-affairs
firm in Southern California. Undergraduate degree
from Boston University, and has completed most of the work towards
Master’s
degree in political management from The George Washington
University.
twitter
Regional Press Secretaries
West Ofelia Casillas
(reported by Politico's Mike Allen on June 1,
2011) Prior to
joining the campaign Casillas was deputy director of communications and
foundation relations for the ACLU of Illinois. She has over a
decade of experience writing for news publications including The Miami Herald, People magazine, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune; social policy
writer at the Tribune for
nine years. Bachelor's degrees in English and journalism from the
University of Florida. Cuban-American; originally from Miami.
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Frank Benenati
(reported by Politico's Mike Allen on June 1,
2011) Prior to
joining the campaign, Benenati served as Northwest regional press
secretary at the DNC starting in April 2009. Communications
director on Al Franken for
Senate/Minnesota Coordinated Campaign. Press secretary to Rep.
Louise
Slaughter (NY) from late 2006 to March 2008. Press secretary on
the
Linda Stender for Congress campaign (NJ-7), Fall 2006. Staff
assistant
and legislative correspondent to Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA),
2005-06.
B.A.
in journalism/government from American University, 2005. twitter
Midwest Ben Finkenbinder
(Aug. 2011) Press wrangler at the White House,
Jan. 2009-June 2011. Assistant press secretary on Obama for
America, June 2007-Nov. 2008. Graduate of
Macalester College, 2007. Originally from Bethesda, MD. twitter
Northeast Michael Czin
Previously Northeastern regional press and earlier
assistant press
secretary at the DNC. Served as a field organizer in Davenport on
Hillary Clinton's
Iowa caucus campaign. twitter
Southeast Addie Whisenant
(Sept. 2011) Democratic press secretary for the
House Financial
Services Committee, Aug. 2010-Sept. 2011. Communications director
to Rep. Artur Davis (initial deputy communications director), April
2009-Aug. 2010. Graduate of North Carolina A&T State
University with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
Native of Atlanta, GA. twitter
Director of Constituency Press Clo Ewing
(announced Aug. 25, 2011) Senior associate
producer for Harpo Productions from Aug. 2004. Associate producer
and assignment editor for CBS News, 2000-04. Dual degree in
political science and broadcast journalism from Syracuse University,
2000.
Deputy Director of Constituency Press
Charly Norton
(started on the campaign in March 2011) In the 2010 cycle, Norton worked as an account associate at MSHC Partners. She has held many internship positions. B.A. in political science, public policy from The George Washington University.
Director of Hispanic Press Gabriela
Domenzain
Communications director of the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus from mid-2010. Associate producer at Univision in
Miami. Liaison at the National Council of La Raza. Master's
degree in journalism from New York University; undergraduate degree
from University of Chicago, 1998. From Miami, FL. twitter
Hispanic Press Coordinator Nathaly Arriola
(Feb. 2012) Press secretary for Hispanic media
to Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid from March 2011. Public policy fellow in the
Office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. B.A. in political
science from UC Santa Barbara, 2010.
Director of Rapid Response Lis Smith
(reported by Politico, Jan. 2012) Previously
communications
director for the Democratic Governors Association (announced Jan.
2011). Communications director on Ohio Gov.
Ted Strickland's 2010 campaign, and in 2009 worked for New Jersey Gov.
Jon Corzine and
Virginia
gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. Worked on Dan Seals'
congressional campaign in Illinois. Campaign manager on Sen.
Chris Koster's campaign for Attorney General in Missouri, 2007.
Press secretary on Sen. Claire McCaskill's 2006 U.S. Senate
campaign. Graduate of Dartmouth College, 2005. twitter
Deputy Director of Rapid Response Danny
Kanner
(reported by Politico, April 27, 2012; start early May
2012)
Comes to the campaign from position as press secretary to New York
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Press secretary on the
independent Crist for U.S. Senate campaign in 2010. Worked in the
Department of Education for the Bloomberg Administration in New York
City. Worked on David Yassky's campaign for NYC comptroller in
2009. Body man to Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Graduate of the
University of Maryland.
Digital Outreach Lead Erica Sackin
(Jan. 2012 split between communications and digital..."ran the Obama campaign's blogger, progressive media and digital media outreach program, working with bloggers across the country, and pushing out digital content") Previously media manager at Planned Parenthood of New York City. Account executive at Fenton Communications, 2006-08.
Director of Event Communications Marti
Adams
Worked on Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting as a press
assistant in the NH
primary. Previously worked in Atlanta, GA on an economic
development project commissioned
by
Mayor Shirley Franklin. She has also worked as a correspondence
intern
for President Clinton in New York. Graduate of Spelman
College. Originally from McLean, Virginia.
twitter
Director of Surrogate Communications Ellen
Qualls
Moved over to the campaign in Feb. 2012 from position
as director of
surrogate and allied
group outreach at the DNC, Aug. 2011-Feb. 2012. A resident fellow
at Harvard
University’s Institute of Politics. Senior advisor for
strategic planning for four years for Nancy Pelosi; also served as
press lead
for Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu during the Obama
transition. Communications director for Mark Warner's Forward
Together PAC in the 2006 cycle; communications director for
Gov. Mark Warner 2005-06, and press secretary to Warner starting
on Dec. 12, 2001 through 2005. Previously Richmond bureau chief
for
WDBJ-7 TV in Roanoke starting in Nov. 1994; earlier served as station's
first Danville bureau chief. Graduate of the University of
Virginia
with a degree in English, 1988.
Deputy Director of Surrogate
Communications Rob
O'Donnell
Previously did surrogate and allied
group outreach at the DNC.
Senior Communications Advisor Jennifer
(Jen) Friedman
(Sept. 2012) Director of public affairs at the
Commerce
Department from
Jan. 2012. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic
Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, Jan.
2011-12. Vice president and director of communications for the
Albright Stonebridge Group, June 2007-Jan. 2011. Director of
state communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids,
2004-07. Communications director/communications coordinator at
the Violence Policy Center, 2002-04. B.A. in political science
from The George Washington University, 2002.
• SPEECHWRITING
Director of Speechwriting Stephen Krupin
(July 2011) Speechwriter to U.S. Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid from
April 2009-July 2011; previously served as Leader Reid’s press
secretary and deputy press secretary. Florida press secretary on
President Obama’s 2008 campaign. Media relations and crisis
communications associate at APCO Worldwide, 2004-07. Founder, web
designer and graphic designer of EonMedia, 2002-07. While at
Medill, Krupin worked a number of journalism jobs including Washington
bureau of Cox Newspapers, reporter and copy editor at the Daily Herald
in Chicago, and intern for CNN in Washington.
Master’s degree from the School of Media and Public Affairs at The
George Washington University, 2008; undergraduate degree from Medill
School of Journalism at Northwestern University, 2004.
Deputy Director of Speechwriting Vinay
Reddy
Came to the campaign from position as speechwriter to
Sen. Sherrod
Brown.
Surrogate Communications Coordinator Jill
Jefferson
(July 2012) Worked on civil rights cold cases in Mississippi with the Civil Rights Cold Case Project and wrote speeches for Global Strategy Group in DC after holding internships in the White House and in the Office of Congressman John Lewis. Researcher for Congressman Lewis's Across That Bridge. Degrees in history and English from the University of Virginia, 2009.
Surrogate Communications Coordinator Mark
Grindy
Previously an associate at the Glover Park Group from Aug. 2009. Worked press and communications at the Center for American Progress Summer 2009. B.A. in political science, English from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2009.
Writer/Researcher Aaron Sherman
(Jan. 2012; started as an intern in Sept. 2011)
Counselor at the
Nativ College Leadership Program in Israel, Aug. 2010-June 2011.
B.A. in international relations from UC Davis, 2010.
Research Director Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean
Moved to the campaign from position as Special
Assistant to the President and Director of Research at the White House,
after serving as director of research on the transition, and deputy
director of content on the campaign. Previously worked as a
research and communications strategist at CNBC and as Vice President at
IMS, Inc., a research consulting firm. Jarvis-Shean studied at
the University of Cape Town and was the fifth generation of her family
to attend the University of California, Berkeley, from which she
graduated with a degree in political science. Native of
Sacramento, California.
Deputy Research Director Peter Bondi
(June 2011) Senior advisor for research and
communications on the
U.S. Senate
Banking Committee. Research on Frank Lautenberg for U.S. Senate,
2008. Deputy research director on Edwards for President,
2007-08. Researcher at the
Democratic
National Committee during the 2006 cycle. Experience includes Jon
Corzine for Governor, Bob Menendez for Senate and Betty Castor for
Senate campaigns.
Interned on Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign and then served
as a field staffer in New Hampshire. Graduate of Cornell University,
2002. Native of New Haven, CT. twitter
Research Associates (...about 16 people, self research plus regional)
David Gomez
(June 2011) Researcher at the White House,
Feb. 2009-June 2011. Research consultant at Obama for America in
Fall 2008. B.A. in English language and literature from Northern
Illinois University, 2005; studied at the John Marshall Law School.
Helen Hare
(June 2011) Researcher at the White House,
Jan.-May 2011.
Communications director on DC Mayor Adrian Fenty's 2010 re-election
campaign, April-Sept. 2010. Deputy communications director for DC
Mayor Adrian Fenty, 2009-10. B.A. in economics from Oberlin
College, 2009.
Fae Jencks
(June 2011) Researcher at Media Matters for America, June 2010-June 2011. B.A. in political communication from The George Washington University, 2010.
Conor Dwyer Reynolds
(June 2011) Student working towards degree in
political science
from University of Rochester; interned in the communications department
at the White House, Jan.-May 2011.
Thomas Zimmerman
(July 2011...national security and foreign
policy) Country
director for Pakistan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Client services manager at Blue State Digital, Jan.-Aug. 2009.
Technology projects manager at Obama for America in Chicago in Fall
2008; field organizer on the primary campaign starting June 2007.
Education resources coordinator/assistant to country director of
American Councils for International Education in Kabul, Afghanistan,
2006-07. B.A. in political science from Williams College, 2006.
Eric Snyderman
(Aug. 2011...immigration, crime and justice,
counter-terrorism)
Research fellow in the Office of Sen. Charles Schumer, 2011.
Assistant research director for veting and special projects on
the Alex Sink for Governor campaign (FL), May-Nov. 2010.
Conflicts of interest analyst at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
LLP, 2009-10. Interned on Mark Warner for Senate 2008. B.A.
in international affairs from The George Washington University, 2008;
working part-time towards an M.A. in international relations and
national security studies from American University.
Charlotte Jameson
(Sept. 2011...agriculture, food and rural
issues) Public policy
coordinator at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, May 2009-Sept.
2011. Energy associate at Environment America, Sept. 2008-April
2009. B.A. in political science from University of Chicago, 2008.
Annie Mansfield
(Sept. 2011) Social media manager at Mansfield
Insurance Agency,
Aug.-Dec. 2011. English teacher in Korea, 2010-11. Host at
The Second city, piano instructor and model. Volunteered on
Obama's 2008 campaign. B.A. from Indiana University Bloomington,
2007.
David Duberstein
(Dec. 2011) Research coordinator (July-Nov.
2011) and research
analyst at the DCCC (Jan. 2010-July 2011). B.A. in journalism
from University of Maryland College Park, 2007.
Damon Porter
(Dec. 2011...digital liaison) Researcher at
Innovative
Associates, Feb.-July 2011. Intern at the White House in
communications-research, Sept. 2010-Jan. 2011. A.B. in economics,
political science from University of Chicago. New media intern on
Obama for America in summer 2008.
Vriti Jain
(April 2012) Policy associate in the City of Chicago Mayor's Office, June 2011-May 2012; research assistant on the transition (Feb-May 2011) and on Chicago for Rahm (Nov. 2010-Feb. 2011). A.B. in public policy, economics from University of Chicago, 2011.
Caitlin Murray
(2012...regional research desk-South and
Midwest) Deputy research
director, oppo on Elizabeth for
Massachusetts in the
first part of 2012. Research director on Beshear/Abramson 2011
(Kentucky gubernatorial). Research associate at the DSCC,
2010. Correspondent for The
Buffalo News, 2009-10. Reporter for Greater Niagara
Newspapers, 2007-09. Degree in communications, journalism from
SUNY College at Buffalo, 2007.
Ryan Karlsgodt
(July 2012...regional research desk) Project
assistant at Winston
& Strawn LLP, May 2011-July 2012. Research analyst at the
DCCC, Feb. 2009-Dec. 2010. B.A. in history, environmental
studies, 2008.
Sandra Lynne Fryhofer
(July 2012...health care and seniors' issues)
B.A. in government,
health policy from Harvard University, 2012; policy intern at HHS in
summer 2011.
Ethan Gurwitz
Graduate of Northwestern University, 2012. From
Worcester, MA.
Justin Dews
DNC staff based in Chicago
(...about 24 people, focused on opposition research)
Director of Strategic Research
James Lynch
(March 2012; previously deputy director of strategic
research starting
July 2011) Senior deputy appointments secretary in the Office of
Gov. Jerry Brown, Jan.-July 2011. Director of research and rapid
response at Jerry Brown 2010, March-Dec. 2010. Consultant at
James Lynch Research, 2009-10. Research and policy director at
Merkley for Oregon, Jan. -Nov. 2008. Legislative researcher in
Congress, Oct. 2007-Jan. 2008. Deputy research director on
Angelides 2006, May 2005-Nov. 2006. J.D. from University of the
Pacific-McGeorge School of Law, 2006; B.A. degrees in U.S. History and
political science from UC San Diego, 2003.
Geoff Andersen, Devan Barber, Dave Barr, Luke Bassett,
Aaron Buchner, Tyson Brody, Lauren Dillon, Kayti Fan, Chris Herold,
Nicholsa Howie, Avi Klein, Kate Mann, Jacob Mathai, Chris McClure, Ryan
McInerney, David Miller, Melinda Okoye, Brad Pollock, Anna Ruch, Tom
Ryan, Samuel Salustro, Matthew Schaub, Matt Timmeny, Tori Wender
DNC staff based in DC
Director of Rapid Response Research Tony
Carrk
(...about 7 people)
(July 2011) Policy director of the Center
for American Progress Action Fund's "ThinkProgress.org" (a "progressive
communications war room"), 2009-11. Research director on Terry
McAuliffe's
gubernatorial campaign, Jan.-June 2009. Deputy research director
at the
DSCC, latter half of 2008. Senior researcher on Hillary Clinton
for President, 2007-08. Research associate at IMS, 2003-07.
M.P.P. from Georgetown Public Policy Institute, 2003; bachelor's degree
from Siena College, 2001.
Jim Donofrio, Dani Lipsman, Jared McDonald, Rebecca Parks, Emily
Rogers, Erika Starr
Chief Digital
Strategist Joe Rospars
Founding partner and creative director of Blue State
Digital. Took leave from BSD to serve as new media director on
Obama's 2008 campaign. Part of Gov. Howard Dean's
presidential campaign Internet team, where he wrote and edited emails
and also
worked on message development, online brand building, and grassroots
organizing.
Prior to the Dean campaign, Rospars taught English in Stockholm, Sweden
and wrote for NotGeniuses.com, a political blog. Bachelor's
degree in
political science from The George Washington University.
Originally from
Long Island.
twitter
Digital Director Teddy Goff
(May 2011) Associate vice president for strategy
at
Blue State Digital. Oversaw creation and launch of WhiteHouse.gov
for the Obama-Biden presidential transition. Part of the new
media team on Obama's
2008 campaign-in the fall director of new media for battleground states
(Great Lakes and Ohio Valley); during the primaries
Goff served on the campaign's mass email team. Degree in English
and
political science from Yale University. twitter
Deputy Digital Director Marie Ewald
(Feb. 2012) Previously head of online
fundraising at World Food
Programme, from Feb. 2010. Online fundraising and direct mail at
the Clinton Foundation, 2009-10. National email programs and
fundraising manager on Obama's 2008 campaign from July 2008. Vice
president at M+R Strategic Services, 2005-08. Editor/writer at
the Christian Science Monitor, 2002-03. Graduate of Stanford
University.
Director of Digital Operations Lauren Parks
(Nov. 2011) Came to the campaign from position
as EA/PR marketing
associate at Podesta Group, from May 2009. B.S. in journalism
from University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.
FRONTEND | VIDEO | DESIGN/PROD. | ONLINE ORGANIZING | CONTENT | SOCIAL | EMAiL | ONLINE ADVERTISING | DIGITAL ANALYTICS | PROG. MANAGERS
•
FRONTEND
26 developers,
producers, QA technicians and
interns
Director of Frontend Web Development
Daniel Ryan
(Aug. 2011) CTO at PressCore, Inc.,
2010-11. Technical director at Chattarati, 2009-11.
Frontend department manager at Medium, 2007-09. Freelance web and
IOS developer, 1998-2011. M.A. in cultural history of war from
University of Manchester, 2006; B.A. in history from Lee University,
2005.
Deputy Director of Frontend Web
Development Kyle
Rush
(June 2011) Previously frontend web developer at
Blue State
Digital. B.A. in political science from CSU Fullerton,
2008. Southern California native.
Lead Developer for BarackObama.com Jeff
Louden
(Sept. 2011) Freelance developer and designer
based in
Louisville, KY, Jan. 2007-Sept. 2011, and software trainer for Apple
Inc., March 2008-Feb. 2011. Certificate in music technology and
production from Berklee College of Music, 2007; B.A. in information
studies from Florida State University, 2005.
Lead Developer for GOTV Projects Michael
Renehan
Freelance consultant (development, UX, design) based
in Chicago.
Working toward M.S. in software development from Northwestern
University, 2012; B.F.A. in playwrighting from Boston University, 2005.
Senior Web Producer Jason Rico
(Feb. 2012) Worked for Apple Inc. from Aug.
2006-Feb. 2012.
Served in the U.S. Navy starting in 1998.
Web Producer Nicholas Marcoullier
(Aug. 2012) Sales intelligence analyst at
Groupon, July 2011-July
2012. Development associate at Elsewhere Collaborative, mid
2011. Co-founder and programming coordinator at 1419, Jan.
2009-March 2011. B.A. degree from University of Minnesota-Twin
Cities, 2010.
Lead QA Matt Ranalletta
(June 2011) Marketing assistant for the
University of Illinois
Alumni Association, 2010-11. B.A. in psychology, marketing from
Washington University in St. Louis.
Quality Assurance Specialist Elizabeth Joun
(Nov. 2011)
Quality Assurance Specialist
Willie Brosnan
(March 2012; started on the campaign as a political
intern, Sept.
2011-March 2012) B.A. in psychology from George Mason University,
2009.
User Experience Engineer Manik Rathee
(Dec. 2011) Owner and head photographer at Manik
Rathee
Photography from Jan. 2010. Graphic/UI design lead at RevSystems,
Inc. Nov. 2010-Dec. 2011. Freelance designer, Sept. 2004-Dec.
2010; also designer for Hartz Mountain Corporation (March-Oct. 2010),
designer/webmaster at True Sounds Productions (2005-08), and designer
for Robeson Gallery (2006-07). BFA in advertising and graphic
design from Kean University, 2010.
Senior Front
End Developer Matthew
Gipp
(Dec. 2011) From upstate New York.
Senior Front End
Developer Eryan Cobham
(Jan. 2012) Principal
consultant at Cobwebs Consulting, LLC from June 2009. J.D. from
Northwestern University School of Law, 2005; B.A. in political
science from Yale University, 2001.
Developers
Chris Wolff
(July 2011) IOS and web developer at
cichangeInc., 2010-11.
Frontend developer at Merge Healthcare, Feb.-July 2010. B.A. in
digital media technology from Columbia College Chicago, 2009.
Andy Creighton
(July 2011) B.A. in philosophy from University
of Chicago at
Urbana-Champaign, 2008.
Anh-thu
Huynh
(Sept. 2011) Freelance web designer and
developer since
2004. Graduate of University of Chicago, 2008.
Aki Braun
(Dec. 2011) Ecommerce and web integration
administrator/executive
vice president of logistics at Johnson Creek Enterprises, LLC, March
2009-Dec. 2011. Inventory control specialist at Apple Inc, May
2007-Sept. 2008. Assistant manager at FedEx Kinko's Office &
Print Center, 2004-07.
Greg
Bugyis
(Jan. 2012) Owner and lead developer
at Areech, 2008-Jan. 2012; and web developer at House Party, Inc.
2008-11. Contract web developer, 2005-08. Technical writer
at InterAKT Online, 2004-05. B.S. in computer science from Purdue
University, 2004.
Sean Kealey
(Jan. 2012)
Freelance
developer/creative director (Haystack Needle Design) in Chicago since
2006; lead graphic designer for Aquent, 2007-Jan. 2012. Art
director and production manager at M2MEDIA360 in Chicago,
2003-07. Production manager for The Ashley Group, 2001-03.
Studied screenwriting, film editing at Columbia College Chicago.
Carrie Sapp
(July 2012) Over a decade of web development experience, most recently at Aditi (Microsoft). Other experience includes web developer at Insight Global (Microsoft), 2010-11, web application developer at Allyis (Microsoft), 2006-10, and senior software engineer at Kaplan Professional, 2003-06. Originally from Texas.
Jeff Solnet
(July 2012; previously spent a couple of months as an
Organizing Fellow
in Boca Raton) B.A. in government from Harvard University, 2012.
Conor Gaffney
(Sept. 2012) Technology associate at the Chicago 2011 Transition Committee; deputy new media director at Chicago for Rahm, Nov. 2010-Feb. 2011. Research associate at Citizens for Claypool, April-Nov. 2010. Aldermanic aide in Chicago, Jan-June 2009. M.Phil. from University of Cambridge, 2012; A.B. in fundamentals, Classical studies from University of Chicago, 2008.
Interns
Summer 2012 Cheyenne
Matthews-Hoffman, Sam Chase, Michael Lucas, Robert Virgin, Tara Nebe
Fall 2012 Annie Swank, David Ryan
•
VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Video Stephen Muller
(Aug. 2011) Director of video production and messaging at Blue State Digital, from Feb. 2008. Producer at Obama for America, May-Dec. 2008. BFA in film production from Chapman University Film School, 2007.
Supervising Producer of Video Production
Royd
Chung
(Oct. 2011) Previously director of
programming/co-executive
producer at Atlas Media Corp. from Oct. 2007. Various producer
positions, starting as an associate producer at PBS, 2001-03.
B.A. in government from Harvard University.
Production Manager, Digital Video
Production
Eliza Comer
(Jan. 2012) Various production positions
including three years as a line producer for Atlas Media Corp.started
as a production manager/company manager at Walden
Family Playhouse, 2002-04. B.A. in American studies and
government from Wesleyan University.
Senior Video Producer Emily Anderson
(Nov. 2011; lead on all rapid response video
content) Came to the campaign after various
producer positions
including producer and assignment editor at CNN, 2008-10. B.A. in
history and communications from Boston College, 2003.
Video
Producer/Cinematographer Sierra Lindsey
(Dec. 2011; lead on all health care video content,
served as the
traveling producer/director for all content involving the President on
the road) Producer/shooter at Gigantic
Productions,
2007-08. Producer/shooter for MTV Networks, 2003-08.
Shooter/field producer/assignment desk at NY1 News, Jan.-Sept.
2006. Associate producer at VH1-MTV Networks, 2003-05. B.A.
in social work, journalism and communications from New York University,
2003.
Video Producer/Editor Saimon Kos
(Jan. 2012; the live specialist; directing all of
Obama's
live-streamed rallies, events and speeches) Extensive work for
MTV Networks; started as a production associate for MTV Productions
"Total Request Live," 2003-05. B.A. degrees in communication and
German from Rutgers, 2002.
Video Producers
Tara McGowan
(Oct. 2011) Deputy press secretary to Sen. Jack
Reed,
2010-11. Broadcast associate at "60 Minutes," 2009-10. B.A.
in journalism, political science from New York University, 2008.
Liz Morrison
(Dec. 2011; produced many celebrity videos including
the viral video with Will Ferrell) Five years producing
non-fiction
television in New York City, including shows for Bravo, Discovery
Channel, NatGeo, OWN, PBS and Travel Channel.
Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public
Communications, 2006.
Shannon Semler
(Jan. 2012; also served as the Spanish language
producer) Seven years as a TV producer in NYC, gaining extensive
field,
post-production and storytelling experience on dozens of shows for
Bravo, ABC, MTV, Discovery Health, Fuse, Lifetime, and Food
Network. B.A. in English, Spanish from
Georgetown University, 2005.
Stefanie Spiegel
(Jan. 2012; also served as the
lead
producer for all content involving Vice President Biden) Ten
years
of television and corporate video producing experience, with extensive
field
producing experience on shows for Discovery Channel, VH1, Animal
Planet, OWN,
Food Network, TLC, FOX and McDonalds. B.A in Communications from
University of
Michigan, 2003.
Rachel Ruiz
(Jan. 2012; lead story development and casting)
Over twelve years
of television and documentary producing experience. Founded
FlashRock Films. Degree in journalism from Illinois State
University.
Cerissa Tanner
(Jan. 2012) Peabody Award winning producer with
over seven years
of experience producing and writing documentaries for Current TV and
others. Master's in journalism from University of California
Berkeley, 2006.
Marion Cunningham
(May 2012) Production credits on programs that
have appeared on
Discovery, Science Channel, A&E and National Geographic TV and
Animal Planet. B.F.A. in film and television from Chapman
University, 2005.
Cinematographer/Editor Adam Wisneski
(Sept. 2011; traveled extensively with the President on Air Force One) Multimedia producer for the Tulsa World, May 2009-Sept. 2011. Commercial photographer at Rustic Pathways, Inc., Summer 2008. Did a couple of photo internships, 2007-08. Degrees in photojournalism and Spanish from University of Missouri-Columbia/Missouri School of Journalism, 2007.
Cinematographer/Editor Charlene Music
(Jan. 2012; shot/edited oversaw all Spanish language
video) Over
nine years of documentary film making experience. Clients have
included Facebook, Center for Responsible Travel, Encore.org, Eureka
Communication, and the Mahatma Gandhi Medical Trust. M.F.A. in
documentary film and video from Stanford University, 2009; B.A. in
visual and environmental studies from Harvard University, 2004.
Cinematographer
Liz Rubin
(Aug. 2011) Over a decade of working on TV,
network, film,
broadcast crews
storytelling and film making across a wide variety of cross-platform
media and digital projects in New York and Los Angeles. M.F.A. in
film and cinematography from the Art Center College of Design, 2003;
B.A. in psychology and art history from Mount Holyoke College, 1993.
Cinematographer Andrew Shuford
(Jan. 2012; shot many interviews and videos with the
President and
celebrities) Over ten years of experience as a freelance
cinematographer including work on television shows for Discovery, TLC,
HGTV, WE, VH1 and CBS. B.A. in film and video from Brooks
Institute of Photography, 2006.
Post-Production Supervisor Noah Meisner
(Jan. 2012; created and oversaw production workflow
strategies, managed
live streams; also produced the Jay-Z viral video) Producer of
the short "Die with Me" (2011) and
co-producer of the short "Red Shoes" (2009). M.A. in media
studies and film from The New School in New York.
Video Editors
Josh Kanipe
(Aug. 2011) Producer and editor with
twelve years of experience working with some of the biggest studios in
Hollywood producing and editing trailers, Blu-ray/DVD content,
commercials, promos, webisodes and EPKs. B.S. in music industry
from the University of Southern California, 1999.
Mie Sorensen
(Dec. 2011) Interactive designer, filmmaker,
producer, director
and editor with over ten years of experience and study. Clients
have included Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV, Lionsgate, New Regency,
Mercedes and Bravo; also freelance producing and editing for her own
company Lilwondermat since 2004. B.A. in interactive media and
design from University of Newport, Wales; B.F.A. in dramatic writing
from NYU, 2002.
Kimberly Pellnat
(Jan. 2012) Ten years as an editor and producer
in New York; has edited over 400 projects for TV, independent film and
the web. B.S. in communication and media studies from SUNY
College
at Fredonia, 2002.
Allan Piper
(Jan. 2012; edited many of the rapid response
videos) Television
and documentary editor; has worked on shows for TLC, E!, Discovery and
CBS and other networks and was editor and senior editor for BBC New
York, 2005-08. Directed, produced and edited the theatrical
release documentary "Married and Counting" (2011). Undergraduate
degree in English from Harvard University; attended New York University
Film School in 1994. Virginia native.
Mark Meatto
(Oct. 2012) Has produced, directed and edited
films including his
first theatrical film "How To Grow a Band" (2012). He worked for
six years as Ross McElwee’s creative collaborator, including on the
documentary feature "Bright Leaves." B.A. in philosophy from
Harvard University, 1999.
Motion Graphics Artist Sasha Fornari
Co-founder On Center
magazine, 2008-10. Videographer and photographer at the Moscow
Ballet, 2009-10. Graphic production manager for The Joffrey
Ballet, 2003-08. B.F.A. in graphic design from The School of the
Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
Motion Graphics Artist/Director
Christopher
Markos
(July 2012; including director of the viral Will
Ferrell video) Emmy award winning motion graphics artist,
filmmaker, director and editor. Director at Dictionary Films,
2008-11; creative director at Sol Design, 2004-11. Designer at
Digital Kitchen, 2000-03. Visual effects artist at Avenue Edit,
1995-2000. Experience includes director of photography on Paraíso,
winner of the best documentary short at the 2012 Tribeca Film
Festival. Studied at Berklee College of Music and
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Assistant Editor/Videographer Matty Greene
(Aug. 2011; took on multiple roles including editor,
cinematographer,
associate producer, post-production assistant and digital media
manager) Interned at the White House Office of DIgital Strategy,
filming and editing content for WH.gov, Jan.-May 2011. B.S. in
radio/television/film from the University of Texas at Austin, 2010.
Assistant Editor/Videographer Mike Ingrasci
(started Jan. 2012 as an assistant editor and took on
multiple roles
including editor, cinematographer, associate producer, post-production
assistant, live digital video technician and digital media
manager) Freelance videographer in the Greater L.A. area.
Director of video for the Rock 'N Roll Fantasy Camp, 2007-11.
Interned on Obama's 2008 campaign in Chicago. B.F.A. in film
production from U.S.C.'s School of Cinematic Arts, 2008.
Digital Distribution Lead Soothesuk Kusumpa
(Sept. 2011) Strategist and analyst at Blue
State Digital,
2009-11. Office of Sen. Richard Durbin, 2009. Organizer and
Fellow on the 2008 Obama campaign. M.P.A. from Syracuse
University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, 2008;
B.F.A. in industrial design from the University of Illinois at
Champagne-Urbana.
Photographer/Designer Chris Dilts
(May 2011; traveled extensively with the President and
Vice President; worked closely with the design and social media teams
to integrate photography) Owner of Christopher Dilts
Photography | Design from
Aug. 2005-present; including designer/photographer as part of the DNC
New Media creative team, 2010-11. Photographic editor/associate
designer at P8NT Magazine, 1999-2005. BA. in
sociology/anthropology from Earlham College, 1999.
Photographer Scout Tufankjian
(Aug. 2012) Based in Brooklyn, NY, Tufankjian is
a
well-known photojournalist represented by Polaris Images.
•
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Design Director Josh Higgins
(Sept. 2011) Over twelve years design
experience; creative director at Departure Advertising.
Previously associate creative director at Vitrorobertson. Design
degree from San Diego City College. Musician with the band, fluf
(7 albums). San Diego native.
Associate Design Director Carla Pearlman
(July 2011) Graphic designer at the Museum of
Science and
Industry, 2009-11. Graphic designer at Obama for America, Fall
2008. Graphic designer at Polaris Creative Partners, 2008.
B.F.A in visual communications from The School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, 2007.
Senior Design Lead Taylor LeCroy
(Aug. 2011) Senior art director at Tom, Dick
& Harry Creative
Co., 2008-11. Art director at Element 79, 2007-08. Art
director at DDB Chicago, 2005-07. Graduate in art direction from
The Creative Circus; B.A. from University of Florida, 2002.
Lead Interactive Designer Dan Carson
(Oct. 2011) Interactive designer at Hornall
Anderson Design
Works, Nov. 2009-Sept. 2011. Designer and Flash developer at POP,
2006-09. Interactive designer and developer at Squad,
2004-06. Owner of okdan, web design and development,
2002-09. AAA in interactive media from the Art Institute of
Seattle, 2004.
Senior Designers
Daphne Karagianis
(May 2011) Designer at the DNC Feb.-May
2011. Art director
at Digitas Design in Chicago. B.A. in graphic design from
Columbia College Chicago.
Garret Karol
(Jan. 2012) Graphic designer at ALARM
Press/Design Bureau
Magazine,
latter part of 2011. Graphic designer at Robinson & Maites,
2010-11. Senior designer at University of Missouri's Department
of
Student Life, 2007-10. B.F.A. in graphic design from University
of
Missouri-Columbia, 2006.
Lee Zelenak
(Jan. 2012) Previously director of programming at AIGA Cleveland from June 2009, and designer for Twist Creative Inc. from June 2008. Instructor in the School of Visual Communication Design at Kent State University, 2006-10, and studio manager/designer at Glyphix Design Studio from 2006-08. B.S./M.F.A. in visual communication design from Kent State University, 2008.
Ryan Paule
(March 2012) Art director at Moosylvania, Nov.
2011-March 2012.
Design consultant and earlier creative intern for Fleishman-Hillard,
2010-11.
Amanda Buck
(March 2012) Designer for PieLab, a Project M +
H.E.R.O.
initiative, 2009-10. Freelance designer and earlier design intern
for Ologie, 2008. B.S.D. in visual communication design from The
Ohio State University, 2008.
Designers
Zach
Stubenvoll - Lead Production
Designer/Print Lead
(Sept. 2011) Bachelor's degree in graphic design
from the Art
Academy of Cincinnati, 2011.
Ryan Roche (Sept. 2011) Designer at Minds On in Columbus, OH, mid-2011. B.F.A. in graphic design from Bowling Green State University, 2011.
Lauren Gallagher
(Nov. 2011) Previously working as a freelance junior art
director. Designer at Insight Advertising, 2009-11. Degree
in visual communication technology from Bowling Green State University,
2010.
Drew Roper (Jan. 2012) Marketing designer for Modern
Luxury, latter half of 2011. B.A. in graphic design from
University of Missouri-Columbia, 2010.
Jason Dietrick, Sr.
(Jan. 2012) Senior designer at Partners Design, Inc., Oct.
2007-Dec. 2011. Bachelor of design from Penn State University,
2007.
Jake Welchert (Jan. 2012) Production artist at Ervin & Smith Advertising, May-Dec. 2011. Bachelor's degree in design and applied arts from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011.
Carli Dottore Designer at Angelini Design in Rome, Italy, latter part of 2010. Designer at Twist Creative in Cleveland, OH, 2008-09. B.F.A. in visual communication design from Kent State University.
• ONLINE ORGANIZING
Digital Organizing Director Betsy Hoover
A regional organizing director at Organizing for
America. In the 2008
campaign Hoover worked as a field organizer in South Carolina, on
Obama's Pennsylvania primary campaign and in
the general election was a deputy field director on the Campaign for
Change in Michigan. Development associate at Sojourners/Call to
Renewal. Graduate of Xavier University, 2006. Milwaukee
(Whitefish
Bay) native. twitter
- Engagement Program Managers
Call Tool Bridget Halligan
(Aug. 2011) Halligan worked on Obama's
2008 campaign starting as an Organizing Fellow in June 2008, and served
as a field organizer in Sarasota County, FL in the Fall. B.A. in
political science from Villanova University, 2011; student body
president, 2010-11.
A Bit of Everything Brandi Edwards
(Sept. 2012; Florida deputy digital director
from Feb.-Aug. 2012 and earlier New Hampshire digital director from
Aug. 2011-Jan. 2012) New media regional desk at Organizing for
America-DNC, March-Aug. 2011. Deputy field director for Indiana
at Organizing for America, July 2009-April 2011. Indiana
coordinator at Repower America, April-July 2009. Worked on
Obama's 2008 campaign starting as a field intern in March 2008 and then
as a field organizer on the North Carolina Campaign for Change in Fall
2008. B.S. degrees in life sciences (2003) and political science
(2005) from Indiana State University.
Distributed Events Audrey Edmonds
(Aug. 2012) Director of digital
communications on Eric Griego for Congress (NM), Oct. 2011-June
2012. Online communications specialist for the Maryland State
Education Association, Aug. 2009-Oct. 2011. Communications and
marketing associate at EarthShare, 2007-09. B.A. in English
language and literature from University of Maryland College Park, 2007.
Digital Training Brad Schenck
(Feb. 2012; started in May 2011 as Southern
region digital director) A new media desk June 2010-May 2011 and
regional field director in Miami/Fort Lauderdale (July 2009-June 2010)
for the DNC. Self-employed as Brad A. Schenck
Media, 2003-09. Field organizer on Obama's campaign in Miami/Fort
Lauderdale in Fall 2008. Designer/project manager at Six Flags,
2001-03. Studied organizational leadership at Penn State
University. ..to Nevada
digital director from Aug. 2012
Online Grassroots
Fundraising Grant Denton
(July 2011... the campaign’s online Grassroots
Fundraising
program) Intern/online organizer at Organizing for America, Sept.
2010-May 2011. M.A. in communication management (2010) and B.S.
in political communication (2009) from Emerson College.
Dashboard Jeff Gabriel
Gotta Register Jesse Thomas
(Jan. 2012) Deputy director for
interactive
communications at USAID, 2010-11. Confidential assistant to the
CFO and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the U.S. Department
of Commerce, 2009-10. Worked field on Obama's 2007-08
campaign. Co-founder and producer of People's Television; also
video associate for Seed Magazine, 2006-07. B.A. in political
science from SUNY Purchase, 2006.
- Regional Desks
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Katy Rose Glickman
Previously a new media regional director for
Organizing for
America. Staff assistant to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ),
2009-10. Field organizer on Obama for America. B.A. in fine
arts from the University of Pennsylvania, 2008.
Midwest Ryan Gallentine
Regional field director on Obama for America in
Michigan's 4th CD from
June -Nov. 2008 after serving as a field organizer in Iowa, Nevada,
Colorado, Wisconsin and Indiana, starting in Oct. 2007. Political
editor at Broadcast Interactive Media, May-Oct. 2007. B.S. in
journalism and mass communication from University of Wisconsin-Madison,
2007.
Southern and Midwest Andy Oare
(Jan. 2012) Senior new media strategist (Oct.
2010-Oct. 2011) and
new media specialist on the Recovery Act team (April 2009-Sept. 2010)
at the U.S. Department of Energy. Worked on Obama's 2007-08
campaign starting in Dec. 2007 as a field organizer in the South
Carolina, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky primaries, and in
the general election as a regional field director in Michigan, and
redeployed to Indiana GOTV for the close of the campaign. B.A. in
communications and B.S. in psychology from Xavier University, 2006.
Western John Schueler
(Jan. 2012) Senior new media strategist and new
media specialist
at the Department of Energy, March 2009-Jan. 2012. Worked on
Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting in June 2007 as a field organizer and
serving as Missouri new media director in the Fall. B.A. in
political science and government from Loyola University Chicago.
Northeast Erica Sagrans
(Sept. 2011) Online writer and site manager
(Jan.-Dec. 2010) and
email strategist (June 2009-Jan. 2010) at Organizing for
America-DNC. Online writer for Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
2007-09. Research, policy work and grant-writing at the Rhode
Island Family Life Center, a non-profit that supports formerly
incarcerated individuals and their families in Providence.
Bachelor's degree in sociology from Brown University, 2005.
- Constituency Managers (Operation Vote)
Lead Gillea Allison
(Jan. 2012) Brand and communications manager at
D Magazine
Partners, Aug. 2009-Dec. 2011. PR and promotions coordinator at
Method Products, Jan.-July 2009. Worked on Obama's campaign in
Fall 2008 as a staging location director in Pueblo, CO. Support
associate at Action Without Borders/Idealist, 2007-08. B.A. in
history and international studies from Fordham University, 2006.
Leah Sandals
Account executive for Resnicow Schroeder Associates; also director of public relations for SlantShack Jerky. Worked as an organizer on Obama's 2008 campaign in Philadelphia. Public relations at Homes for the Homeless. Degree in anthropology and Spanish from Columbia University.
Melissa Archuleta
(April 2012) Account manager at Seed
Media Group, Nov. 2008-Jan. 2010. Advertising sales for the Wall
Street Journal, 2005-08. Marketing assistant at Solomon Friedman
Entertainment, 2003-04. B.A. in marketing/modern languages from
Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Vinay Nayak
Student at Yale University. Nayak was
a candidate for New Haven Ward 1 Alderman in Nov. 2011. Native of
Oakbrook, IL (suburban Chicago).
- State Digital Directors:
CA-Vance Hickin -
CO-Jeremie Vella - FL- Carey Jeremiason -
IL-Taneisha Roby - IA-Trent Schacht - MN-Jake
Levy-Pollands - NV-Brad Schenck - NH-Greg
Wasserstrom - NM-Chris Burley - NC-Mike
Davidson - OH-Ashley Bryant - PA-Josh
Cook - VA-Jonathan Marrero - WI-Emily
Dalton ...and about 75 online organizers in the state
programs
Outbound Director, Content Christopher Hass
Deputy content lead on the new media team on
Obama's 2008 campaign.
Senior Outbound Manager (blog) Mary Hough
Senior Digital Writer (Rapid Response) Tanya Somanader
(Feb. 2012) Reporter at the Center for American
Progress,
ThinkProgress, 2010-Feb. 2012. Legislative correspondent in the
Office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, 2008-10. Degree in history,
international relations from Brown University, 2007.
Senior Writer Lauren Peterson
(Aug. 2011) Acting operations director at the
Wisconsin Film
Festival,
Jan.-Aug. 2011; project manager at the University of Wisconsin Office
of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, March 2010-Aug. 2011. B.A. in
political science and government from University of Madison-Wisconsin,
2010.
Outbound Writers/Producers
Melanie Garunay
(Oct. 2011) Web manager for Third World Center,
Sept. 2009-May
2011. B.A. in international relations from Brown University, 2011.
Grant Fuller
Freelance contract reporter for World Vision Report in
Mexico City,
2009-11. Radio journalism trainer at Journalists for Human
Rights, 2008-09. Radio program trainer for Voluntary Service
Overseas, 2007-08. B.A. in communication and Spanish from Trinity
University, 2005.
Noah Remnick
Student at Yale University.
• SOCIAL...FACEBOOK,
TWITTER, PINTEREST,
TUMBLR &c
Outbound Director, Social Media Laura Olin
(March 2011, acc. to Brian Reis writing at The Daily
Beast, "the first
digital staffer") Came to the campaign from Blue State
Digital. Online specialist at People for the American Way,
2007-08. Assistant editor at Center for American Progress, 2007.
MSc from London School of Economics and Political Science, 2006.
B.A. in political science, psychology from University of
Virginia. Grew up in Washington, DC suburbs. Born in Lahti,
Finland.
Social Media Strategist Abby Aronofsky
Experience includes freelance copywriter at MS&L
Worldwide.
MPIA from School of international Relations and Pacific Studies at UC
San Diego, 2011. Undergraduate degree in journalism and mass
communications from New York University.
Social Media Strategist Alex Wall
(Feb. 2012) Previously a media assistant at the
Sierra Club, from
April 2011. Clean energy associate at Environment America,
2009-11. B.S. in political science and journalism from
Northwestern University, 2009.
Social Media Content Manager Jessi Langsen
(Dec. 2011) Came to the campaign from position
as knowledge
manager-food and nutrition practice at Edelman, from May 2010; also
social media strategist/account supervisor at Edelman Digital,
2008-11. Senior account executive at Vi Nelson & Associates,
2006-08. Degree in communications from Miami University, 2005.
Translator Mario Moreno
(Oct. 2011 "co-launching and developing content
strategy for the
Spanish blog, managing the Spanish language email list, and
researching, writing, and editing all Spanish content.") Fellow
in Buenos Aires; research assistant in Mexico City. B.A. in
political science from Duke University, 2010.
Outbound Director, Email Toby Fallsgraff
(May 2011) Senior email campaigner at the DNC from April 2010. Consultant at M+R Strategic Services through April 2010. Campaign manager on O'Neill for Congress, 2007-08. M.A. in political management from The George Washington University, 2006. B.S. in journalism from Ohio University, 2004.
Deputy Email Director Martha Patzer
(May 2011) Prior to joining the campaign Patzer
was an email
campaigner at the DNC, starting Aug. 2010. Online outreach and
communications manager at the League of Women Voters, 2009-10.
Communications manager at the Women's Institute for a Secure
Retirement, 2007-09. Arts and entertainment writer for UWeekly,
2006-07. Copy editor at the South Bend Tribune, 2005-06.
B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame.
Deputy Email Director Lindsay Holst
Senior Outbound Writer Steve Jacobs
(Aug. 2012...improve and accelerate email
fundraising) Online
communications strategist at Blue State Digital, Aug. 2009-March
2012. Producer (2007-09) and news assistant (2006-07) at NY1
News. B.A. in history and literature from Harvard University,
2005.
Outbound Writer/Mobilization Manager Jay
Davis
(Aug. 2011) Online director at Equality
California, May 2009-July
2011. Account executive at Spitfire Strategies, May 2007-May
2009. Communications associate at Business for Social
Responsibility, 2006-07. Assistant editor, editorial assistant at
Thomson Learning, 2002-06. M.A. in political science from San
Francisco State University, 2011; B.A. in English from Pomona College,
2002.
Outbound Writers
Rebecca Christopher
(Aug. 2011) Writer at OMP, July
2010-July 2011. Undergraduate degree in political science and
government from Valparaiso University.
Caitlin Mitchell
(Aug. 2011) Research director at AKPD Message
and Media, 2009-11;
new media
director for Chicago for Rahm Emanuel, Oct. 2010-March 2011. B.S.
in communication studies, public advocacy from Ohio University, 2007.
Laura Wilson
(Oct. 2011) Program assistant at the Elliott School of International Affairs at GWU, 2009-11. Manager of outreach at Fastcase, Inc., 2007-08. M.A. in international development studies, media and social justice, doc. film from The George Washington University; B.S. in foreign service, international politics, women's studies from Georgetown University, 2007.
Sarah Driscoll
(Oct. 2011) Communications and outreach
associate at Women Thrive
Worldwide, 2011. Virginia state associate, fellowship program at
Environment America, 2009-11. B.A. in anthropology,
communications and media studies from Tufts University, 2009.
Sam Levor
(Feb. 2012) Deputy communications director on
Bob Massie for U.S.
Senate (Mass.), March-Oct. 2011. Campaign manager on Beth Bye for
State Senate (Conn.), Fall 2010. Administrator and event
coordinator at the Toxics Action Center, 2008-10. Assistant
canvass director for the Fund for the Public Interest, in Boston,
2007-08. B.A. in politics and history from Brandeis University,
2007.
Patrick Stevenson
(April
2012) Assistant
account executive (Nov. 2010-March 2012) and account coordinator (Aug.
2009-Nov. 2010) at GYMR Public Relations. B.A. in English and
history from Xavier University, 2008.
Amanda Litman
(May 2012; intern from Sept. 2011-May 2012) B.A.
in American
studies from Northwestern University, 2012.
Ryan Alexander
(July 2012) Digital director on Barrett for
Wisconsin (recall
election), March-June 2012. Digital director at the Democratic
Party of Wisconsin, Nov. 2011-March 2012. Deputy communications
director at the Wisconsin State Assembly, May-Nov. 2011. New
media and communications consultant on Chris Abel for Milwaukee County,
Jan.-April 2011. New media director on Barrett for Wisconsin,
Feb.-Nov. 2010. Senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton,
2008-10. Online strategy and advocacy at WebStrong Group/Webster
Strategies, 2007-08. New media director at Dwight Evans for Mayor
Jan.-May 2007. New media consultant on John Edwards for
President, 2007. Online communications and organizing for the All
America PAC, latter half of 2006. Field organizer on the
Kerry/Democratic Coordinated Campaign in Fall 2004. B.A. in
political science and government from Marquette University, 2006.
Elizabeth Zaretsky
(July 2012; started on the campaign as an Organizing
Fellow in Iowa
City, Oct. 2011-May 2012) Student in political science, English
at University of Iowa.
Monique Ozanne
(Aug. 2012; intern from May-Aug. 2012) J.D. from
Case Western
Reserve University School of Law, 2012; B.S. in journalism from Ohio
University, 2009.
Agnes Mazur
(Aug. 2012) Digital communications associate at
Blue State
Digital from Oct. 2010. Organizing Fellow and campaign office
liaison on the Obama campaign in Valparaiso, IN in summer 2008.
B.A. in political science from University of Chicago, 2009.
Danielle Kantor
(Aug. 2012) Communication associate at Blue
State Digital from
Jan. 2012. Sales coordinator for New York Magazine,
2008-10. M.A. in public communication from American University,
2011; B.S. in political science, philosophy from Tulane University,
2008.
Daniel (Danny) Porter
(Aug. 2012) English teacher for the Hidakagawa
Board of Education
in Japan, 2010-2012. Web and social media assistant at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, 2008-10. B.A. in
political science, communication studies from Kent State University,
2008.
• ONLINE ADVERTISING
Internet Advertising Bully Pulpit
Interactive/Andrew Bleeker
Bleeker was director of internet advertising on
for Obama for America in the 2008 general election campaign. He founded
Bully Pulpit Interactive
after the campaign and is principal; others are Michael Organ, partner;
Ben Coffey Clark, managing director; and Mark Skidmore, managing
director.
Director of Digital Marketing Nathaniel
Lubin
Senior associate at Bully Pulpit Interactive,
2009-11.
Writer/producer in Obama's 2008 campaign. B.A. in political
science and government from Harvard College.
Senior Interactive Designer Jillian
Maryonovich
(Jan. 2012) Senior interactive art director at Digitas Chicago, 2006-11. Flash designer at Barbarian Group, 2004-06. Graphic design at the Massachusetts College of Art, 2002.
Senior Advertising Strategist Sarah Eva
Monroe
(2012) Director of digital strategy at Lipman
Hearne,
2011-12. Director of interactive marketing at TCS Education
System, 2008-11. Online Communication Specialist at Columbia
College Chicago, 2004-08. Self-employed freelance web designer
and
developer (Luckyface Designs), 2000-08. M.S. in integrated
marketing communications from Northwestern University, 2010. B.A.
in art studio from Tulane University, 2000.
Digital Advertising Strategist Chris Choi
(Nov. 2011) Previously associate (2010-11) and
account executive
(2009-10) at Bully Pulpit Interactive. B.A. from the College of
Social Studies at Wesleyan University.
Senior Digital Advertising Manager Eric
Reif
(Aug. 2011) Previously account supervisor at
Bully Pulpit
Interactive, 2010-11. B.A. from Washington University in St.
Louis, 2010.
Digital Ads Manager Frankie Brannon
(Aug. 2012) Co-founder of SocialAdditive!, May
2011.
Co-founder of RevHarvest, Sept. 2010-May 2011. Senior media buyer
at 785 Media, 2006-10.
Digital Advertising Manager Danielle
Butterfield
(Sept. 2011) Came to the campaign after serving
as a press intern
for Rep. Loretta Sanchez. B.A. in political science from Chapman
University, 2011.
Digital Media Manager Yasmin Aslam
(April 2012) Digital media planner at Carat,
2011-12.
Associate media planner at Starcom MediaVest Group, 2010-11.
Assistant planner (2009-10) and assistant account executive/junior
account executive (2008-09) at Horizon Media. B.A. in political
science, from UC Berkeley, 2007.
Media Lead Shannon Lee
(Oct. 2011) Media planner (May 2010-Dec. 2011),
associate media
planner (Oct. 2008-May 2010) and new business associate (July-Oct.
2008) at Digitas, Inc.. B.A. in journalism from Indiana
University Bloomington, 2008.
Analyst Gaurav Shirole
(Sept. 2011) Worked as an analyst at Cornerstone Research. BS/BA in business, political science from UC Berkeley.
Search Engine Marketers
Cliff Doggett
(Nov. 2011) Search marketing manager at Total
Attorneys,
2010-11. Account team leader at iProspect, 2009-10.
Search marketing program manager at Performics, 2007-09.
Marketing manager at DigitalWork Inc., 2003-07. Graduate of
DePaul University, 2004.
Brian O'Grady
(Feb. 2012) Manager of launch and optimization
at VivaKi,
2009-Feb. 2012. Program manager at DoubleClick Performics,
2006-09. MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington
University, 2005.
• DIGITAL ANALYTICS
Director of Digital Analytics Amelia Showalter
(July 2011, started as senior digital analyst)
Started Amelia Showalter LLC, doing
quantitative
political consulting, in January 2011. Director of media strategies at
Changing Targets Media, 2008-10. Analyst at MSHC Partners, Fall
2008. M.P.P from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government,
2008; A.B. in government from Harvard University, 2005.
Deputy Director of Digital Analytics Evan
Zasoski
(Sept. 2011) Analytics engineer at the DNC from April 2010. Analyst at Computer Technology Solutions, 2008-10. M.S. (2008) and B.S. (2006) in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Senior Analyst Michelangelo
D'Agostino
(Nov. 2011) Postdoctoral researcher at Argonne
National
Laboratory from 2004. Physics teacher at Millfield School in Somerset,
England, 2003-04. Ph.D. in particle physics from UC Berkeley,
2009; A.B. in physics from Harvard University, 2002.
Senior Analyst Ricky Gonzales
(Jan. 2012) Ph.D. candidate in health policy at
Harvard
University. Health policy analyst (2006-07) and fellow (2005-06)
at Families USA. A.B. in history and science from Harvard
College, 2005.
Senior Digital Analyst Yahel Carmon
Senior web analytics architect at Blue State Digital
starting in May
2010. A web manager at the University of Pennsylvania.
Studied political science and economics at McGill University.
Grew up in New York.
Senior Analyst Samarth Bhaskar
(started as an associate analyst in Sept. 2011) M.A. from University of Chicago, 2011. B.A. in international studies, communications from University of Illinois at Urbana, 2010.
Associate Analyst and Data Specialist
Jamie Bernstein
(Oct. 2011) Human resources specialist
(civilian) for the U.S.
Army, 2007-09. M.P.P. from University of Chicago, 2011; B.S. in
public management and policy from University of Arizona's Eller College
of Management, 2006.
Associate Analyst Ben Smithgall
(Sept. 2011) B.A. in public policy studies from
University of
Chicago, 2012.
Analyst Dylan Harper
(March 2012) Data analyst/associate consultant
at DNV-Wind,
2008-11. STE (contractor) for Windows Mobile, Dec. 2007-April
2008. Software tester at Testing Testing 123, latter half of
2007. B.S. in mathematics from University of Washington, 2007.
Analyst Brian Wonch
(Dec. 2011) Marketing and outreach coordinator
(2008-10) and
program support and marketing assistant (2007-08) at McGaw YMCA.
Americorps staff at Washtenaw County Workers Center, summer 2007.
Member services staff at Ann Arbor YMCA, 2006-07. M.Sc. in
marketing from Northwestern University, 2011; B.A. in Latin American
studies, Spanish from Oberlin College, 2006.
Analyst Chris Eldredge
(Dec. 2011) Product analyst at Foodily, Inc.
2010-11. B.A.
in economics and political science from UCLA, 2010.
Associate Analyst Debbie Chung
(March 2012) Associate at Charles River
Associates, Aug.
2010-March 2012. B.A. in economics and political science from New
York University, 2010.
Associate Analyst Benjamin Levin
(May 2012) B.A. in economics/mathematics from
Pomona College,
2012.
Senior Project Manager Sabeen Virani
Consultant at Monitor Group. Program assistant
for the Aga Khan
Development Network. M.A. in Middle East studies from Harvard
University, 2008; B.A. in government, Near Eastern studies,
international relations from Cornell University, 2005. From Santa
Monica, CA.
Interns
Bobby Courtney (Feb.-July
2012; from Aug. 2012 deputy data director in Colorado) B.A. in
mathematics from Georgetown University, 2011.
Batchimeg Ganbaatar (Sept.
2012) B.S. in marketing, international business from University
of Illinois at Chicago.
Director of Digital Programs Anna Kim
(Sept. 2011) Office of the Staff Secretary at
the White House,
Jan. 2009-Aug. 2011. Agency review on the Obama-Biden
Transition. Worked in the new media department on Obama's 2007-08
campaign. External affairs/development at the Center for American
Progress, 2005-07. B.A. in political science from Northwestern
University.
Director of Digital Products David Sebag
(Dec. 2011) Director of product management at Hashable, 2010-11. Product marketing manager at Quigo Technologies, 2005-06, director of content at Quigo, 2006-07, and principal product manager at AOL Advertising/Quigo, 2008-Jan. 2010. Founder of Beam5.tv. Project manager at semaphore Partners, 2003-04. Product manager at Hotjobs.com, 2000-01. Research analyst at Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, 1998-2000. M.A. in film from Columbia University in the City of New York, 2005. B.A. in economics and psychology from University of Pennsylvania, 1998.
Senior Program Manager Julia Prieto
(Oct. 2011...national fundraising programs including
all online
properties for the national finance team) Associate manager,
digital at the Robin Hood Foundation, 2009-11. Director of
marketing for TADA! Youth Theater, 2006-09. Assistant account
executive at Scheer Advertising Group, 2005-06. B.A. in political
science from Williams College, 2005.
Digital Product Manager Sierra Sletvett
(April 2012) Senior product manager at Zynga,
Sept. 2010-April
2012. Product manager at Google, April 2008-July 2010 (software
engineering intern at Google, summer 2007). B.S., B.A. in
computer science, interdisciplinary visual arts from University of
Washington, 2008.
Program Managers
Sara Langhinrichs
(May 2011) Prior to joining the campaign
Langhinrichs was an
email campaigner at the DNC, starting April 2010. Research
assistant for Mic Check Radio at the Center for American Progress,
2008-10. Civic engagement fellow at the Resource Center of the
Americas, Jan.-Aug. 2007. B.A. in political science, economics from
Macalester College, 2006.
Mika Kurose Rothman
(Nov. 2011) Worked in the White House Office of
Intergovernmental
Affairs, Sept. 2010-Nov. 2011. Strategy intern at Blue
State Digital, Feb.-Aug. 2010. Worked on Obama's 2007-08 campaign
as a field intern in Iowa and field organizer in Seattle. B.S. in
media, culture and communication from New York University, 2010.
Adam Stalker
(Jan. 2012...persuasion and contrast
projects) Senior account director (2007-08), client services
manager (2007-08), account supervisor (2005-07), senior search manager
(2004-05), senior account manager (2003-04) at Avenue A |
Razorfish. Marketing manager at LiveListings, Inc.
1999-2002.
B.A. in marketing from University of Washington, 2000; working toward
M.P.P. from Georgetown University.
Laura Miller ...to CO for close of campaign, Digital Border States Director
(Feb. 2012) Intern in the Office of Digital
Strategy at the White
House, Aug. 2011-Jan. 2012. Account management intern at Launch
Creative Marketing in Chicago. B.S. in advertising from
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011.
Charles Brace
Former staffer on Sen. Russ Feingold's campaign and on
We Are Wisconsin.
Vivek Tata
Came to the campaign from Google where he worked as
product marketing manager, Google Product Search
(2009-10), industry analyst (2007-08), AdWords coordinator (2006-07),
and associate
product marketing manager, AdWords (starting July 2006). B.A. in
history from
Dartmouth College, 2006.
Notes:
Kara Harshman interview. "Kyle Rush on
Optimizely, Testing, and Obama (Part 1)." Optimizely
blog, Jan. 21, 2013. "Total on the digital team
was about 165 people."
Joshua Green. "The Science Behind Those Obama Campaign
E-Mails." Bloomberg
Businessweek, Nov. 29, 2012.
Jo Piazza. "Lessons in digital outreach from Obama campaign's
blogger liaison." Current, Nov. 27, 2012.
Jonathan Cutrell. "Chatting with Obama for
Americai's Director of
Frontend Development: Daniel Ryan." Nettuts+,
Nov.
26,
2012.
Nick Judd and Micah L. Sifry. "The Obama Campaign's Legacy:
Listen, Experiment, and Analyze Everything." TechPresident,
Nov.
21,
2012.
Manik Rathee's Readlist
Technology, DATA and Analytics
Chief Integration and
Innovation Officer
Michael Slaby
(April 2011) Chief technology strategist at
Tomorrow Ventures, LLC from Feb. 2009. Executive vice president,
digital global practice chair at Edelman, 2010-March 2011.
Technology director on the Obama-Biden Transition Project.
Started on Obama's 2008
campaign in March 2007 as new media strategist and production lead,
then deputy new media director and finally chief technology
officer. Deputy campaign manager on
Vi
Daley's re-election campaign for Alderman in Chicago, 2007.
Production
manager at The Strategy Group, 2006. Interned for Sen. Dick
Durbin in Chicago, 2005-06; and head waiter at Oceanique. Worked
for several multimedia design and web application and platform
development startup companies including no ink, inc. A.B. in
English literature from Brown
University, 2001. twitter
CTO, CIO and CAO
reported to Michael Slaby and he reported to Messina.
Chief Technology Officer James Harper Reed
(from late April 2011; according to Chicago Tribune Reed "will focus on
helping field operators improve voter contact") Describes self as
"an
engineer excited about real time, social software and the open source
software movement." On his blog
he wrote, "I spent most of 2010 doing my best to avoid deliverables and
enjoy not having a day to day job." At Rackspace to April
2010. CTO
of skinnyCorp, LLC (Threadless.com), 2005-09. Web programmer at
Cramer
and Krasselt, 2004-05. Security and software engineer at World
Book
Publishing, 2001-04. Founder of NaTa2.com, a small hosting
company,
1997-2008. B.A. in computer science and philosophy from Cornell
College in Mt Vernon, Iowa, 2001. Grew up in Greeley, CO.
Deputy Chief Technology Officer Mike Conlow
Previously deputy technology director at the
DNC. Director of
analytics at OMP. Director of data analysis and reporting on
Obama for America, June-Nov. 2008. Senior analyst at the DNC,
2006-07. Senior research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia, 2005-06. Bachelor's degree in economics from
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2004.
Director of Development Dan Ratner
(May 2011) Describes self as
"Chicago-based
serial
entrepreneur..." Co-founder and CEO of ContactKarma, a social
recommendation engine. CEO of High Note Enterprises.
Entrepreneur in residence at the Nanobusiness Alliance; chairman of the
Nanotechnology Alliance. With his wife founded in 2005 and
operated Sittercity, the nation's first and largest site for matching
parents and babysitters, petsitters, elder care, tutors, and
housesitters. Founder and CEO of Snapdragon Technologies,
1997-2001. CTO of Wired Business, 2000-01. Graduate of
Brown University, 1997.
Director of Engineering Dylan Richard
(May 2011) Vice president of engineering (2009-10), director of software development (2008-09) and senior engineer (2007-08) at skinnyCorp. Co-founder/advor at mk2 development, 2007-10. Senior developer at Crate & Barrel, 2000-07.
Senior Security Engineer Ben Hagen
(Sept. 2011) Security consultant for Neohapsis,
2010-11.
Security consultant (2007-10) and security engineer (2004-07) for
Motorola. M.S. in information assurance from Iowa State
University, 2004.
Senior Engineers
Justin Vincent
(July 2011) Project
Narwhal,
person
matching. Previously a software engineer
at Google, March 2008-July 2011. B.S., B.A. in computer science,
mathematics from University of Washington, 2007.
Chris Gansen
(Sept. 2011) lead
engineer on Dashboard. Came to the campaign after six
years at IBM Interactive. B.S. in computer science from
University of Michigan, 2005.
Jesse Kriss
(Oct. 2011) Principal at jklabs from July
2009.
Developer/designer/lead architect at
Figure 53, July
2009-Sept. 2011. Research developer at IBM, 2005-10. User
interface design consultant at eJamming, Inc. 2004-05. M.A. in
human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon University, 2004; B.A.
in music from Carleton College, 2003.
Engineers
John Anders Conbere
(May 2011) lead engineer on the API services team Came to the campaign from position as software developer for Estately in Seattle, WA, 2010-11. Independent software developer (Anders Conbere Consulting), 2007-10. Software developer at Joyent, 2008-09. Systems engineer at Atlas Solutions (acquired by Microsoft), 2007-08. B.S. in mathematics from Western Washington University, 2005.
Ryan Kolak
(July 2011) lead
engineer of Narwhal integration Internet programmer at
Cole-Parmer
Instrument
Company,
senior internet programmer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2005-11.
Web
developer at Clever Ideas, 2002-05. Web developer at Computer
Discount
Warehouse, 2001-02. Software engineer at IntegrationWare.
Studied at
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Christopher Coté
(March 2012) "lead
engineer
for
digital
and
tech
integration"
Vice president of technology at SpotOn, Inc., Oct. 2010-March
2012. Senior developer at Dancing Mammoth, Inc. 2007-09.
Technologist and developer at the Ann Arbor District Library, 2003-05.
Programmer at JB Chicago, 2001-03. Studied technology at Columbia
College Chicago.
Josh Thayer
(April 2012) lead engineer of Narwhal Engineer at Craigslist in San Francisco, Feb. 2001-March 2012.
Ryan Resella
(May 2012) on the voter contact team; lead engineer on GottaRegister.com
Fellow
(Jan.-Nov.
2011)
and
technical
lead
(Nov.
2011-May
2012)
at
Code
for
America,
in
the
SF
Bay
area.
IT
specialist,
IT
analyst,
and
then
senior
IT
analyst
for
the
City
of
Santa
Clarita,
2005-10.
IT
at
Companies
Incorporated,
2004-05.
M.P.A.
(2010)
and
B.S.
in
computer
science
(2006)
from
Cal
State
University-Northridge.
Gabriel Burt
(June 2011) Software engineer for Novell,
2007-11. Software
engineer
for IBM, 2006-07. B.S. in computer engineering from University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.
Zane Shelby
(June 2011) Mobile software engineer at
TripIt
and Concur
Technologies, 2010-11. Software engineer at Cozi, 2007-08.
Software engineer (2006-07) and associate software engineer (2005-06)
at aQuantive; company acquired by Microsoft in Aug. 2007. M.S. in
computer science from Northeastern University, 2010. B.A. in
computer science from UC Santa Cruz, 2004.
Will St. Clair
(July 2011) Interactive developer at Stone
Ward, 2010-11.
University of Texas at Austin.
Nick Leeper
(Aug. 2011) "lead
engineer
of
finance/fundraising" Co-founder/engineer at Absolocal from
May
2010.
Senior software developer at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.,
2001-11. Co-owner/developer of
Truespin Media, 2004-10. MIS from Iowa State University, 2001.
Derek Brooks
(Aug. 2011) "lead
engineer
of
voter
contact
and
protection" Co-founder/engineer at
Absolocal, May 2010-Aug. 2011 and
senior application engineer at Dipity from Jan. 2010.
Owner/engineer at Broox Productions, from 2001. Application
engineer
at Red 5 Interactive, Inc. 2007-10. Co-owner/developer of
Truespin Media, 2004-10. Application developer for Pioneer
Hi-Bred Int'l, Inc., 2003-07. B.A. in computer science from
Cornell College, 2003.
Clint Ecker
(Sept. 2011) Project manager, web developer, and
technical
contributor at Ars Technica, 2008-11. Senior web developer at
Stone Ward, 2006-08. B.S. in computer engineering technology and
A.S. in electrical engineering technology from Purdue University, 2004.
Kevin Der
(2012) Software engineer at Quora,
2009-12. Technical
director at Pixar Animation Studios, 2008-09. Software engineer
at Facebook, 2007-08. Candidate for Ph.D. in computer science at
Stanford University; B.S. in computer science and engineering from MIT,
2006.
Nathan Kontny
On leave from positions as founder of Cityposh,
Jan. 2011 and CTO
at Inkling Inc.
from Jan. 2006; based in Chicago.
Ivan Indrautama
Previously at Threadless.
Ian Dees
(Feb. 2012...system to synchronize data between
various vendors for the
campaign) Software engineer at Digital Cyclone, Inc, a division
of Garmin International, Inc., Feb. 2010-Feb. 2012. Software
engineer at GE Healthcare, 2006-10.
Abi Noda
(March 2012) Co-founder of OrangeQC, in Chicago,
June 2009. Independent
consultant, Jan.-Aug. 2011. Lead developer at Doejo, April
2009-Feb. 2011. Studied computer science at University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Chirag Patel
(April 2012) Co-founder and senior vice
president at Halo
Monitoring, Inc., March 2007-April 2012. Software contractor at
Stack Software, Inc, 2004-07. Design engineer at Adtran,
1998-2002. Educated at Rutgers and the University of Alabama in
Huntsville.
Michael Barrientos
(June 2012) Senior software engineer at Jetlore,
Sept. 2011-June
2012. Software engineer at Google, 2007-09. Software
engineer at Applied Signal Technology, 2003-07. M.S. in
computer science from Stanford University, 2011; B.S. in electrical
engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley, 2002.
Data
Lead Database Engineer Jay Edwards
(Feb. 2012) Operations engineer, research
engineer at Twitter,
Inc., 2007-10. Network engineer at Webxites, 2006-07.
Managing partner of Jayed, LLC, doing tech. infrastructure work for
small businesses, schools and individuals, 2002-05. SAP R/3 Basis
administrator at Tyco, 2000-02. QA engineer at Metricom,
1999-2000. Consultant, 1997-99.
Database Engineer Noel McKinney
(July 2011) Principal and co-owner of The
Constant Group Inc.,
Aug. 2005-present. Vice president of engineering and development
(2010-11) and senior software developer (2009-10) at Insignis.
Database administrator at Spectrum Global Fund Administration LLC,
2005. Software developer at Insignis, 2001-05. M.S. in
computer science from DePaul University, 2001; M.S. in social and
applied economics from Wright State University, 1991; B.S. in
management (finance) from Purdue University, Kerannert School of
Management, 1987.
Database Administrator William Wanjohi
(Nov. 2011) Data analyst at Seyfarth Shaw, 2009-11. Litigation support analyst at Debevoise & Plimpton, 2007-09. Research/doc. reviewer at Viacom, second half of 2006. Legal assistant at Harkins Cunningham LLP, first half of 2006. B.S. in engineering from Swarthmore College.
• DEVOPS
DevOps takes projects
that are in semi-final form, catching revisions made by the developers
and ensuring their availability and stability in the live environment.
Lead DevOps Scott VanDenPlas
(May 2011) Co-founder of MaxRes Contract
Research, Jan.
2010. Director of tech. ops. at Sprout Social in early
2011. Engineer at skinnyCorp, 2008-10. Network operations
manager at the Field Museum of Natural History, 2007-08. CIO at
Originate Home Loans, 2006-07. Network operations manager at
Insignis, 2001-06. Senior network engineer at Aisa Technologies,
2000-01. Graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
2000.
DevOps Engineer Nick Hatch
(Aug. 2011) Came to the campaign from position
as customer
support engineer at Urban Airship. B.S. in biochemistry from
Western Washington University, 2009.
DevOps Engineer John (JP) Schneider
(Feb. 2012) Systems engineer at Threadless.com,
2010-12. IT
operations manager at The Field Museum, 2008-10. Customer
information systems analyst at Elkay Manufacturing, 2000-08.
DevOps Engineer Brian Holcomb
(May 2012) Previously senior Unix administrator
for the National
Science Foundation through Digital Solutions Inc. and then Optimos
Inc., from Jan. 2008. Systems administrat at OmniTI, 2007-Jan.
2008. Systems analyst III at Jacobs Engineering, 2003-07.
Systems engineer at Argus Systems Group, 2000-02. Bachelor's
degree in computer science and math from University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
and: DNC
Director of Systems Engineering Leo
Zhadanovsky was deployed to
Obama headquarters from June 2012.
DevOps Product Manager Betsy Elizabeth Huigens, also in IT
• PRODUCT MANAGERS
Product Manager for Digital, Finance and Voter
work streams Mari Huertas
(Feb. 2012) Digital products manager at
World Book, 2008-11. World Languages and Literacy Editor for the
Wright Group at The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2005-08. Project
coordinator at Nieman, Inc. 2003-05.
Product Manager for Dashboard David Osborne
(March 2011-Aug. 2012, then RFD in Richmond, VA) Contractor on the Measures of Effective Teaching Project for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2009-11. Project manager of the School Survey at the NYC Department of Education, 2008-09. Portsmouth regional field director on Sen. Chris Dodd's NH primary campaign, 2007. Field director on Merle Johnson's campaign for Iowa State Senate in Fall 2006 (Ankeny); one of Sen. Evan Bayh's Camp Bayh graduates. B.A. in American studies from Northwestern University in Chicago, June 2005.
Director of Voter Experience Winnie Lam
(June 2012)...electronic voter registration and directing Americans to their polling places. On sabbatical from Google; head of product management, customer service (Aug. 2009-June 2012), senior product manager, international payments May 2006-Aug. 2009), and engineering project manager (Sept. 2004-May 2006). Senior technical project manager at AOL Netscape, 2002-04. Associate project manager at Sapient Corporation, 2000-01. B.S. in systems design engineering from University of Waterloo.
Director of Voter
Experience Anthea Watson
Strong
(started May 2011 as product manager on the technology team; with the campaign to May 2012)
Director of User Experience Jason Kunesh
(May 2011) Co-founder of Fuzzy Math, LLC, 2009-May 2011. President of Kunesh Interaction Design, 2007-09. Lead information architect at Orbitz, 2003-07; also night instructor at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, 2005-07. Senior strategy consultant at Cyberworks Media Group, 2002-03. Manager of multimedia design at DiamondCluster International, 1999-2002. M.S. in human computer interaction from DePaul University, 2006. B.A. in English from University of Wisconsin, 1992. twitter
• USER
EXPERIENCE
UI/UX Engineer Aaron Salmon
(May 2011) Owner of Auraworks Ltd., a sole proprietorship, since 2007. Co-founder OhSoWe.com. Front-end development and user interface consultant for Solfo, design and usability director for mk2 development, 2008-10. Art director at Tecture, LLC, 2007-08. Internet designer/developer at Quicksilver Associates, 2005-07. Web design supervisor at The CORE Organization, 2002-05. eLearning creative developer for Integrated Performance Systems, 2001-02. Web developer/team lead at Unety Systems, 1999-2001. Web authoring and publishing certificate from Chippewa Valley Technical College.
UI/UX Web Engineer Ben Korody
(Aug.-Nov. 2012) Senior web developer for Cuban
Council, Aug.
2009-Aug. 2019. Production artist at Inverted Creative,
2008-09. Interactive developer at IP Pixel, 2006-08.
Studied art and visual communications at Loyola University of Chicago.
User Experience Advisor Scout Addis
(started volunteering in 2011) Director of User
Experience at
Practice Fusion from Jan. 2012; user experience architect at Zendesk,
Jan.-Aug. 2012. Owner/consultant at Graceland Heavy Industries,
April 2009-Jan. 2012. Senior business analyst for Barclay's
Global Investors, 2008-09. Senior product manager at TeaLeaf
Technology, 2007-08. Interaction design consultant at Cooper,
2004-07. B.F.A. in theater management from University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, 1986.
Mark Trammell
(June 2012, per The Atlantic "helped build a [Twitter]
tool that could
specifically send individual users direct messages") Senior
design
researcher at Twitter, Oct. 2009-June 2012. User experience
architect at Digg, 2008-09. Web standards evangelist at PayPal,
mid-2007. Web administrator at the University of Florida,
2000-07. M.S. in decision and information science, 2002; B.B.A in
operations and information technology from The College of William and
Mary, 2000. Served in the U.S. Navy, 1993-98.
UX Designer Dave Castleton
(June 2011 to Feb. 2012)
UX Intern Gabriela Rivas
• San Francisco Tech Field Office
(from Feb. 2012, independently
developed various smaller projects)
Lead Engineer Angus Durocher
(2011) Involved with the online sector for over a decade. Lead web developer for YouTube/Google, 2006-10. Ops, engineering, production at Roll Your Own Search Engine (Rollyo) from 2005. Co-founder and CTO of Crow Hill Art since 2002. UE engineer/interface engineer/head of production at Bigstep.com. CD-ROM game developer. Moved to San Francisco in 1997. Reporter in Austin, TX and earlier in Haines, AK. Studied at Bates College as well as UNH in Durham, and Brown University.
Community Outreach Lead Catherine Bracy
(started on the campaign in June 2011 as a product
manager)
Consultant to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,
2010-11. Administrative director at the Berkman Center for
Internet & Society at Harvard University, 2002-10. B.A. in
communication from Boston College, 2002.
Quality Assurance Harry Mattison
(Sept. 2012) Senior software engineer (2008-12)
and quality
assurance manager (2001-08) at Autodesk. Policy director on
Khazei for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, 2011. Quality assurance
manager at Revit Technology, 1999-2001. Principal product
designer at Pegasystems, 1998-99. Group leader at Parametric
Technology, 1994-98. B.S. in mechanical engineering from Yale,
1994.
Integration and Innovation Director Ashley
Arenson
Previously account executive at mcgarrybowen and
assistant account
executive at Energy BBDO. B.A. in liberal arts, economics from
Villanova University.
Director of Support Brady Kriss
(Nov. 2011...recruited, selected, trained and managed
a rotating team
of interns and volunteers) L.L.M. in intellectual property law
and policy from University of Washington School of Law, 2010; J.D. from
Northeastern University School of Law, 2007; B.A. from Carleton
College, 2003.
Executive Assistant Mackenzie Walker
(July 2012)
B.A. in sociology from University of Washington, 2011.
Overview
From about Jan. 2012 on, work within the Tech department was organized
by workflows (for example:
API/Narwhal, GOTV, voter protection...). Each workflow had its
own product manager and engineering lead(s). The team approach
was a hallmark of the department. Many people had a hand in the
various products big
and small. A lead engineer headed
development, working with numbers of other
engineers
depending
on
the
complexity
of
the
project;
there
were
engineers
who
focused
on
the
user
experience;
a
security engineer checked to make sure
the product would not be compromised; devops engineers took projects
that were in semi-final form, caught revisions made by the developers
and ensured their availability and stability in the live
environment. Finally the products went to the
relevant department(s).
Narwhal
One of the most challenging projects was
Narwhal, which allowed data from different sources and in different
formats to be consolidated and put to use. Narwhal has been
described as a "coordination system/data platform for linking and
sharing information
on voters and volunteers." The Narwhal API (application
programming interface) was built in-house. and operated through
redundant cloud-based servers at Amazon Web Services. Work on
this started
with an API team and there was also
a Narwhal integration team which linked in with the vendors (Blue State
Digital and NGP/VAN).
As data was updated, the integration team made sure that the changes
flowed in and were synchronized. For example, consider what
happened a voter used the mobile app to RSVP for an event. The
mobile app talked to the Narwhal API to retrieve event data; when the
person RSVP'd through the API, integration passed the RSVP back.
Web applications interacted with Narwhal instead of having their own
databases. Refinements were made; for example the Calltool app
allowed call details to be saved in Narwhal. A major challenge
was scaling; how would Narwhal operate under
a high usage situation such as the days leading up to Election Day or
Election Day itself. As described by Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic, the campaign
put Narwhal through a full "live action role play" LARP exercise on
Oct. 21. (Much has been written about the Romney campaign's
Project Orca and how, in the absence of such rigorous testing it
performed poorly on Election Day).
Many people worked on the Narwhal API including...API team; Anders Conbere, Carol Davidsen, Josh Thayer, Justin Vincent, Zane Shelby, Kevin Der, Jim Meehan, Abi Noda and Clint Ecker; developing features/changes: Will St. Clair, Derek Brooks; Narwhal Integration Team included Ryan Kolak, Nick Leeper, Ian Dees, Sam McVeety, Michael Barrientos.
Targeted
sharing
Another success was targeted sharing. This was a Facebook app
that allowed the campaign to see a supporter's friend list, and
determine, for example, who an individual interacts with most. With
fast access to the voter file, the campaign could match those names
against the voter file to figure out who each person was. Then it
could ask the supporter to make specific requests of particular
friends, for example, watch a video or contribute.
Notes:
Clint Ecker. "My OFA Family." Officially Lucky (Clint Ecker
blog), Dec. 18, 2012.
Sean Gallagher. "How Team Obama's tech efficiency left Romney IT
in dust." Ars Technica, Nov. 20,
2012.
Alexis C.
Madrigal. "When the Nerds Go Marching In." The Atlantic, Nov. 16, 2012.
Tim Murphy. "Inside the Obama Campaign's Hard
Drive" Mother Jones, Sept./Oct. 2012.
Sasha Issenberg. "Obama's White Whale." Slate, Feb. 15, 2012.
Director of Data Ethan Roeder
(May 2011) Data and tech. director at the New
Organizing
Institute, April 2009-May 2011. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign
starting in May 2007 as
voter file manager on the Nevada caucus campaign and concluding as
Midwest data director/lead. Reports manager at Lambda Legal,
March 2005-May 2007. Field director at the Coalition for a Fair
Michigan, July-Nov. 2004. BFA from the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago, 2002.
Data Manager Ben Fuller
(Aug. 2011) Previously assistant director,
FIS at SEIU, 2007-11. Field director on Charlie Wilson for
Congress, 2006. Distribution coordinator on the 2004 Ohio
Coordinated Campaign. B.S. in political science from The Ohio
State
University, 2004.
Akron native.
• REPORTING
Reporting Manager Daniel Scarvalone
(Dec. 2011) Analyst at Catalist, April-Dec. 2011. Colorado data/new media director for Organizing for American/DNC, June-Dec. 2010. State legislative account executive/research assistant at NGP Software, Aug. 2009-June 2010. B.A. in political science from Tufts University, 2008.
Deputy Reporting Manager Warren
Linam-Church
J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois
Institute of
Technology, 2010; B.S. in computer engineering from Texas A&M
University, 2007.
Deputy Reporting Manager Stefan Fox
Software developer at the New Organizing
Institute. Data wrangler
for the National Committee for an Effective Congress. Graduate of
University of Illinois, 2007; studied economics and geography.
Originally from Chicago.
• REGIONAL DATA DESKS
(support state
data directors)
Midwest Ed Coleman
(Aug. 2011) National project manager for state
data and
targeting services at ISSI, 2008-11. Minnesota technology
director at America Votes, 2006-08. Call center manager for Clean
Water Action, 2005-06. Minnesota technology director at America
Coming Together, 2004. Assistant technology manager at the
University of Vermont, 2001-03. B.S. in business administration
from University of Vermont, 2001.
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Lena Tom ...to CO in Aug. 2012 GOTV Data Director
(Aug. 2011, initially Northeast regional data
manager)
National data and targeting director at the Alliance for Climate
Protection, 2009-11. Customer services representative at the DVA
Federal Credit Union, mid-2009. Indiana deputy voter file manager
and field organizer on the Obama campaign in Fall 2008. Interim
manager at H.A.L.E. Federal Credit Union, first part of 2007.
B.A. from Loyola University of Chicago, 2007.
Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes
and
Northeast Ian Ferguson
Software engineer (Nov. 2010-Feb. 2012) and data
acquisition specialist
(Aug.-Nov. 2010) at Catalist. A field organizer in rural VA for
the Obama campaign in Fall 2008. B.S. in computing information
and technology from Guilford College, 2010.
South Aly Sheets ...to NC in Aug. 2012 GOTV Data Director
(Jan. 2012) Field director on the Wake
County Democratic Coordinated Campaign, latter part of 2011.
Field director on Dina Titus for Congress, 2010. Field organizer
on Shields for Delegate (VA), Aug.-Nov. 2009. Field organizer on
Friends of Terry McAuliffe (VA), Feb.-June 2009. Degree in
political science from North Carolina State University, 2012.
West Devin Brady
(Aug. 2011) Director of voter contact and new
media for the Tennessee Democratic Party, Feb. 2009-March 2011.
Research assistant at Vanderbilt University, 2006-09. Bachelor's
degree in cognitive neuroscience from Boston University, 2006.
• DATA
PROGRAMS
Voter Protection Data Lead Brian Alseth
Technology & LIberty Project Director for ACLU of
Washington.
Northeast data desk and national voter protection data director on
Obama's 2008 campaign. Associate at Kutak Rock, LLP in Omaha,
2005-06. Law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Pratt of the United
States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. J.D.
from Creighton University School of Law, 2002. From Omaha, NE.
Political, Operation Vote Manager Dessa
Gypalo
(May 2012) Account executive Jan. 2011-May
2012), office manager
(Nov. 2009-early 2011), junior account executive (2007-09) and intern
(Oct. -Dec. 2007) at Resolute Consulting LLC, . Also voterfile
administrator at Central Strategies, Oct. 2008-May
2012 B.A. in history, business administration from
Roanoke College, 2007.
Legal, Political Deputy Eoin Hayes
(Sept. 2012; after briefly a Fall Organizing Fellow in
Montgomery Co.,
PA). Master's in management from London Business School, 2012;
B.E. in process and chemical engineering from University College Cork
(Ireland), 2009.
• FINANCE
DATA
Dan Zauber
(June 2011) Technology director for Chexout.com from Oct. 2010. Product manager at NGP Software, June 2004-Aug. 2009. B.A. from Princeton University, 2003.
Dan Murray
Data Note: "Stork was an internally built tool at OFA/ DNC that allowed
people to
move data from vendors (VAN and BSD) to databases used for querying. IN
addition, it allowed us to create chron jobs to produce reports and
exports from databases around the clock. It was a single tool that made
moving data around simple."
"54-person team of
analysts, engineers and organizers that provided
analytics and technologies for voter contact, digital, paid media,
fundraising and communication"
Chief Analytics
Officer Dan Wagner
(beginning of June 2011) Targeting director for
Organizing for
America at the DNC for the 2010 cycle. Started on Obama's 2007-08
campaign as deputy voter file manager for the Iowa caucuses and in Fall
2008 oversaw Great Lakes and Ohio Valley targeting
and served as national GOTV targeting director. Degree in
economics and public policy from University of Chicago.
Originally from Birmingham, MI.
Deputy Chief Analytics Officer Andrew
Claster
(July 2011) Previously deputy targeting director
at the DNC,
2009-11. Field organizer on the Pennsylvania Campaign for Change,
July-Nov. 2008. Vice president at Penn, Schoen & Berland,
2005-08. Consultant at the World Bank, 2004-05. Analyst at
Penn, Schoen & Berland, 1998-2001. MSc in economics from the
London School of Economics and Political Science, 2003. B.A. in
political science from Yale University, 1997.
Director of Analytics Operations Caroline
Grey
(July 2011) Targeting operations director at the
DNC/Organizing
for America from 2009-11. Worked on the Presidential Inaugural
Committee. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign starting as a field
organizer in Iowa in Feb. 2007 and concluding as an RFD in Virginia in
Fall 2008. Graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Originally
from Berkeley.
"managed the phones for all of the polling that
came out of the Cave...the largest and most accurate live voter survey
operation in
the history of American politics. The nightly, 9,000 complete, usable
interviews enabled the campaign to understand both large patterns in
public opinion and voters as individuals, driving key strategic
decisions across the campaign"
Technology Project Manager/Deputy Director of
Analytics
Operations Tim
Trautman
(Jan. 2012) Targeting operations manager at the
DNC in the 2010
cycle. Worked
on Obama's 2008 campaign starting as a field organizer in the primaries
and as a database administrator in Chicago in the general
election. B.S. in economics from American University.
Chief Scientist Rayid Ghani
(July 2011) Analytics research lead, senior
researcher/research
scientist at Accenture Technology Labs, 2001-July 2011. M.S. in
machine learning from Carnegie University, 2001. B.S. in computer
science, mathematics from Sewanee-The University of the South, 1999.
• BATTLEGROUND STATES
Battleground States Analytics Director
Elan Kriegel
(June 2011) Senior modeling analyst at the
DNC, 2010-11. Previously a radio and television producer.
M.A. in quantitative methods in the social sciences from Columbia
University; B.S. in mathematics and anthropology from the University of
Wisconsin.
Deputy Battleground States Analytics
Director Matt Dover
(June 2011) Middle
school social studies teacher and Teach for America Corps member in New
York City, June 2007-June 2009. M.P.P. from Harvard University,
2011; B.A. in political science from The University of Alabama, 2007.
Battleground States Operation Vote Analytics Lead Emily Norman
Elections analyst for Western and Southwestern States in the Targeting Department at the Democratic National Committee, 2010-11. Previously an analyst at McKinsey & Company. A.B. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.
Battleground States Analytics Project
Manager
Sadia Iqbal
(Jan. 2012) Project assistant at Kirkland &
Ellis, July
2010-Dec. 2011. Interned at the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, first part of 2010. Working towards a master's in
public policy from the University of Chicago; B.A. in political science
and international studies from Loyola University of Chicago, 2010.
Battleground
States Polling Analyst Seth Samuels
(July 2012)
Analyst at Analysis Group, Inc 2006-09. M.A. in political science
from
University of California, Berkeley; B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan
University.
Battleground States Election Analyst
Harrison Kreisberg
(June 2011) Elections analyst in the Targeting
Department at the
Democratic National Committee, 2010-11. A.B. in
international relations and economics from Brown University.
Battleground States Election Analyst
Kassia DeVorsey
(2011) DNC data manager, 2010-11. B.S. in physics from MIT.
Battleground States Election Analyst David
Shor
(Jan. 2012) Statistician and limited partner at
Allodynic
Therapeutics from July 2010. Founder of Stochastic Democracy from
Aug. 2008. B.S. in mathematics from Florida International
University, 2010; visiting student research collaborator, molecular
biology at Princeton University, Feb. 2010-April 2011.
Battleground States Election Analyst
Matthew
Saniie
(Jan. 2012) Regional data manager for Organizing for America/DNC. Regional field director in Southwest Florida for Obama's Campaign for Change in Fall 2008.
Battleground States Election Analyst Amos
Budde
(May 2012) Research assistant at The Urban
Institute, Feb.
2011-May 2012. B.S. in mathematics from Brown University, 2010;
working towards an M.S. in applied economics from The Johns Hopkins
University.
• COMMUNICATIONS
Lead Communications Analyst Andrew
Magaña
(Jan. 2012) Acquisition and development
associate at the Magellen
Group, latter part of 2011. Summer associate at Goldman Sachs,
Summer 2010. U.S. Office of the
Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
(AT&L), 2006-09. Active duty U.S. Navy
Officer, 2003-06. M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School
of
Business, 2011; B.S. in political science from the U.S. Naval Academy,
2003.
• DIGITAL
Digital Analyst Joe Arasin
(Oct. 2011) Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, 2008-10. M.S. in public policy and management (2008) and B.S. in computer science (2007) from Carnegie Mellon University.
Digital Analyst Matthew Rattigan
(Dec. 2011) Graduate research assistant at UMass Amherst. Senior reporting analyst at Upromise, 2000-01. Senior data analyst at Ask.com, 1999-2000. Decision support consultant at Monitor Group, 1997-99. Ph.D. in computer science from UMass Amherst, 2011.
Digital Analyst Aziz Shallwani
(Jan. 2012) Principal data analyst at Capital
One,
2004-11. M.Eng from
McGill University, 2003; B.S. in electrical engineering from University
of Waterloo, 2000.
• EXPERIMENTS
Director of Experiments David Nickerson
Associate professor of political science at the
University of Notre
Dame; started at Notre Dame as a visiting research fellow in
2004. Ph.D. in political science from Yale University,
2005. B.A. in mathematics and philosophy from Williams College,
1997.
Deputy Director of Experimental Research
Peter Backof
(Oct. 2011) Special projects analyst at the Analyst Institute, Jan. 2010-Oct. 2011. M.A. in political science from University of Chicago, 2009; B.A. in political science from Dickinson College, 2007.
Experimental Research Analyst Meredith
Sadin
(June 2012) Ph.D. candidate at Princeton
University.
Investigator at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, 2005-08. Head
graphics reporter at Newsweek, 2003-04. B.A. in political science
from Brown University, 2003.
• FINANCE AND OPERATIONS
Finance and Operations Analyst Timothy
Prescott
(Jan. 2012) Consultant at Accenture, 2010-Jan.
2012.
Interned on Obama's 2008 campaign, Oct. 2007-Feb. 2008.
Bachelor's in internal business administration (2005) and MIS in supply
chain management (2007) from Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.
Finance and Operations Analyst Katherine
Jordan
(March 2012) Consultant at McKinsey &
Company, 2009-11 and
Summer 2008. Product manager at Meetup.com, 2006-07. Junior
product manager at TheLadders.com, 2005-06. M.P.P. from Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government; B.A. from Princeton University's Woodrow
Wilson School.
• MEDIA
Director of Media Analytics Carol Davidsen
(April 2012; previously senior product manager,
technology team from
Nov. 2011) Product and program manager for Microsoft Advertising
TV Group (initially Navic Networks acq. in 2008), 2006-11, left to join
the campaign.
Integrations lead and project manager in the professional services
group at Converse Systems (Kenan Systems, Lucent Technologies, CSG
Systems), 2000-05. Consultant in the professional services group
at Bearingpoint, 1998-2000. B.S. in economics from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute.
Deputy Director of Media Analytics Peter Bouchard
Associate director of media analytics at Omnicom Media Group for Hewlett-Packard, 2011-12. Media and market research associate director at Fox Network Group/National Geographic Networks. M.B.A. from University of Maryland's Smith School of Business, 2011; B.S. in marketing from American University's Kogod School of Business, 2005.
Senior Media Planning Analyst Nathan
Sterken
(June 2011) Previously analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, starting Nov. 2010. Analyst at Changing Targets Media, April-Nov. 2010. Online production and analytics manager at the White House, May-Nov. 2009. M.P.P. (2007) and B.A. in political science (2006) from University of Michigan.
Media and Visualization Analyst Jesse
Stinebring
(June 2011) B.A. student in political science at
Hamilton College.
Media Analyst Edwin Lim
B.A. student in mathematical methods in the social
sciences,
economics and creative writing at Northwestern University.
Research assistant at Science of Network in Communities
Labs, 2010-12.
• MODELING
Director of Statistical Modeling Daniel
Porter
Senior modeling analyst at the DNC, 2010-11.
M.A. in quantitative
methods in the social sciences from Columbia University; B.A. from the
College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.
Deputy Statistical Modeling Director Matthew Holleque
(March 2012; statistical modeling analyst from
Oct. 2011-Feb. 2012) Microtargeting analyst at MSHC Partners,
June-Oct. 2010. Deputy director of the University of Wisconsin
Advertising Project, Jan.-Dec. 2008. Ph.D. in political science
from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012; B.A. in political science
from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2005.
Modeling Analyst Greg Dyer
(Sept. 2011) B.A. in statistics from Harvard College, 2009.
Modeling Analyst Ana Rocca
(Oct. 2011) Pursuing a Ph.D. in economics from
U.C.
Berkeley.
Associate economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from
2006-08. B.S. in economics from the University of Chicago, 2006.
Modeling Analyst Tiffany Washburn
(Jan. 2012) M.A., 2010, M.Phil. 2011, and is
pursuing a Ph.D. in
political science from Columbia University; teaching assistant at
Columbia, from Sept. 2009. Studied architecture at Harvard
University, 2005-06. B.A. in political science from North
Carolina State University, 2004.
Modeling Analyst Peter Tanner
(March 2012) Data analyst manager (from Aug.
2010), principal data analyst (March
2008-July 2010),
senior data analyst (March 2007-Feb. 2008) and data analyst (Aug.
2005-Feb. 2007) at Capital One. Bachelor of mathematics degree
from University of Waterloo, 2005.
Modeling Data Manager Chris George
(May 2012; started as statistical modeling intern in
Jan. 2012)
B.S. in mathematics and statistics from Miami University, 2011.
• SPECIAL
PROJECTS
Analytics Special Projects Director Warren
Flood
(Oct. 2011) President/owner of Bright
Blue Data, in
Washington, DC, from Nov. 2010. Worked on the DNC’s
national targeting team Fall 2010 election cycle.
Director of information systems and technology for the Office of the
Vice President, Jan. 2009-Oct. 2010. Western region data director
for
Obama's 2008 campaign, responsible for nine states, June-Nov. 2008.
Special
Projects Analyst Curtis
Morales
(May 2012) Software engineer for Touro College, August 2011-May 2012. B.A. in computer science from Harvard University, 2008.
Special Projects Analyst Chase Martyn
(July 2012) Software engineer at Salsa Labs,
Inc., Jan. 2011-July
2012. Vice president of BuildSellGrow.com, Dec. 2009-Jan.
2011. Managing editor of IowaIndependent.com and tech director
for the Center for Independent Media, April 2007-Dec. 2009.
Freelance web developer since 2007. B.A. in philosophy from
Grinnell College, 2007; co-president of Grinnell College Campus
Democrats. Canvasser (June-Aug. 2006) and field organizer
(Aug.-Nov. 2006) for the Iowa Democratic Party.
Notes:
Sasha Issenberg. "A More Perfect Union: How
President Obama's
campaign used big date to rally individual voters." MIT
Technology
Review. Jan./Feb. 2013.
Director of Media Larry Grisolano
Director of paid media and opinion research on Obama's
2008 campaign,
started Jan. 2007; created,
supervised and directed the opinion research program and managed the
paid
advertising campaign (television, radio, internet, direct mail and
other print advertising) Partner in The
Strategy Group. Managed
Gov. Gray Davis' 2002 re-election campaign and Californians Against the
Costly Recall, the Davis' campaign to defeat the 2003 recall. In
1991-92 worked on the Clinton for President primary campaign including
stints in Little Rock, running the Florida State Convention straw
ballot operation, and in the Illinois primary; in the fall oversaw the
Clinton-Gore coordinated campaign in California. Worked in press
and
research for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 1991 re-election.
In
1988 managed Iowa field operations for Sen. Joe Biden and, later, for
Sen. Paul Simon. Organizer for Tom Harkin’s upset victory for the
U.S.
Senate in 1984. B.A. in political science from the University of
Iowa. Also studied business management at Northwestern
University's
Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Deputy Director of Media Kate Kochman
Scheduler to Rahm Emanuel on his mayoral
campaign and when he served as White House chief of staff. Worked
on Obama's 2008 campaign.
Regional Directors for Paid Media and Polling
West, Northeast and Latino Paid Media
Casey
Hernandez
(Jan. 2012) Press secretary to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa March 2009-Jan. 2012. Manager of the Measure Q School Bond Initiative, Office of the Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District Aug.-Nov. 2008. Government affairs fellow at Green Dot Public Schools, Summer 2007. Associate at The Strategy Group Aug. 2005-Aug. 2006. Associate at Burnside and Associates, July 2004-July 2005. M.P.P. from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, 2008; Undergraduate degrees in communications and psychology from University of Southern California, 2004.
South and African American Paid Media
Kimberly
Strohman
Director of public policy at the Gainesville Area
Chamber of Commerce,
July 2009-July 2011. Legislative assistant at the Florida State
Senate, Nov. 2006-Sept. 2007. Florida Democratic Party,
March-Nov. 2006. Director at Learning for Life, 2005-06.
Fundraising assistant at the Florida Democratic Party, May-Nov.
2004. M.A. from University of Florida, 2004; B.A. in
communications from University of North Florida.
Midwest
Christian Mitchell
(April 2012) Elected State representative from the 26th District in Nov. 2012. Vice president at Conlon Public Strategies from Nov. 2011. Director of external affairs in the Office of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Toni Preckwinkle, May-Nov. 2011. Campaign manager and transition director Will Burns for 4th Ward Alderman, Nov. 2010-May 2011. A regional field director at Citizens for Lisa Madigan, Fall 2010. Community organizer at Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, 2008-10. B.A. in public policy analysis from University of Chicago, 2008.
Deputy Directors of Paid Media and Messaging
Melissa Nitti
(Nov. 2011) Press secretary at the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, 2010-11. A regional press secretary at Obama for
America in Fall 2008. Senior associate at The Strategy Group,
mid-2008. Account manager at Griffin Schake, 2006-09.
Junior publicist at Much & House Public Relations, 2005-06.
Production coordinator for The Strategy Group, 2004.
Undergraduate degree from Occidental College, 2004.
Isaac Baker
At AKPD Message and Media starting in 2010.
Briefly served as a
spokesman at the U.S. Treasury Department at the start of the Obama
Administration. Obama for America Ohio communications director in
the 2008 general election. Hillary Clinton's communications
director
for the Ohio primary campaign; earlier served as a deputy press
secretary in the national headquarters. Press secretary on Ohio
Gov. Ted Strickland's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. A director at the
Glover Park Group, 2003-06. Journalism degree from the Medill
School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Seattle native.
Paid Media Operations Manager Caitria Mahoney
(and assistant to director of opinion research David
Simas) University of Vermont graduate. White House intern
in summer
2010. From Newton, MA.
Deputy Director of Opinion Research Jon
Fromowitz
Senior analyst at the Benenson Strategy Group, Feb.
2009-Feb.
2011. Assistant to the General Election director on Obama's
Pennsylvania Campaign for Change, Sept.-Nov. 2008. Regional
political desk at Activate, Summer 2008. National director of
remote calling on the Hillary Clinton for President campaigns, Nov.
2007-June 2008. Operations associate for direct mail for the New
Jersey Senate Democratic Majority, Fall 2007. B.A. in political
science from Brown University, 2007.
Director of Video Ian Harrington
Experienced in TV and film production.
Director/screenwriter/producer at Fuerza Catracha LLC. Co-ran
That’s Us, a small production company ("Belfast Blues"), 2003-05.
Personal assistant and associate producer to Danny DeVito, at Jersey
Films, 1998-2004.
Director of Direct Mail Sandra Lyon
(April 2012) Vice president of marketing and
communications at
Elite Global Events, Inc., March 2011-March 2012. Managing
director at TruBlu Politics, April-Nov. 2010. Account executive
at the Mack Crounse Group, Nov. 2009-March 2010. Director of
scheduling on the Deeds for Governor campaign in Virginia, Fall
2009. Account executive at the Mack Crounse Group, Fall
2008. Director of the chairwoman's office and national delegate
selection (2007-08) and research director (2006-07) at the Florida
Democratic Party. Communications director at Research Management
Strategies in New Brunswick, NJ, Fall 2005. Deputy communications
director in Arizona and Oregon for America Coming Together, Fall
2004. Deputy director of the Women's Senate Network at the DSCC,
2003-04. Communications coordinator at the DNC, 2002-03.
Bachelor's degree in political science and mass communications from
Arizona State University.
also note
Paid Media and Polling Regional Director
Alex
Okrent
(Jan. 2012-died at headquarters on July 13,
2012) Previously senior analyst at
Benenson Strategy Group,
from April 2010. Louisiana field director on Obama for America in
Fall 2008; deputy Illinois political director on Obama for America,
April 2007-June 2008. Production assistant at The Strategy Group,
2006. Worked as a field organizer on Obama's 2004 Senate
campaign. B.S. from the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan
University, 2005..
Chief of Staff Allyson Laackman
(from Jan. 2012, reported by Lynn Sweet on Dec. 1,
2011) Comes to
the campaign from position as CFO in the Executive Office of the
President. Finance director on the Obama-Biden Transition
Project. Controller at Obama for America, Jan.-Nov. 2008.
CFO at French American Securities, 1997-2001. CFO at IFX
(formerly Jack Carl 312 Futures, Inc.) 1992-97. Manager at Arthur
Anderson, 1981-92. Master's in accountancy science at University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; in finance from University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Press Secretary Hannah August
(Aug. 2012) Press secretary to First Lady
Michelle Obama at the White House, May 2011-Aug. 2012. Regional
communications director at the White House, Nov. 2010-May 2011.
Press secretary at the U.S. Department of Justice, 2009-10.
Deputy communications director at the DSCC, 2007-09. Deputy press
secretary to Sen. Robert Menendez, 2006-07. B.A. in international
relations from University of Pennsylvania.
Press Secretary Olivia Alair
(Dec. 2011) Previously press secretary (Nov.
2009-Dec. 2011) and
deputy press secretary (April-Nov. 2009) at the U.S. Department of
Transportation. Regional communications director, OH at Obama for
America, Fall 2008. Deputy press secretary to Sen. Joe Biden,
2006-July 2008. B.A. in government from Georgetown
University.
Advance Lindsay Scola
(March 2012) Director of scheduling and advance
(USUN) at the
U.S. Department of State, Dec. 2009-Oct. 2011. Special assistant
and scheduler to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy,
Feb.-Dec. 2009. National advance staff (Feb.-Nov. 2008) and field
staff (March 2007-Feb. 2008). Office manager/scheduler to
Congressman Adam Smith, 2005-07. Studied at the University of
Washington.
Scheduler Timothy Merritt
Deputy director of scheduling to House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi
from May 2011. Communications director and scheduler to Rep. Gene
Green (TX-29); started with Green as an intern in Sept. 2007.
B.A. from University of North Texas, 2008.
Scheduler Jessica McCall
Transition advisor to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Aug.-Dec. 2010. Deputy director for scheduling and advance in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, 2009-10. National advance staff at Obama for America from March 2007-Dec. 2008.
Chief of Staff Sheila Nix
(team announced March 26, 2012) U.S. executive director of ONE since June 2009. Senior vice-president for the Strategy Group, where she focused on direct mail for the Obama general election. Senior advisor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich starting in Sept. 2004, deputy campaign manager for policy on his 2006 campaign, and one of two deputy governors to Blogojevich through June 2008. Chief of staff to Sen. Bill Nelson (FL) for 2 1/2 years from when he took office through Spring 2003. A vice president at Wallman Strategic Consulting after working briefly at Podesta.com Chief of staff to Sen. Bob Kerrey (NE) to end of Feb. 1999 and earlier legislative director, started with Kerry in late 1992; also worked on Kerrey’s 1992 presidential campaign. Associate at Arnold & Porter, 1989-91. J.D. from University of Chicago Law School; B.S. in accounting from Creighton University, 1983.
Deputy Chief of Staff Scott Mulhauser
(March 2012) Senior advisor and counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, overseeing communications, message and outreach.en. Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and in other senior communications positions, including for Sen. John Breaux (LA) and the DSCC. Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Georgetown University Law Center.
Political Director Sam B. "Trip" King
(March 2012) South Carolina state director on
Biden's presidential
campaign,
2007. Director of development, special projects,
with a primary focus on South Carolina Political Collections for the
University of South Carolina's
University Libraries starting in 2005. Worked for U.S. Sen. Fritz
Hollings for 28 years serving
as state director from 1990 until Hollings'
retirement from the Senate in January 2005, and earlier as Upstate
director to Hollings, 1977-89. Active in South Carolina politics
starting in 1974, including work on four of Hollings' campaigns.
Attended Wofford College and graduated from the
University of South Carolina with a B.A. in political science.
Native
of Columbia, SC.
Press Secretary Amy Dudley
(March 2012) Moves over from serving as deputy
press secretary in
the Office of the
Vice President. Previously served as press secretary to Sen. Ted
Kaufman (DE). Worked in the public affairs office
of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
(NDI). Started her career in Washington as a staff writer for National
Journal's The Hotline. Graduate of Colgate
University. Native of Brookfield, CT. twitter
Advance Nora Cohen
(March 2012) Most recently deputy director of
advance for Vice
President Biden at the Office of the Vice President;
has served in the White House since 2009. Part of the advance
team for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008. Worked as a fundraiser
for various non-profits in Philadelphia, including grants manager for
the Pennsylvania
Horticultural Society, 2005-08. B.A. in English language and
literature from Harvard College, 2003. Native
of Appleton, WI.
Scheduler Virginia "Ginna" Lance
(March 2012) Moves over from serving as
scheduler for Vice
President Biden.
Worked at the International Trade Administration at the Department of
Commerce. Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Originally from Ellicott City, MD.
Scheduler Patrick Bauer
(July 2012) Advance associate for the White
House from Aug.
2009-July 2012; served as a domestic policy intern at the White House
in summer 2009. National field associate on Hillary Clinton for
President, 2007-08. M.P.A. (2011) and B.A. in political science
(2010) from University of Pennsylvania.
...staff
of 79 people; $30 million budget including events, travel and payroll.
Director of Scheduling and
Advance Lisa
Kohnke
(reported by Lynn Sweet on Sept. 19, 2011) Director of Special Events in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House from Jan. 2009. Deputy director of scheduling and advance on Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Associate director of national events for AIPAC, Oct. 2005-May 2007. Joined the Kerry campaign in May 2004 as a scheduler for Sen. Kerry; moved over to advance and served as a deputy director of advance from July 2004 to the end of the campaign. Scheduled for Congressman Kendrick Meek, late 2002 to May 2004. Scheduled for Gore after he left office, first at his transition office then at his PAC, Leadership 02, until Nov. 2002. Joined the Gore campaign in Nov 1999; worked as a field organizer for 5 months in Sioux City, IA and Broward County, FL, did advance for 3 months, then moved to Nashville in June to be the advance desk for Vice President Gore teams until Nov. 2000. National field director of College Democrats of America, from Spring 1998 to Fall 1999. B.A. degrees in political science and Jewish studies from Indiana University, 1998. Grew up in Oak Park, IL.
• SCHEDULING
Schedulers
POTUS
-Laura Benbow
(May 2012) Program assistant at PATH, a
nonprofit focusing on global health, May-Oct. 2011. Scheduler May
2010-May 2011 assistant to the chief of staff (July 2009-May 2010) and
staff assistant for constituent experience (Sept. 2008-July 2009) to
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA). B.A. in political science from
Seattle University, 2008.
-Adair Gregory
(July 2012) Special assistant to U.S. Rep. Bill
Keating (MA),
Jan. 2011-July 2012. Scheduler/co-field director on Keating for
Congress, May-Sept. 2007. B.S., B.A. from University of Denver
Daniels College of Business, 2009.
FLOTUS
-Jessica McCall
Transition advisor to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm,
Aug.-Dec.
2010. Deputy director for scheduling and advance in the Office of
the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services,
2009-10. National advance staff at Obama for America from March
2007-Dec. 2008.
-Timothy Merritt
(June 2012) Deputy director of scheduling to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, May 2011-June 2012. Communications director and scheduler to Rep. Gene Green (TX-29); started with Green as an intern in Sept. 2007. B.A. from University of North Texas, 2008.
VPOTUS
-Virginia "Ginna" Lance
(March 2012) Moves over from serving as
scheduler for Vice
President Biden at the White House.
Worked at the International Trade Administration at the Department of
Commerce. Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Originally from Ellicott City, MD.
-Patrick Bauer
(July 2012) Advance associate for the White
House from Aug.
2009-July 2012; served as a domestic policy intern at the White House
in summer 2009. National field associate on Hillary Clinton for
President, 2007-08. M.P.A. (2011) and B.A. in political science
(2010) from University of Pennsylvania.
Briefing Assistant Shasti Conrad
(Jan. 2012) Executive assistant to Senior
Advisor to the
President Valerie Jarrett at the White House, Aug. 2010-Dec.
2011. Staff assistant in the White House Office of Public
Engagement, Feb.-Aug. 2010. Bachelor's degree in
sociology/international relations from Seattle University, 2007.
Scheduling Assistant Houston Johnson
• ADVANCE
Director of Advance Grant Campbell
Associate director and trip coordinator at the
White House.
Deputy Director of Advance for the Vice
President and
Dr. Biden Nora Cohen
(March 2012) Most recently deputy director of advance for Vice President Biden at the Office of the Vice President; has served in the White House since 2009. Part of the advance team for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008. Worked as a fundraiser for various non-profits in Philadelphia, including grants manager for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, 2005-08. B.A. in English language and literature from Harvard College, 2003. Native of Appleton, WI.
Deputy Director of Advance for the First Lady
Michelle
Obama Lindsay Scola
(March 2012) Director of scheduling and advance (USUN) at the U.S. Department of State, Dec. 2009-Oct. 2011. Special assistant and scheduler to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, Feb.-Dec. 2009. National advance staff (Feb.-Nov. 2008) and field staff (March 2007-Feb. 2008) on Obama's 2008 campaign. Office manager/scheduler to Congressman Adam Smith, 2005-07. Studied at the University of Washington.
Senior Advance Coordinator Avra Stackpole
(Sept. 2011) Advance associate in the Executive
Office of the President at the White House from May 2010-Aug. 2011;
served as an intern in scheduling and advance at the White House in
Spring 2010. B.A. in human service studies and sociology from
Elon
University, 2010.
Senior Advance Coordinator Clare Marshall
(March 2012) Advance associate at the
White House, Aug. 2011-March 2012; served as an intern in scheduling
and advance at the White House in
Summer 2011. Degree in journalism, public relations, political
science from Indiana University Bloomington, 2011.
Senior Advance Coordinator Tramaine Brown
Fulbright fellow teaching Engish in Spain. Degrees in English and Spanish from Wofford College in Spartanburg, 2011; served as an intern in scheduling and advance at the White House. Grew up in Spartanburg.
Advance Coordinators
Andrew Estrada
John Reilly
Sarah Murphy
Kate Schriver
Budget Desk Laura Evaenes
Advisory financial associate for Price Waterhouse
Coopers in
McLean, VA. Senior financial analyst for Ferris Baker Watts
in Silver Spring, MD. Bachelor's degree in business
administration from University of Maryland University College.
• SURROGATES
Director of Surrogates Joseph Reinstein
Deputy Social Secretary in the Office of First
Lady Michelle Obama from Jan. 2009. Two decades of marketing
experience, including vice president of marketing at Medline
Industries, 2007-09; senior vice president/senior account director
energy at BBDO, 2003-07; vice president and marketing director at
Element 79, 2001-03; and vice president and marketing director at Foote
Cone & Belding, 1998-2001. Degree in government from Oberlin
College, 1987.
Deputy Surrogate Director Jennifer
Rosenbaum
(Aug. 2011) Finance at the DNC, most recently
deputy national
finance director at DNC/Obama Victory Fund 2012 (April-Sept. 2011),
finance director for Americans Abroad (2009-11), New England deputy
finance director (April-Aug. 2009). Jewish outreach on Obama for
America in Fall 2008. Marketing coordinator at Alstra Capital
Management, 2005-06. Programming and production manager at
College Sports Television, 2003-05. B.A. from Boston
College, 2001.
Regional Surrogate Directors
Northeast and African
American, Veterans, Athletes for Obama, DJs for Obama Alexys
Feaster
(Nov. 2011) Vice president of business and
artist development at
Waveflow Studios in Los Angeles area, March 2009-Nov. 2011.
Co-founder and president of Q&A Productions, consulting, June
2005-Nov. 2011. Worked at Interscope Records, 2006-08.
Entertainment press and publicity coordinator (2004-06) marketing
assistant (mid-2004) and page (starting Dec. 2003) at NBCUniversal,
Inc.. B.A. in communication and media studies from James Madison
University, 2003.
South and
LGBT Jake Stevens
(April 2012) Special assistant in the office of the CEO and President of OPOWER, June 2010-April 2012. Scheduling assistant to Rep. Xavier Becerra, 2009-10. Deputy to West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang, 2008-09. B.A. in politics from Occidental College, 2008.
Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Maude Baggetto
Staff assistant in the White House Office of Public
Engagement.
Master's degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania;
undergraduate degree in urban planning from Bryn Mawr College,
2007. Chicago native.
West and
Latinos Stephanie Venegas
(Jan. 2012) Executive assistant and office
manager (Aug.
2008-Dec. 11) and
staff assistant (2007-08) for Rep. Xavier Becerra. B.A. in law
and society from UC Santa Barbara, 2007.
Midwest Jason Rio
(May 2012) Vice president of management at Aware
Music from Nov.
2002. Manager at DBMI, 1995-2002. Degree in communications
from Michigan State University, 1996.
Surrogate Assistants
Joseph
Huneke
(Jan. 2012) B.A. in political science and
international studies
from University of Missouri-Columbia, 2011.
Vaughan Meyer
(April 2012) Contract analyst at Loan Management
Solutions, Sept.
2011-March 2012. Analyst at Centerline Capital Group, Inc., July
2010-July 2011. B.A. in interdisciplinary studies in Humanities
from Stanford University, 2009.
Jodi C. Anderson
(Aug. 2012) Investment banker at Barclay's
Capital, July 2009-Aug. 2012. Policy analyst at Al Franken for
Senate, Sept. 2008-April 2009. M.P.P. from Harvard University,
2008; B.A. in political science, psychology from Northwestern
University, 2006.
Brian Terrell
(Sept. 2012) B.A. in political science
from Morehouse College, 2011. Interned at the White House in the
Office of Presidential Correspondence in Summer 2009.
Director of Surrogate Media Matt Bevens
(Nov. 2011)
Senior associate at The Glover Park Group, 2009-11. Client
services representative and social research assistant at Calvert Funds,
2007-09. B.A. in international affairs from The George Washington
University, 2007.
Surrogate Communications Coordinator Jill
Jefferson
(July 2012) Worked on civil rights cold cases in Mississippi with the Civil Rights Cold Case Project and wrote speeches for Global Strategy Group in DC after holding internships in the White House and in the Office of Congressman John Lewis. Researcher for Congressman Lewis's Across That Bridge. Degrees in history and English from the University of Virginia, 2009.
Surrogate Communications Coordinator Mark
Grindy
Previously an associate at the Glover Park Group from
Aug. 2009.
Worked press and communications at the Center for American Progress
Summer 2009. B.A. in political science, English from University
of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2009.
Surrogate Department: "planning and execution of 4,570
non-press surrogate events and recruitment of 1,008 surrogates"
more finance events with celebrity guests and entertainment as opposed
to message-driven (see Communications, above)
Chief Financial & Budget Officer
Geoff Trukenbrod
(succeeded Mary Beth Schulz in April 2012) COO
at Akuna
Capital. Director at Granite Creek Partners, 2007-10. CFO
and vice president of business development at Cue Biotech/Caden
Biosciences, 2001-07. Senior manager at The ProAction Group,
1996-99. Consultant at Gibson & Associates, 1994-96.
M.B.A. from The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business,
2001; B.A. from Hamilton College.
Budget Director/Deputy CFO Molly Culhane
(Sept. 2011) Staff analyst in the national
security and space
group (2010-11) and financial specialist (2001-10) at Boeing.
Master's degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern
University; undergraduate studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Scheduling and Advance Budget Manager Ian
Reed
(Oct. 2011) Associate director for finance at
the White House,
2009-11. Worked on surrogate scheduling at travel on Obama's 2008
campaign. M.S. in public administration from DePaul University,
2008; B.A. in political science and government from Grand Valley State
University.
States Budget Manager Cristina Bonuso
(Nov. 2011) Attorney at Thompson Hine LLP,
2007-11. J.D.
from Fordham University School of Law, 2007. B.A. in business
economics and Italian studies from Brown University, 2002.
Paid Media Budget Manager Tom Elson
(Jan. 2012) Worked on the campaign as a
budget analyst in summer 2011. Policy analyst at the
Environmental Defense Fund, 2006-09. M.B.A. from Stanford
University's Graduate School of Business, 2011 and M.S. in
environmental science from Stanford University, 2011. A.B. in
environmental studies/psychology from Bowdoin College, 2006.
Finance and Operations Budget Manager Jane
Lee
(March 2012) Associate at Education Resource
Strategies,
2009-10. Consultant, strategy and operations at Deloitte
Consulting, 2005-08. M.P.A./M.B.A. concurrent degree from
Northwestern University and Harvard Kennedy School, 2012. B.A. in
political science and legal studies from Northwestern University, 2005.
Senior Budget Analyst Jeff Rapp
(June 2011) Analyst at Excelsior Capital
Management, 2006-10. B.S. in economics from University of
Michigan, 2006.
Budget Analyst Jared Mueller
(July 2011) Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, 2009-11. Graduate of Duke University, 2009.
Budget Analyst Susan Parker
(Dec. 2011) M.P.P. from University of Chicago,
2011; B.A. in
international relations from Michigan State University, 2009.
Senior Accountant Charles Olivier
(June 2012; started as a staff accountant in June 2011) B.A. in accountancy, business administration from University of Illinois, 2011.
Staff Accountant Sarah Gerstenberger
(Oct. 2011) M.S. in accountancy from Loyola
University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business, 2011; bachelor's of business
administration, accounting from Eastern Michigan University, 2009.
Staff Accountant Carmin Reynoso-del Toro
Bachelor's (2009) and Master's (2010) degrees in
accounting from
University of Illinois at Chicago.
Controller Kelly McGuire
(March 2012) Director of finance at Big
Ten Network, Oct. 2007-June 2011. Controller at Univision &
Telefuture Television, 2002-07. Controller at Tribune
Entertainment, 1998-2001; senior internal auditor at the Tribune
Company, 1996-98. Senior tax consultant at Arthur Andersen LLP,
1993-95. M.B.A. in finance and international business from DePaul
University; bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Note
starting Nov. 2012, McGuire serves as
deputy CFO and director of financial
operations, charged with winding
down and wrapping up financial operations.
Director of Compliance Nicholas Pancrazio
(April 2011) Previously research
supervisor-compliance (Aug.
2010-March 2011) and research associate-compliance (Oct. 2009-July 2010
at the DNC. B.A. in political science and government from
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008.
Compliance Manager Shaunta Floyd
(May 2011) Regional director of operations (Dec.
2009-May 2011)
and research associate (Oct.-Dec. 2009) at the DNC. Worked on
Obama's 2007-08 campaign as director of operations on the Campaign for
Change in Atlanta, GA (July-Nov. 2008), operations/office manager and
field organizer (Nov. 2007-April 2008) and vetting specialist in
Chicago (March-Nov. 2007). Specialist at American
InterContinental University Online, 2004-06. B.A. in criminal
justice from Illinois State University, 2001.
Vetting Research Director Jon Bosscher
(April 2011) Research associate at the DNC from
Jan. 2010.
Research consultant, 2009-10. Research fellow at The Atlas
Project, late 2009. Field organizer in Ohio on Obama's 2008
campaign. M.A. from Bowling Green State University, 2008; B.A.
from Miami University, 2005.
Assistant Vetting Research Manager Joseph
Tennial
(May 2011) Regional field director on Medoza for
Clerk (Chicago),
Jan.-Feb. 2011. Field organizer for the Illinois Democratic
Party, Aug.-Nov. 2010. B.S. in psychology, pre-law from Xavier
University of Louisiana, 2010.
Vetting Research Associate Carl Young
(Dec. 2011) Social media coordinator for the Morehouse College National Alumni Association, July-Dec. 2011. B.A. in political science and economics from Morehouse College, 2011.
Compliance Associates
Jessica Kwan
(Aug. 2011) Most recently an intern in 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly's Office. B.S. in business management from Hofstra University, 2008.
Taylor O'Brien
(Sept. 2011) B.A. in political science, Spanish
from DePaul
University, 2011. Finance intern and Organizing Fellow on Obama's
2008 campaign.
Vania Kinard
(July 2012) Student at The Catholic University of America.
...individual and office technology (laptops, devices, printers) and procurement and support thereof.Chief Information Officer Rajeev Chopra
(March 2011) President/senior systems engineer
at The MIS
Department, Inc., a
Chicago-based IT consulting firm he founded in 1999. IS director
at the DNC, 2010-11. IT director on Obama's 2008 campaign
(started volunteering at
headquarters in April 2007, continued to help in states
during the primaries, and started on staff in April
2008) Previously
worked as a freelancer for about two years. Systems analyst for
the Andrew Corp.
Deputy CIO Khalid Maletan
Computer consultant specializing in networking
infrastructure and using technology to
resolve business process
problems. Has done work in Switzerland,
Afghanistan
and
Libya;
served
on
the
board
of
directors
of
Global
Networks.
Regional IT Directors
David Sloane
(April 2012) Technical operations manager at
Paytronix Systems,
2011-12. Director of technical operations and security, director
of systems management at Memento, Inc. 2008-11. Systems manager
at Evare, 2004-07. Senior systems administrator at VFA,
2001-04. Technical operations engineer at Event Zero,
1999-2001. Senior technical service analyst at Symantec,
1995-98. Customer service representative at Omnitek Information
Services, 1993-94.
Mike Miller
(April 2012) Restaurant manager (Jan. 2009-April
2012) and
information technology manager (Aug. 2007-April 2012) at NCP
Chicago. Sales producer at Allstate, 2004-10. Master's
degree in computer information and network security from DePaul
University, 2012; bachelor's degree from Millikin University, 2005;
earlier attended Holy Cross College.
• SYSTEMS
Security Engineer Shane Hable
(March 2011) Systems engineer at The MIS
Department, Inc. from
May 2009. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign on the help desk team,
and as an IT support manager on the transition.
Senior Systems Administrator Alberto
Manrique
(March 2011) Systems engineer at The MIS Department, Inc. from Feb. 2009. IT specialist, support manager and headquarters IT desk on Obama's 2008 campaign from March 2007. Client technical services-technology group intern for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2006-07. Attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Systems Administrator Joseph Kimball
An IT consultant, Joseph Kimball
Consulting LLC. Technical analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago. IT helpdesk at Murphy, Pearson, Bradley &
Feeney. IT consultant at Matrix Computer Software. M.S. in
information technology from Northwestern. B.S. in management
information systems from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
• SOLUTIONS
SPECIALISTS
Salesforce.com (contract management)
Edward Schlickfup
Bachelor's degree in English from University of
Illinois
Urbana-Champaign.
Quickbase (business purchase app) Bruce
Levy
(July 2011) Field support specialist at Derivix
Corporation,
2008-10. Manager of operations for Restaurant Evaluators,
2000-07. Sales/support for SunGard Data Systems, Inc.,
2004-05. Director of business development at MB Trading,
2000-02. Technical support manger at Townsend Analytics,
1997-2000. Market maker at the Chicago Boar Options Exchange,
1983-1995.
• REGIONAL TELECOM DESKS
Betsy Huigens
(Aug. 2011; also a DevOps product manager) Customer relations manager at Readeo LLC, Jan-Aug. 2011. Founder of Bluelight LLC, 2010-11. B.A. in psychology from DePaul University, 2012.
Krenee Tolson
(June 2012) Service learning coordinator at
DePaul University, Dec. 2010-June 2012; telemarketer for Center Stage,
2008-11. B.F.A. in acting from DePaul University, 2012.
Equipment Manager Amada Fitzsimmons
(Nov. 2011-purchasing, shipping and maintenance of
equipment; continued
after the election with winding down and inventory) Report
specialist (2010-11) and medical office assistant (2007-10) at Little
Company of Mary Affiliated Physicians. M.B.A. from Saint Xavier
University, 2010; B.S. in community health/health planning and
administration from University of Illinois, 2007.
• HELP
DESK TEAM
(about 6-8
people)
Manager Ross Reed
(May 2011) Studied at Illinois State University.
Manager Jason Bragg
(Nov. 2011) Director of operations/technical
director at BBL Productions, 2009-11. Production assistant at
several production companies, 2006-09. Front end manager at
CompUSA, 2004-05. Bachelor's degree from DePaul University.
in addition to CFO,
Compliance and IT, these are additional areas that reported to COO
Ann Marie Habershaw and deputy COO Teal Baker...
• HUMAN RESOURCES
Human Resources Director Sheena Patton
(April 2011) Part of Organizing for America in
Illinois. In
Fall 2008 ran the
Obama campaign's border state program in Indiana; attended the first
Camp Obama in May 2007. Worked in
corporate human resources for about 14 years. B.S. degree from
DePaul University. Lifelong resident of the south suburbs of
Chicago.
Deputy Human Resources Director Janie
Minkin
(Dec. 2011) Consultant/owner at Sage Mediated
Solutions,
LLC, 2009-11.
Senior consultant at HRadvantage, LLC 2008-09. Vice president of
human resources at Chef Solutions Inc./Orval Kent Foods, 2004-07.
Director of human resources at ConAgra Foods, 1998-2003. Managing
principal at the HR Group, 1995-98. Director of compensation,
benefits and systems at Baxter Healthcare Corp. 1992-95. Manager
of compensation, benefits and HRIS at Kraft Foodservice, 1989-92.
Senior consultant, compensation, benefits and HRIS at Blue Cross &
Blue Shield Association, 1983-89. MBA in finance from Loyola
University of Chicago, 1984.
Human Resources Coordinator Barisa Meckler
Special assistant at the U.S. General Services
Administration, Jan.
2010-May 2011. Operations assistant at the White House Office of
Presidential Personnel, Jan. 2009-Jan. 2010. Illinois state
scheduler at front desk manager for then Sen. Obama, Feb.-Dec.
2008. Staff assistant in U.S. Senate, Jan.-Aug. 2007.
Correspondence assistant in Office of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, April
2005-Jan. 2007. Bachelor's degree in political science and
government from University of Denver, 2005. Working toward M.A.
in public policy and public administration from Northwestern
University.
Human Resources Evera Ivy
Admissions strategy cosultant at The Cara Program from
Sept.
2003. B.S. degree from Illinois State University, 1997.
• STATE OPERATIONS
State Operations Director David Levine
(April 2011) Previously national operations
director at the DNC,
from April 2010; regional operations director at the DNC, 2009-April
2010. Deputy COO at M+R Strategic Services. Founder/partner
at QCharm LLC, 2006-08; founder/partner at EZBands LLC, 2004-08.
In Fall 2004 Levine was assistant to director of operations at the
DCCC. In Fall 2003 he was a field organizer for EMILY's
List/Patti Morrisey for State Delegate in VA House District 32.
B.A. in political science from American University.
Deputy National Operations Director Nathan
Olson
(July 2011) Regional operations director at the
DNC,
2010-11. Operations coordinator at Teach for America,
2009-10. Regional organizer at Grassroots Solutions,
2008-09. Regional political coordinator (5th CD) for the
Minnesota DFL,
June-Dec. 2008. Field assistant and caucus logistics coordinator
on Al Franken for Senate, 2007-08. B.A.
in Spanish studies from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2008.
Regional Operations Directors
Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Ashleigh
Barber
(August 2011) Account manager at The Strategy
Group, Summer 2011. Operations director and campaign logistics
coordinator at Field Strategies,
Oct. 2007-May 2011. COO at Switchboard Communications, 2010.
B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame, 2006.
South Victoria Mayer
(Oct. 2011) Field director at Rush Holt for Congress, 2010. Deputy director for intergovernmental affairs in the New Jersey Governor's Office, 2006-10. Deputy field director on Victory 2009 in Trenton, June-Nov. 2009. B.A. in political science from Rutgers, 2005.
Midwest Scott
Speegel
(from July 2012; started as Telecom Desk in Dec.
2011) Volunteer teacher at Shree Bharathi
Vidyalaya School
in India, 2010-11. Campaign manager on Ascot for Congress, Aug.
2009-Feb. 2010. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign starting as a
data manager and in operations in the Fall. Senior paralegal at
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, 2005-07. B.A. in
political science from Northwestern University, 1985.
...succeeded Greg Diamond, who in
July 2012 moved over to serve as operations director on the campaign in
Iowa.
West Miriam Chan
(July 2011) Operations director on the Bill
White for Texas
campaign, Dec. 2009-Feb. 2011. B.A. in English and government
from the University of Texas at Austin, 2009.
Northeast Elis Ribeiro
(Dec. 2012)
• HEADQUARTERS OPERATIONS
Director of HQ Operations Willie Kane
(March 2011) Director of wind down
operations for the 2008 Obama campaign, Dec. 2009-March 2011.
Reconciliation manager at Obama for America, Sept. 2007-Sept.
2009. Manager at Glascott's Groggery, Sept. 2004-07. Law
clerk/assistant at Daniel Sherman, Attorney at Law, 2002-04. B.A.
in English language and literature from Xavier University, 2002.
Deputy Director of HQ Operations David
Belts
(May 2011) Sales administrator at Omni
Financial, 2008-09.
Staffing specialist/recruiter/human resources at SDE Business
Partnering, 2005-06. M.P.A. from University of Colorado at
Denver, 2009; B.A. in political
science and government from Western Michigan University, 2005.
Volunteer Coordinator/Call Center Director Nikki Giancola
(April 2011) Previously a regional field
director for Organizing
for America in
Chicago from Aug. 2010. Teacher at Pleasantdale Middle School in
Burr Ridge, Aug. 2008-Aug. 2010. Teacher at Old Quarry Middle
School in Lemont, 2005-08. M.A. in curriculum and instruction
from Concordia University-River Forest, 2008.
• CORRESPONDENCE
Director of Correspondence Allison Belville
(May 2011) Regional operations director at the
Democratic
National Committee, June 2010-April 2011. Operations manager at
the Obama for America wind down, Oct. 2009-June 2010. Personnel
specialist on the Obama-Biden Transition Team. Regional
operations manager at Obama for America in Fall 2008. B.S. in
public relations from Illinois State University, 2008.
Public Correspondence Manager Alma Burke
(Dec. 2011) B.A. in political science and
communication at the
University of Missouri-Columbia, 2011. Summer volunteer at the
White House in 2010.
Personal Correspondence Manager Kelsey
Pietranton
Degree in history and international studies from
University of
Richmond, 2011. Interned summer 2010 in Vice President Biden's
correspondence office.
• FEC REPORTING
FEC Reporting Manager Taryn Vogel
(Sept. 2011) FEC reports manager at the DNC,
2009-Sept. 2011.
Compliance associate at the Hagan Senate Committee, Fall 2008.
A regional field director on the Hillary Clinton for President
campaign. B.A. in political science from Loyola Marymount
University, 2004.
Campaign Finance Reporting Analyst
Benjamin Rothschild
(June 2011) B.A. in mathematics, economics,
mathematical methods
in the social sciences from Northwestern University, 2011.
Campaign Finance Reporting Analyst Kyle
Hertzberg
(Jan. 2012; from Oct.-Dec. 2011 worked as accounting
clerk and specila
projects) Personal banker at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Wachovia
Bank, Aug. 2010-June 2011. B.A. in finance from Cal State
University Fullerton-Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, 2010.
• TRAVEL
Travel Director Hope Woodworth
(Sept. 2011) Account manager at SDI Travel and
Incentives, Feb.
2007-April 2010. Planning and purchasing manager at Landmark
Incentive Marketing, Inc., March 1999-Feb. 2007. Catering/spa
director for Ritz-Carlton Chicago, 1997-99. Studied at University
of Vermont.
including Hope Woodworth, four
persons...
Finance Director
Rufus Gifford
Moved over from position as finance director at the
DNC, which he had
held since Feb. 2009. With his then-partner Jeremy Bernard,
Gifford
did
fundraising through B&G Associates in California; California
fundraising for Obama's campaign in 2007-08. Deputy
finance
director, Western States for the DNC during the 2004 election (oversaw
eight states). Six years working at Davis Entertainment and then
Twentieth
Century Fox. Degrees in American civilization and theater from
Brown University, 1996. Son of banking executive Charles K.
Gifford. twitter
Deputy Finance Director Elizabeth (Liz)
Lowery
(March 2011) Finance director at the DSCC in the
2010 cycle,
starting in Jan.
2009. Senior advisor to the chairman at the DLC, since June 2007.
National finance director Harold Ford, Jr. for U.S. Senate,
2004. Fundraising consultant at Kimball Stroud & Associates,
Inc, 1999-2003. University of Alabama.
Finance Chief of Staff Sam Brown
(April 2011) Finance chief of staff at the DNC,
Feb. 2009-March
2011. Southern Calif. finance consultant on Obama for America,
2007-08. Political consultant and fundraiser at Capital
Strategies, 2006-07. Creative director at Tom Jacobson
Productions, 2005-06. Deputy finance director on Bob Hertzberg
for Mayor, Nov. 2004-March 2005. Southern Calif. regional finance
assistant, 2003-04. B.A. in cinema-television from the University
of Southern California, 2004.
Deputy Finance Chief of Staff Kevin
Karlsgodt
(April 2011) Assistant to finance leadership at
the DNC,
2009-11. In 2009 worked for Rep. George Miller, on the McAuliffe
for Governor campaign and for Rep. Doris Matsui. B.A. in history,
political science from Tulane University, 2008.
Assistant to Finance
Leadership Samantha Citron
(April 2011) Press
assistant at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture,
2010-11. Press department intern on Obama for America, summer
2008.
Bachelor of journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia, 2009.
• Regional Finance and Deputy
Finance Directors
Midwest
Director Roz
Skozen
(March 2011) Previously Midwest finance director
at the
DNC. Midwest deputy finance director and earlier Midwest finance
assistant on Obama for America, 2008. Finance assistant at Evan
Bayh's All America PAC, 2006. Special assistant to Sen. Bill
Nelson, 2005-06. B.A. in English/Spanish from DePauw University.
Senior Midwest Deputy Director Michael
Kurtz
(April 2011) Deputy finance director at Friends of Martin O'Malley, 2009-11. Finance intern on Obama's 2008 campaign. B.A. in political science from The George Washington University, 2009.
Midwest Deputy Director Claire Olszewski
(May 2011) Advance staffer (Jan.-March 2011) and
scheduling and advance intern (Aug. 2010-Jan. 2011) in the Office of
First Lady Michelle Obama. Undergraduate degree from Northwestern
University, 2010.
Northern
California/NW Director Autumn Sample
(April 2011) Previously Northwest finance
director and Northern
California deputy finance director at the DNC, from April 2007.
Washington State Democrats/DNC regional field director for Eastern
Washington, 2005-07. Field organizer in Walla Walla on the 2004
Washington State Coordinated Campaign. B.A. in international
relations from Purdue University, 2004.
Staff Director, Technology
for Obama Jim Green
Southern California/SW Director Adia Smith
Attended UC Davis.
Southern California/SW Deputy Director
Michael
Gilmore
(April 2011) Moved over from position as deputy
Southern
California/Southwest finance director position at DNC, started in Feb.
2009. Also served as deputy finance director, Northwest on PIC
2009 and for the DNC in the latter half of 2008. Boards and
commissions administration 2006-08. Deputy to the political
director at Cantwell 2006. B.A. in political science from Seattle
University, 2006.
New England Director Kathleen Gasperine
(April 2011) New England finance director at the
DNC from March
2009. As a
Boston-based consultant Gasperine served as finance director on Deval
Patrick's 2010 re-election campaign. Northeast deputy finance
director at the DNC in Fall 2008; deputy New England finance director
on
Hillary Clinton for President. Deputy Massachusetts finance
director for Keeping America's Promise, Sen. John Kerry's PAC, from
Nov. 2006-Feb. 2007. Finance assistant on Rendell for Governor,
2006. Graduate of Ithaca College, 2006.
New England Deputy Director Ryan Fleury
(April 2011) Policy assistant at Human Rights
Campaign, April
2010-April 2011. Bachelor's degree in political communication
from Emerson College, 2009.
Illinois Director Mabel Arrambide
succeeded April Harley...(April 2011-April 2012, then
left to join
Charlotte in 2012 host committee) Previously Illinois finance
director at
the DNC and
earlier Illinois deputy finance director. Deputy Southern finance
director on Southern finance assistant, and Illinois finance assistant
on Obama for America, 2008. B.A. in English from Howard
University.
Tri-State Director (New York) Brad Thompson
Senior Deputy Director for New York Diana
Doukas
(May 2011) Annual fund officer for New York University's Stern School of Business for the first part of 2011. National finance director on Hodes for Senate, 2009-10. Finance consultant on Andrew Cuomo 2010, 2008-09. In the 2008 cycle served as PAC director and as deputy Mid-Atlantic finance director for the DSCC. Graduate of Villanova University, 2005.
Florida Director Jessica Clark
(May 2011) Florida finance director at the DNC, Feb. 2009-May 2011. Deputy Florida finance director on Obama's campaign in 2007-08. Florida finance assistant on Nelson for Senate, 2006. Attended University of Central Florida.
Southern Director Ari Koban
(April 2011) Special assistant to the chief of
staff at the Ex-Im
Bank of the United States, 2009-11. Associate director of events
in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, 2009. Deputy
finance director for the Midwest and Southern regions on Obama's
campaign in 2007-08. Deputy finance director at Friends of Tammy
Duckworth, 2006-07. Finance assistant at Nancy Kohn Consulting,
2005-06. B.A. in political science from University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 2005.
Texas/Oklahoma Consultant Adrienne Donato
Owner of Donato Consulting, Inc. Also
fulfilled this role on the campaign in 2007-08. Attended Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Gen44 Finance Director Sharon Yang
(April 2011) Previously Gen44 finance
director at the DNC, 2009-11. National candidate finance director
at the DCCC, July-Dec. 2008. Mid-Atlantic finance on Hillary
Clinton for President, 2007-08. Production manager/executive
assistant at Grunwald Communications, 2005-07. Account assistant
at MSHC Partners, Fall 2004. B.A. degree from Loyola Marymount
University, 2004.
Gen44 Deputy Finance Director Lora
Whitticker
(May 2011) Previously Gen 44 founding member and
national
co-chair at the DNC from June 2009. Worked on the Presidential
Inaugural Committee and in the closing weeks of the campaign served as
voter protection legal team coordinator on Indiana for Change.
Associate attorney at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, 2007-08;
associate attorney at Lord Bissell & Brook LLP, 2005-07. J.D.
from Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, 2002; B.A. in
political science and African-American studies from Indiana University,
Bloomington, 1999.
African-American Leadership Council Director Edana Walker
(June 2011) Previously finance consultant to the
DNC.
Consultant at B+G Associates, 2007-09. Administrative assistant
in the retirement section of Mercer, 2005-07. Fundraiser at John
Kerry
for President. Program instructor at The Close Up Foundation,
1999-2001. Fifth grade teacher at George Washington Carver
Elementary School, 1996-98. Graduate of Spellman College.
African-American Leadership Council Deputy
Director Marcus Switzer
B.A. in public policy and psychology from Duke
University.
LGBT Leadership Council Director Jamie Citron
LGBT Leadership Council Deputy Director Aditi Hardikar
(see above under Operation Vote)
Futuro Fund Director Zach Portilla
(Futuro Fund, launched in Oct. 2011, is a grassroots
Latino fundraising
effort) Assistant in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the
White House. Left Penn State to volunteer on Obama's 2008
campaign. Duluth native.
Co-chairs:
Henry
R.
Muñoz
III,
Andrés
W.
López,
Eva
Longoria
Grassroots Fundraising Manager Yolanda
Magallanes
(May 2011) Associate at The Ashmead Group, 2006-10. B.A. in politics from Oberlin College, 2006.
Finance Chairman Matthew Barzun
(starting June 1, 2011) Left position as U.S.
Ambassador to
Sweden, which he started Aug. 12, 2009, to join the campaign. In
the 2008 cycle he was "among the first to join Barack Obama's National
Finance Committee, where he produced the first $25 per-person
fundraiser." based in Louisville, KY, he advised and invested in
start-up internet
companies. He was the fourth employee at
CNET Networks, where he worked from 1993-2004, including as executive
vice president, chief strategy officer, and a member of the executive
committee. A.B. in history and literature from Harvard
College. Originally from Massachusetts.
On the evening of April 14, 2011 President Obama started fundraising for the 2012 campaign with three events in Chicago. +
Marketing and Merchandise
Director Meaghan
Burdick
(April 2011) SBA's White House liaison. Director
of
grassroots fundraising on
Obama's 2007-08 campaign.
[http://store.barackobama.com]
Director of marketing and online services at the DCCC, Jan. 2005-Jan.
2007. Director of marketing at DSCC, 2002-04. Manager
of direct marketing at EMILY's List, 1998-2002. Graduate of
Georgetown University, 1998.
Hana Haile-Mariam
(June 2011) Degree in international
relations/public policy from
Boston University, 2011.
Joshua Goodman
(May 2011) Previously worked in the marketing
department at the
DNC, July 2010-April 2011. Outreach and public education for the
American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital, 2009-10.
B.A. in political science from Vassar College, 2009.
Marketing Assistants
Caroline Simpson
(Jan. 2012) Sales and marketing associate
at Nuvio Corporation, 2006-08. M.A. in political science from
Kansas State University, 2011; B.A. in political science and
government from University of Missouri-Kansas CIty, 2006.
Matthew Weinberg
(Feb. 2012) Advance associate, White House
Office of Scheduling
and Advance, June-Dec. 2011. Field organizer on People for Patty
Murray, Fall 2010. Coordinator for government relations and
grassroots at the U.S. Travel Association, March-Sept. 2010. B.A.
in history from University of Washington, 2009.
Carlos Ramos
(Aug. 2012; started as an intern in May 2012)
Student working
towards degree in political science and government at Florida State
University.
General Counsel Bob
Bauer
(end of June or beginning of July 2011) White
House Counsel,
announced Nov. 2009, served through end of June 2011 when he returned
to Perkins Coie LLP; resignation announced June 2. Chair of the
Political
Law Group of Perkins
Coie; served as general counsel to the DNC and Obama's personal
lawyer. General counsel for Obama's 2008 campaign. Thirty
years of law practice. Counsel for
many years to the DSCC and DCCC. J.D. from the University of
Virginia School of Law, 1976. B.A. from Harvard University, 1973.
Corporate Counsel Gaurab Bansal
(Oct. 2011) Attorney at Perkins Coie LLP,
2007-11. Teacher
at KIPP Houston, 2002-04. Teacher at Teach for America in
Houston, 2000-02. J.D. from University of Washington School of
Law, 2007. B.A. from University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Counsel and Ballot Initiative Director Kip
Wainscott
(Aug. 2011--director of delegate operations and
counsel for ballot
access) Political lawyer and litigator at Bryan Cave LLP,
2008-11;
also DC managing director of the New Leaders Council, 2008-11.
Law clerk at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 2006-08. J.D.
from The George Washington University Law School, 2008; B.A. in
political communication from The George Washington University,
2004.
Voter Protection Counsel Jenni Katzman
(Jan. 2012) Attorney at Steptoe & Johnson
LLP, 2008-Jan.
2012. U.S. District Court law clerk, 2007-08. Attorney at
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Associates,
2005-07. J.D. from Cornell Law School, 2005. B.A. in public
policy from Duke University, 2002.
Voter Protection Coordinator Courtney
Wheeler
(Jan. 2012) Campaign manager on Nashville Mayor
Karl Dean's 2011
re-election campaign. Director of special projects at the DNC,
Aug. 2010-Jan. 2011. Deputy campaign manager on Karl Dean for
Mayor, 2007. Political director on Jim Davis for Governor of
Florida, 2005-06. Political director at the Tennessee Democratic
Party, 2004-05. Field director in Tennessee and Maryland on John
Kerry for President, then served as delegate tracker for the
campaign. Campaign manager for a couple of state reps. on the
Tennessee Coordinated Campaign, Fall 2012. J.D. from Texas Tech
University School of Law, 2010; undergraduate degree from Texas State
University-San Marcos, 2001.
Voter Protection Hotline Coordinator
Alexander
Konetzki
(Sept. 2012) Started out as a research associate
in the
compliance department, Aug. 2011-Sept. 2012. Associate attorney
at Bodwin & Associates, P.C., 2010-11. In 2007 served as a
field intern on Hillary Clinton's Iowa caucus campaign.
Assistant editor at The American
Conservative, 2006-07. Research associate at the New
America Foundation, 2006. J.D. from DePaul University College of
Law, 2010; M.Phil. in international relations from University of
Cambridge, 2005; B.A. in political science and English literature from
University of Illinois at Chicago, 2004.
note: Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post's "The Fix" first set out the details in "Inside President Obama's campaign team." Aug. 8, 2012.
Media...
Larry Grisolano
Director of paid media and opinion research on Obama's
2008 campaign,
started Jan. 2007; created,
supervised and directed the opinion research program and managed the
paid
advertising campaign (television, radio, internet, direct mail and
other print advertising) Partner in The
Strategy Group. Managed
Gov. Gray Davis' 2002 re-election campaign and Californians Against the
Costly Recall, the Davis' campaign to defeat the 2003 recall. In
1991-92 worked on the Clinton for President primary campaign including
stints in Little Rock, running the Florida State Convention straw
ballot operation, and in the Illinois primary; in the fall oversaw the
Clinton-Gore coordinated campaign in California. Worked in press
and
research for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 1991 re-election.
In
1988 managed Iowa field operations for Sen. Joe Biden and, later, for
Sen. Paul Simon. Organizer for Tom Harkin’s upset victory for the
U.S.
Senate in 1984. B.A. in political science from the University of
Iowa. Also studied business management at Northwestern
University's
Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Media Strategy in the States Ann Liston
and
Terry Walsh
Liston
is partner at Adelstein | Liston.
Previously
served
in
senior
positions
at
EMILY's
List,
the
Democratic
Congressional
Campaign
Committee
(DCCC),
the
National
Democratic
Convention-Los
Angeles,
the
National
Democratic
Institute
(NDI),
and
the
Washington,
D.C.
media
firm
GMMB.
Walsh is partner at
The Strategy Group; he joined the firm in 1991 and has served as lead
consultant and direct mail strategist on numerous campaigns. In
2008 he was lead direct mail consultant to Obama for President during
the general election. J.D. from Detroit
College of Law at Michigan State University. Bachelor's
degree in political science from the University
of Michigan.
Senior Advisor Jim Margolis
Senior partner at GMMB.
Also
senior
strategist
on
Obama's
2007-08
campaign.
John Del Cecato - AKPD Media
Rich Davis and
David Dixon - Davis Media Group
Mike Donilon; Ricki Fairley-Brown -
DOVE Marketing
James Aldrete - Message Audience & Presentation
Mark Putnam - Putnam Partners
Hispanic: Sergio Bendixen and Fernand Amandi - Bendixen & Amandi
African American: Clifford Franklin - FUSE Advertising
Polling...
(director of opinion research David Simas)
Lead Pollster/Senior Strategist Joel
Benenson
Has done polling for Obama since joining the Obama campaign in Jan. 2007. Founding partner (2000) and president of the Benenson Strategy Group (BSG); has served as a pollster and strategist for U.S. senators, governors and mayors, CEOs and corporate clients. Benenson started his polling career in 1995. Briefly worked as a vice president of the Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency. Communications director for Gov. Mario Cuomo's 1994 re-election campaign. Political reporter for the New York Daily News; earlier worked at newspapers in Westchester County. Graduate of Queens College of the City University of New York.
Polling team includes-
focusing on states Paul Harstad
Harstad, who has done survey research and consulting
for Obama since he
was a state Senator running for U.S. Senate in 2002, is CEO of Harstad
Strategic Research, based in Boulder, CO. He has more than
three years of
experience
in government, public affairs, polling, and campaign
strategy.
During the 1990s he directed public affairs polling for Talmey-Drake
Research
& Strategy in Boulder. During the 1980s he was senior vice
president
at Peter Hart Research and Garin-Hart Research in Washington, DC.
During the 1970s he worked as a legislative assistant in the U.S.
Senate
in Washington, DC. J.D. from Georgetown University.
focus groups David Binder
Binder, a member of the 2008 campaign's polling team,
is principal at David
Binder
Research in San Francisco, CA. M.B.A. from Cornell; B.S. from
Syracuse University.
More
Treasurer Martin Nesbitt
Close friend of Obama, treasurer on Obama's 2008
campaign. President and CEO of PRG Parking Management (Dba, the
Parking Spot), an owner and operator of off-airport parking
facilities. Vice President of the Pritzker Realty Group, L.P.
(PRG). At LaSalle Partners for seven years as equity partner and
investment manager. Worked for General Motors Corporation.
M.B.A. from the University of Chicago; B.S. from Albion College.
National Co-Chairs
(announced Feb. 22,
2012) Lynnette
Acosta – OFA volunteer leader from Florida. Marc
Benioff – CEO of Salesforce.com.
Senator
Michael Bennet – U.S. Senator from Colorado. Mayor Julian
Castro – Mayor of San Antonio. Governor
Lincoln Chafee – Governor of Rhode Island. Ann
Cherry – Retired teacher and OFA volunteer leader from North
Carolina.
Representative Judy
Chu –
Representing the 32nd District of California.
Representative Emanuel
Cleaver – Representing the 5th District of Missouri. Bill
Daley – Former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama,
former
U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Maria
Elena
Durazo – Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Senator
Dick
Durbin – U.S. Senator from Illinois.
Mayor
Rahm Emanuel – Mayor of Chicago. Senator
Russ Feingold – Former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
Representative Charles
A. Gonzalez – Representing the 20th District of Texas.
Loretta
Harper – High School Counselor and OFA volunteer leader from
Nevada.
Attorney
General Kamala Harris – Attorney General of California.
Sai
Iyer – Student at Virginia Commonwealth University and OFA
volunteer
leader from Virginia. Caroline
Kennedy – Author/President of the John F. Kennedy Library
Foundation.
Eva
Longoria – Actress and Philanthropist. Felesia
Martin – OFA volunteer leader from Wisconsin. Bishop
Vashti McKenzie – African Methodist Episcopal Bishop.
Attorney
General Tom Miller – Attorney General of Iowa. Kalpen
Modi – Actor/Former White House Associate Director for the
Office of
Public Engagement.
Admiral
John Nathman – Retired U.S. Navy Admiral. Governor
Deval Patrick – Governor of Massachusetts.
Secretary
Federico Pena
- Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Secretary of
Energy.
Elaine
Price – Retired Ohio resident and OFA volunteer leader from
Ohio.
Penny
Pritzker – Founder and CEO of PSP Capital Partners. John
Register – U.S. Army Veteran and Paralympian.
Representative Jan
Schakowsky – Representing the 9th District of Illinois. Senator
Jeanne Shaheen – U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.
Joe
Solmonese – President of the Human Rights Campaign. Alan
Solow – Partner at DLA Piper LLP and
past Chairman of the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations. Governor
Ted Strickland – Former Governor of Ohio. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa – Mayor of Los Angeles
Former
A campaign lasting 19 months will experience turnover. Here are some of the many other folks who contributed to the effort:
Deputy Battleground States Director Karine
Jean-Pierre
(announced Aug. 25, 2011 to end of May 2012) A
regional political
director in the
White House Office of Political Affairs. Southern political pod person on
the Obama-Biden campaign. Came to the
campaign
after serving for four months as press secretary to Congressman Anthony
Weiner. Southeast regional political director on John Edwards for
President, Jan. 2007-Feb. 2008. State and local outreach
coordinator
at Wal-Mart Watch, 2006-07. Deputy chief of staff at the New York
City
Council, 2004-06. Master's degree in public policy from Columbia
University's School of International and Public Affairs,
2003.
Deputy Battleground States Director Katie
Ingebretson
(May 2011 to end of May 2012) Digital director
at the U.S.
Department of Defense, Dec. 2009-April 2011. Worked on Obama's
2008 campaign
serving as director of the Virginia Campaign for Change in the Fall;
during the primaries was Waterloo
regional field
director for Obama's Iowa caucus campaign as well as state director on
the Idaho
caucus campaign and Austin regional field director
on the Texas primary campaign. Worked on Virginia
Victory
2005, helping to elect Tim Kaine governor.
A canvassing team member on the 2004 Wisconsin Coordinated
Campaign. Bachelor's degree in philosophy and history from
University of Texas at Austin, 2004. Texas native.
...Ingebretson and Jean-Pierre formed
K Plus K Enterprises, LLC in June
2012.
Director of Voter
Experience Anthea Watson
Strong
(started May 2011 as
product manager on the technology
team; with the campaign to
May 2012).
Project manager for the Voting Information Project, Google and Pew
funded at the New Organizing Institute, 2009-11. Field organizer
in WI, TX, IN and MS on Obama for America from Jan.-June 2008, then
deputy regional field director on the Wisconsin Campaign for Change,
June-Nov. 2008. Associate director at the National Association of
Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. Deputy field organizer on the
Democratic Coordinated Campaign in South Milwaukee, Oct.-Nov.
2006. Legislative fellow in the office of Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney, 2006. J.D. from Boston University School of Law, 2005;
B.A. in business administration from Principia College, 2002.
Chief Financial Officer
Mary Beth Schulz
(April 2011 to April 2012) Special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Financial Management & Comptroller, 2010-11. Controller at the DNC, 2009-10. Valuation services senior associate at KPMG, 2007-09. Auditor at Ernst & Young, 2003-07. M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 2011. M.S. in accountancy from University of Notre Dame, 2004.
Director of Modeling Charles Hammerslough
(Sept. 2011 to
March
2012) Vice president of
research and
development in the Advanced Solutions Group at The Nielsen Company,
2010-11. Director of analytic solutions (contract) at Dunn Solutions
Group, 2009-10. Vice president of predictive analytics at
Sutherland Global Services, 2008-10. Vice president of marketing
analysis at ServiceMaster, 2002-07. Assistant professor at
University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1986-93. Ph.D. in
sociology and demography from Princeton University, 1986; B.A. in
anthropology from Yale University, 1980.
Women Vote Director Heather
Colburn
(Aug. 2011 to
Feb.
2012) Colburn was for some years
a
Madison, WI-based
consultant for progressive non-profits, political
organizations, campaigns and candidates for public office.
Wisconsin state director on the Hillary Clinton for President campaign,
2007-08. In the
2006 cycle she served as deputy campaign manager on Fair Wisconsin, a
statewide
initiative to defeat a constitutional amendment banning civil unions
and
gay marriage. Major gifts and events director at EMILY's List,
1999-2004.
Finance director on Tammy Baldwin's successful campaign for Congress in
1998. B.A. in political science from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
UX Designer Dave Castleton
(June 2011 to
Feb.
2012)
Production assistant (2006-08) and producer/editor (2008-10) at
KUED-TV. B.S. in mass communication from University of Utah, 2006.
Lead Media Analyst Kim Stukel
(July 2011 to Feb. 2012) Senior media analyst for Ace Hardware, May 2005-Nov. 2010. Owner of Stamping Street, 2003-04. Media buyer at Starcom Worldwide, 1998-2002. B.A. in marketing from Lewis University, 1998.
Director of Media Planning Amy Gershkoff
(April 2011...to Burson-Marsteller latter part of
2011) Founding
partner of Changing
Targets Media, a
company
that provides targeting and analysis for paid media campaigns.
Vice
president of analytics at MSHC Partners, 2007-09. Senior
associate at
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, 2006-07. Ph.D. in political
science/methodology from Princeton University. B.A. in economics
and
government from Cornell University.
Digital Projects Manager Michael Gottwald
(June to Nov. 2011) Producer/community and online outreach for Court 13, a film production company headquartered in New Orleans. Ohio new media co-director for Obama for America, June-Nov. 2008. B.A. in film studies from Wesleyan University, 2006.
Ed. Note: Please email
[action08 at gmail] for
additions and corrections.
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facebook
| twitter | state
page
State Director Leanne Townsend
(July 2011) State director of Organizing for America from July 2009-July 2011. B.F.A. from University of Montevallo.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Michelle Meyer
(June 2011) President and owner of VantagePoint
LLC, a political
consulting company from Jan. 2006-June 2011. Campaign manager on
Poe for Alaska gubernatorial primary, 2009-June 2010. Development
director at Oiled Regions of Alaska Foundation, 2008-09. Campaign
coordinator on Cruise Ship Taxation & Regulation Initiative,
2003-06. B.A. in environmental sciences from Western Washington
University, 1985.
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director César Blanco
(reported by Arizona Republic in May 2012) Western regional political director at the DNC starting in Aug. 2011. Seven years experience on Capitol Hill. Chief of staff to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) for several months in late 2010-early 2011. Worked for Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (TX) from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2010 starting as a field deputy and finishing as chief of staff. Worked for Rep. Silvestre Reyes (TX) from Jan. 2004 to early 2007, starting as an intern and continuing as a caseworker. Congressional relations officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Military analyst in the U.S. Navy. Graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso. Native of El Paso; resident of San Antonio.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Gary Moody
Started as state director of Organizing for America in
July 2010. Arkansas communication/field director for Repower
America, 2009-10. National
executive director of Young Democrats of America, April-Aug.
2009. Executive
director of Young Democrats of Arkansas, 2006-09.
Campaign manager at Mike Hathorn for Lt. Governor, 2005-06.
Regional field director on the Arkansas Victory campaign, Fall
2002. Director of marketing and communication at Rheem Media
Consulting, 2001-02. M.A. in communication from University of
Arkansas, 2005; B.A. in political science from University of Arkansas
ad Fayetteville, 2001.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Mary Jane Stevenson
California field director on Obama for America in Fall 2008; Stevenson started as a regional field organizer on Obama's California primary campaign for two Congressional Districts in the Los Angeles area; then was appointed as a precinct coach for nine Congressional Districts from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Before joining the campaign, Stevenson was a national on-air correspondent for Court TV. She also worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder; master's degree in international affairs from American University. twitter
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
Senior Advisor Craig Hughes
(reported by the Denver Post on Feb. 20) Managing director at RBI Strategies; previously research director at the firm, started working at RBI in 1987 as an intern and has been involved in numerous campaigns. Campaign manager on Sen. Michael Bennet's 2010 campaign. Senior advisor for Barack Obama’s 2008 Colorado campaign. Eastern political director in the Clinton White House from 1998-2000. One of the earliest staff members hired for the Clinton for President campaign in 1991, and subsequently worked for both Clinton/Gore campaigns as well as the Democratic National Committee.
State Director Carrie Doyle
(reported by the Denver Post on Feb. 20; start
March 5, 2012) Most recently chief program officer at Western
Conservation Foundation. Campaign director at Western Energy
Project, 2009-11. Executive director at Colorado Conservation
Voters, 2006-09. Advocate for the Colorado Environmental
Coalition, 2003-06. Southwest program manger for the League of
Conservation Voters, 2001-03. Organizer, canvasser and
administrator for PIRGs, 1990-2000. B.A. in American studies from
Stanford University, 1990. twitter
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Aaron Easter Gardner
(May 2012) A legal fellow at the Southern
Poverty Law Center in
New
Orleans before starting on the campaign. Staff assistant to Lt.
Gov. Charles Fogarty. In
the 2008 cycle, Easter Gardner worked as an organizer on Obama's Iowa
caucus campaign, then did projects in
some other states, and was deputy state director in Mississippi in the
Fall; after the campaign he served as an organizer for the PIC.
J.D. from Tulane
Law School, 2012; undergraduate degree from University of Rhode
Island, 2006.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Appollos Baker
(June 2012) Program manager at Sydney Lei &
Associates, Feb.
2011-March 2012. Mississippi field director for the DCCC,
2010. Program director and earlier assistant program coordinator
at the Leon Sullivan Trust, 2007-09. Project director and field
coordinator at the American Cities Foundation, 2005-07. In
2003-04 served as assistant director of canvassing on John Street's
campaign and also worked for America Coming together. Senior
district executive at Boy Scouts of America in Delaware County (suburb
of Philadelphia), 1998-2003. Experience on more than a dozen
campaigns since 1996. B.A. in political science from Florida
Memorial College, 1998.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Kouri Marshall
Experience includes legislative assistant in the government relations and public policy department of Operation HOPE. M.P.A. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. B.A. in communication from Eureka College, 2005. Originally from Peoria, IL.
facebook
| twitter
| state page
State Director Ashley Walker
Florida director of Organizing for America from 2009. Deputy state director for Obama for America in the 2008 general election; Florida staffer for Obama for America in the primary, and earlier deputy to political director Matt Nugen in Chicago. Walker managed Jeremy Ring (D-Margate)'s successful 2006 campaign for State Senate. Staffer to Sen. Bob Graham in his Tallahassee and Miami Lakes offices, 2002-03, then worked on Graham's presidential campaign. M.S. in international affairs from Florida State University; B.A. in sociology from Indiana University. Indiana native.
Senior Advisors
Marcus Jadotte
Managing director for public affairs at NASCAR;
joined NASCAR in March 2005 as senior manager for national media
outreach.Prior to moving over to work
with Senator Edwards in July, Jadotte served as John Kerry's deputy
campaign
manager for over a year, announced May 28, 2003; starting in July 2004
he was deputy campaign manager for VP operations. Chief of staff
in the office of Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-FL). Gore-Lieberman
campaign's Florida state director in 2000.
During the Clinton administration he worked in the Department of Labor
in the Office of the Deputy Secretary and in Congressional and
Intergovernmental
Affairs. In 1998 he served as political director on the
MacKay-Dantzler
campaign for governor of Florida. In 1996 he was a regional
director
on the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign in Florida. Jadotte was
special assistant to the late Gov. Lawton Chiles, and communications
director
for the Florida AFL-CIO. He has worked in the Florida House of
Representatives
and in the Agency for Health Care Administration. B.S.
degree
in Economics from Florida State University. From Opa-locka,
Florida.
Jackie Lee
Founding partner of Sunstream Strategies. Managed the FairDistrictsFlorida campaign in 2010. General election director on Obama's Campaign for Change, announced July 9, 2008. Iowa field director for the John Edwards for President campaign, 2007-08. Statewide field director for the Florida Democratic Party in 2006 and for former Sen. John Edwards’ campaign during the 2004 presidential primary. Lee served as the Delaware state director for the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities and for Americans United to Protect Social Security. Field director for the Oklahoma Democratic Coordinated Campaign. North Central Iowa regional field director for the Edwards for President campaign in 2003-04, and then the campaign's field director in Virginia and Florida. Worked for the Louisiana Democratic Party during Sen. Mary Landrieu's 2002 run-off campaign. Managed a field office for the South Dakota Democratic Party during Sen. Tim Johnson's 2002 re-election campaign. B.A. in international relations from University of Delaware.
Steve Schale
President at Schale Strategies since Jan. 2009. State director on Obama's 2008 campaign (from Florida Democrats' House Victory political director since 2005 (appointed by Democratic Leader Dan Gelber). Communications director/press secretary for the Florida Democrats in the State House (House Democratic Leader Doug Wiles). Legislative assistant in the Florida House. B.A. in history and political science from Sewanee-The University of the South, 1996, and M.A. in communications from Florida State University, 2009. From St. Augustine.
facebook
| twitter | state page
State Director Meredith Lilly
(April 2, 2012) Most recently a political
appointee, serving as senior advisor to the Regional Administrator at
the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in Atlanta, GA.
Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign from Aug. 2007. Attorney in
private practice (Lilly & Associates, LLC), 2006-07. J.D.
from Texas Southern University-Thurgood Marshall School of Law,
2005. B.A. in history/pre-law from Talladega College.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Ria Baldevia
State director for Organizing for American-DNC in 2009. A field organizer on Obama's campaign in Fall 2008 and field director on his Guam caucus effort. Founder and principal of The Sensus Group, a Hawaii-based digital marketing & consulting firm. Author of the children’s adventure series, Meena and Friends. Undergraduate degree in economics from Trinity College in Washington DC, 2005. Born and raised in Guam.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Lance Whitney
(Aug. 2011) State director for Organizing for
America-DNC,
2009-11. Worked on Obama's 2008 campaign as rural field director
in Carson City, NV in the Fall, and earlier as a field organizer.
facebook
| twitter
|
state
page
State Director Janelle Rau-Clauson
(May 2012) At SEIU since March 2001
starting as political and communications director for SEIU Local 284,
then Midwest area political director and most recently Midwest
assistant area director. Deputy finance director on Mark Dayton
for U.S. Senate campaign, Fall 2000. Legislative assistant,
public information specialist at the Minnesota State Senate,
1999-2000. Fundraiser on Freeman for Governor, 1997-98.
B.A. in political science from University of Minnesota, 1997.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Peter Luster
(Aug. 2011) ???
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director Brad Anderson
(announced Jan. 18, 2012) A partner at Link
Strategies, a Des Moines-based political consulting firm from May 2008.
Iowa communications director for Obama for America in the Fall 2008
campaign. Communications director to then-Secretary of State Chet
Culver's campaign for
Governor and continued as Gov. Culver's communications director, Aug.
2006-May 2008. Worked for LinkStrategies, the Des Moines-based
political consulting
firm. Policy
director on John Edwards' 2003-04 Iowa
caucus campaign. Research director for Sen. Tom Harkin's 2002
re-election
campaign.
Senior research associate at the DNC during the 2000 presidential
election.
Researcher on Edwards' 1998 Senate campaign. Graduate of North
Carolina
State University with a degree in political science/criminal
justice. twitter
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Aude Negrete
Community organizer for CASA de Maryland. Field
and outreach director at the Kansas Democratic Party, 2009-10.
B.A. degree in political science from University of Kansas.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Keidra King
Executive assistant to Congressman John Yarmuth from Jan. 2007-Jan. 2012. Worked on Obama's 2007-08 primary campaign in South Carolina. Worked on campaigns in Cincinnati. Attended Northern Kentucky University, 2000-05. Louisville native.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Pat McCollough
Ordained minister from Hawthorne, FL (Gainesville area). Active in the 2008 campaign starting as a grassroots leader and then a Summer Fellow. Served in the Marine Corps for 25 1/2 years, retiring as Marine Sergeant Major. Degree in physical education from the University of Florida.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Toby McGrath
(April 2012) Political director (government affairs consultant) at Maine Street Solutions from June 2009. Associate administrator of field operations at the U.S. Small Business Administration, Feb.-June 2009. Maine state director on Obama for America, early July-Nov. 2012. Chief of staff to Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, 2004-06. Maine House Democratic Caucus Director, 2002-04. Graduate of Bowdoin College.
facebook
| twitter |
state
page
State Director Jason Waskey
Special assistant to Secretary of State John P.
McDonough,
2007-09. In 2008 Waskey was a near full-time volunteer on the
Obama Maryland campaign. Degree in American studies from
University of Maryland College Park, 2005.
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director Carl Nilsson
Previously campaigns director at Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts. twitter
facebook
| twitter |
state page
Senior Advisor Amy Chapman
(early May 2012) Founder (2007) and CEO of ISSI, a data management, modeling, polling and analytics, and strategic consulting firm. Michigan state director on Obama's 2008 general election campaign. Executive director of Grassroots Democrats, an independent non-profit 527 political organization dedicated to strengthening the infrastructure and financial resources of state Democratic parties. Managed the Michigan Democratic coordinated campaign in 2002. Midwest political director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), 2002. Led the DNC's state legislative redistricting project in 2001. Campaign director for the AFL-CIO from 1997-2001. Managed the Michigan Democratic coordinated campaign in 1996. Managed Ron Wyden's successful 1995 special election campaign for U.S. Senate in Oregon. Managed Kitzhaber for Governor of Oregon in 1994. Executive director of College Democrats of America, 1993-94. Oregon state director for Clinton/Gore in 1992. Political field director SEIU, 1983-91, and during that time also served as a staffer on Dukakis for President, 1988; Western field director on Bob Casey for Governor, 1986; deputy field director and assistant to the political director on Cranston for President, 1983-84. Worked on Frank Lautenberg's 1982 campaign for U.S. Senate. Field staff on Gene Maguire for Congress in New Jersey, 1980. B.A. in politics and journalism from New York University, 1983. New Jersey native.
State Director Lavora Barnes
(early May 2012) Communications manager for
public policy and social mission at Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan.
Communications director for the Michigan House Democratic Caucus,
starting 2007. Worked a regional desk in the Office of Media
Affairs at
the White House. Virginia press secretary on the Clinton-Gore '92
campaign. Legislative affairs associate for the Virginia Trial
Lawyers Association. Field director on the Saslaw for Lieutenant
Governor campaign in Virginia, 1989 (lost in the primary to Don
Beyer). B.A. from The College of William and Mary, 1987.
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| twitter |
state page
State Director Jeff Blodgett
(Blodgett was also MN state director in Fall 2008) Founding director of Wellstone Action. Senior advisor to Amy Klobuchar’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2006. Oversaw get-out-the-vote efforts in Minnesota for Kerry/Edwards in 2004. Thirteen years as a senior aide, advisor, and campaign manager to the late Senator Paul Wellstone; ran all three of Wellstone’s Senate races. Began his career as a community organizer working with family farmers during the farm crisis of the 1980s. M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, 1998. Undergraduate degree from Carleton College, 1983.
facebook
| twitter
| state
page
State Director Kenya Collins
(April 2012; acting state director from Jan.
2012) Started on the campaign as a full time volunteer
leader in 2011.
State director of Students 4 DuPree and special events manager for the
Johnny DuPree for Governor campaign, 2011. Web and public
relations coordinator for the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau,
2006-09. Volunteered on Obama's 2008 campaign. B.S. in
elementary education from Jackson State University, 2000. From
Jackson,
MS.
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director Brian Ponton
Victory 2010/Democratic Party of Virginia 11th CD field director. Regional field director on St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's April 2009 re-election campaign. Deputy regional field director on Obama's Campaign for Change in Missouri. Graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.
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| twitter
| state
page
State Director Judith Heilman
(May 2012; started as a neighborhood team leader in Bozeman in Oct. 2011) Executive assistant to the president at Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply, Aug. 2005-April 2012. Heilman and her husband moved to Montana in 2005. Previously she worked for ten years of arranging custom travel and leading international tour groups. Started in law enforcement in 1974 and retired as a detective sergeant. Bachelor's degree from San Jose State University. San Francisco native.
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director Zack Burgin
Regional organizer at Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Nov. 2009-Oct. 2011. Regional field director in Omaha for Organizing for America, June-Oct. 2009. Studied history at Wayne State University. twitter
facebook | twitter | state
page
State Director Luke Hayes
(June 2011) Texas state director for Organizing for America, 2009-10. Field organizer on Obama's 2007-08 Nevada caucus campaign; in Fall 2008 Hayes served as deputy field director on the Virginia Campaign for Change. Worked on Will Wynn’s 2006 campaign for Mayor of Austin, TX. Graduate of Vassar College. Originally from the Bronx. twitter
facebook | twitter | state
page
State Director Pete Kavanaugh
A principal at Hilltop Public
Solutions. Advisor on the Jody Wagner for Lt. Governor campaign
in Virginia, 2009, and on the Terry McAuliffe for Governor campaign in
Virginia, 2009. Field director on the Virginia Democratic
Coordinated Campaign, 2008. New Hampshire deputy field director
on John Edwards for President, 2007-08. Deputy director of the
Missouri Democratic Coordinated Campaign, 2006. Field director on
the Scott Lang for Mayor campaign in New Bedford, MA, 2005.
Political director at IssuesMatter.org, 2004. Political director
on Jim Stork for Congress in FL-22, 2004. New Hampshire political
assistant on the John Edwards for President campaign, 2003-04. twitter
facebook | twitter | state page
State Director Geoffrey Borshof
(Aug. 2012) President of Mosaic Strategies Group
since March 2010. Marketing vice president at the International
Monetary Exchange, 2008-10. Campaign manager on Greenstein and
DeAngelo for Assembly, 2009. Deputy field director on the 2008
New Jersey Coordinated Campaign. Served several
months as 12th CD field director on Lautenberg
for Senate, 2008. Statewide volunteer director on Hillary Clinton
for
President. 12th CD field director on the Coordinated Campaign,
2007. Field director for the DCCC in New Philadelphia, OH in Fall
2006. Deputy field director on Tom Suozzi for Governor,
2006. Statewide volunteer coordinator on Corzine for Governor,
2005. Master's degree in literature from Montclair State
University,
2005; bachelor's degree in literature from Rutgers, 2001.
[succeeded Jackie Cornell-Bechelli, who moved over to become a deputy
field director in Pennsylvania]
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| twitter
| state
page
State Director Pamela D. Coleman
Self employed management and business consultant, 2003-09. Vice president, general counsel, sales, marketing and public relations at Gordon's Pies/Top of the Tree Baking Company in Londonderry, NH, 1997-2002. Associate at Pryor Cashman LLP, 1992-96. J.D. from New York Law School, 1992. twitter
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| twitter
| state
page
State Director Robert Diamond
(also National Director, Veterans and Military
Families Outreach)
A "former finance-type," Diamond was a vice president at Bear Stearns
& Co, Inc., in the Structured
Equity Products/Equity Finance group and a senior vice president at
Realty Capital International LLC. Officer in the U.S. Navy for
seven years. Bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy.
NYC native. twitter
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| twitter |
state
page
Senior Advisor Courtney Crowder
Legislative director for Gov. Bev Perdue, Jan. 2009-summer 2012. Account supervisor at Capstrat, May 2006-Jan. 2009. Special assistant to the Commissioner of the NC Department of Insurance, 2003-06). District representative for Congressman Bob Etheridge, 2000-03. Master's degree in liberal studies from Duke University, 2004; B.A. in English language and literature, French from North Carolina Central University, 2000.
State Director Lindsay Siler
(Sept. 2011) NC state director on Organizing for America from June 2009-Sept. 2011. Director of public policy at Planned Parenthood Health Systems, 2005-June 2009. Graduate of University of Southern California. twitter
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| twitter |
state
page
State Director Kyle Locket
(Feb. 2012) Partner at Cultivated Media from March 2009. Assistant operations officer at Community Options, Inc. July 2009-Jan. 2011. Field operations coordinator on Earl Pomeroy for Congress, May-Nov. 2008. Other experience includes sales associate, project manager and biological technician. Bachelor's degree in university studies from North Dakota State University, 2007.
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| twitter | state
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Senior Advisor Aaron Pickrell
(reported by the Columbus Dispatch on March 7, 2012) Ohio state director for Obama for America in 2008. Campaign manager on the Strickland for Governor campaign in 2006. Chief operating officer at DCS Congressional. Political director on John Edwards' 2003-04 Iowa caucus campaign. Chief of staff to Rep. Leonard Boswell for two years prior to joining the campaign. Worked a stint at Kieloch Consulting in Washington, DC. Finance director for Vilsack/Pederson Inaugural Committee, 1999. Finance director/deputy campaign manager for Boswell's re-election campaign, 1997-98. Deputy director of operations for the Iowa Democratic Party, 1995-96. Field staff/office manager for Nagle for Congress in Waterloo, Jan.-May 1995. Graduate of Iowa State University, 1994. twitter
State Director Greg Schultz
Started mid-March 2009 as state director of Organizing
for America.
Deputy political director on the Ohio Campaign for Change in Fall
2008. Legislative liaison for Gov.
Ted Strickland in the Department of Administrative Services.
First vice president of Ohio Young Democrats. B.A. in history and
political science from The Ohio State University, 2003; M.Ed from The
Ohio State University 2004. twitter
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State Director Miguel Medrano
(Nov. 2011) Operations-Stimulus Division at the
Oklahoma Department of
Commerce. A founding member of Change Oklahoma, a local political
advocacy group, has worked on several state and local campaigns, and
was a volunteer on President Obama’s 2008 campaign. Interned for
Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Spring 2008 as part of the Native American
Political Leadership Program (NAPLP). Combat veteran with service
in Iraq and Kosovo/Albania; over 11 years in the U.S Army.
Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Central
Oklahoma.
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State Director Brandyn Keating
(Oct. 2011) Virginia state director of
Organizing for America from
June
2009. In the Fall of 2008 Keating
served as GOTV
director on the Campaign for Change in Wisconsin. Field director
at Coalition for Our
Communities, the campaign against a Sept. 2008 ballot initiative to
eliminate the Mass. income tax. Worked in field on the Obama
campaign in March-April 2008. Finance director of the
Massachusetts Democratic Party, 2007-ea. 2008. Executive director
of the
Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, Sept. 2005-June 2007. Regional
field director on Deval Patrick's 2006 campaign for governor.
Lead organizer for the Coalition for Social Justice/Coalition Against
Poverty. Graduate of Suffolk University Law School, 2006;
bachelor’s degrees in
philosophy and political science at Bridgewater
State College..
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State
Director Bill Hyers
Campaign manager on Gov. Steve Beshear's re-elect
campaign in Kentucky, 2011. Campaign manager on Milwaukee Mayor
Tom
Barrett's 2010 gubernatorial campaign. White House’s liaison to
the Department of Veterans Affairs. Midwest regional director on
Obama's general election campaign. Campaign manager on Jeanne
Shaheen's U.S. Senate campaign in New Hampshire from Nov. 2007-July
2008. State director on former Sen. John
Edwards' Nevada caucus campaign. Campaign manager on Michael
Nutter for
Mayor May 2007 Democratic primary campaign in Philadelphia.
Campaign
manager for Kristen
Gillibrand’s successful 2006 congressional campaign in New York’s 20th
district, defeating the incumbent Republican congressman. In Fall
2004,
Hyers worked as the Coordinated Campaign Director in Alaska.
Central Iowa regional field director on Edwards' 2003-04 Iowa
caucus campaign. State field director for the Judi Dutcher for
Governor
primary campaign and then regional director for the Minnesota State
House
DFL Caucus in the 2002 cycle. Worked on a number of local
campaigns
in Duluth and Minneapolis starting in 2001. Before entering
the political field, Hyers served in the U.S. Army, 1993-98; as a
Military Police
soldier; he was stationed in Bosnia during Operation Joint
Endeavor.
B.A. in political science from St. Cloud State University in
MN.
Illinois native.
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State Director Devin Driscoll
(Nov. 2011) Campaign manager on Mary Doran for Saint Paul Public Schools, Aug.-Nov. 2011. Account executive at True North Communications, Jan.-Aug. 2009. A field organizer in Rhode Island for the Obama campaign, Fall 2008. M.P.P from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, 2011; B.A. in English from Providence College, May 2008; served for 18 months as chairman of the College Democrats of Rhode Island (CDRI) and as deputy state director of RI Students for Barack Obama starting in May 2007. Oregon native.
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Acting State Director and Field Director
Alex Papadopoulos
Field director on Saqib Ali for State Senate (MD) Sept. 2010 primary campaign. Studied sociology at Dickinson College. From Chevy Chase, MD.
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State Director Zachary Nistler
(March 2012) Worked on vetting in Presidential
Personnel at the White House, Jan.-June 2011. Organizing for
America intern in Sioux Falls, Sept. 2009-Dec. 2010. B.S. in
political science from South Dakota State University, 2011.
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State Director Justin Wilkins
(July 2011) Tennessee state director for
Organizing for American
from July 2009-April 2011. East Tennessee volunteer coordinator
on the 2008
campaign and attended Camp Obama in summer 2007. Project manager
at Profit Plans LLC, 2004-09. Bachelor's degree in nonprofit
management from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 2004.. twitter
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State Director Hector Nieto
In the 2008 cycle Nieto was communications
director for the Texas Democratic Party after serving as deputy
communications director. Legislative director for Texas
Representative Rafael
Anchia. Field representative to Congressman Martin Frost for
three
years. Graduate of St. Edwards University in Austin, TX.
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State Director Igor Limansky
(Nov. 2011) Consultant on creative and cultural industries for UNESCO, May-Nov. 2011. Field organizer for Environmental Defense Fund, summer 2009. Volunteer/field organizer for the Obama campaign, June-Nov. 2008; also festival director for Utah United, June-Oct. 2008. B.A. in English from University of Utah, 2008.
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State Director Dan Mulligan
(Oct. 2011) National field organizer at Democracy for America (PAC), April 2010-July 2011. In the first part of 2010 served as a field organizer for Maine Change that Works (SEIU). Field organizer for the Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO, June 2009-Jan. 2010. Regional field coordinator on Massa for Congress campaign in NY 29, Feb.-Nov. 2008. B.A. in criminal justice/sociology from SUNY Plattsburgh, 2007.
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Senior Advisor Dan Kanninen
Initially Northeast regional director in Chicago. White House Liaison to the EPA. Legislative director to Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin from Dec. 2008. Wisconsin state director of Obama for America in the general election; during the primaries Kanninen took leave from his position as chief of staff to Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar) to work on the campaign in WI, OH (early vote lead) and NC (deputy political director and GOTV political director). Chief of staff to Jauch for four years, and has almost a decade of experience in the Wisconsin State Capitol. Attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Grew up in Superior, WI.
State Director Lise Clavel
(reported Oct. 10, 2011) Deputy director of the
FOX campaign at Media Matters, Feb.-Aug. 2011. Congressman Tom
Perriello (VA-5)'s chief of staff, Jan. 2009-Jan. 2011, and campaign
manager
of the Perriello for Congress campaigns in 2008 and 2010.
Producer at Scholastic, June 2006-Jan. 2008. B.A. in English from
Yale University, 2002. twitter
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State Director Chelsea Turnbull (née
Waliser)
(Jan. 2012) Special assistant to the regional administrator at the General Services Administration, 2009-early 2012. Account executive at Nyhus Communications, 2009. Worked on Obama for America, including Polk County regional field director for the Iowa caucus campaign and Washington state director, and in the fall Washington state field director on the Campaign for Change, 2007-08. Public information officer for the Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus in first part of 2007. Political director on Adam Smith for Congress, 2005-07. Field organizer on People for Patty Murray, 2004. B.A. in politics and government from University of Puget Sound, 2004.
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State Director Alisa Clements
(March 2012) Keyholder/sale associate at
American Eagle
Outfitters. Regional field director on Elect Natalie Tennant
(primary candidate for governor of WV), Spring 2011. Field
organizer for the DCCC in WV, Fall 2010. Field organizer for
Repower America, 2009-10. Community organizer and intern on
Obama's 2008 campaign. B.A. in communication from Waynesburg
College, 2007.
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Senior Advisor Tanya Bjork
Senior advisor to Protect Your Care, a healthcare
advocacy group, from
2010. Director of federal affairs for Gov. Jim Doyle 2009-10.
Wisconsin general election director on Obama's 2008
campaign. A
regional director for EMILY's List to 2008. In
2004 Bjork served as
the AFL-CIO desk coordinator for MN, WI and
IL, based in Madison. Aide to state Senator Brian Burke.
Assembly
Democratic Caucus (ADC) director under State Representative Shirley
Krug in 2000. Political director for U.S. Sen. Russ
Feingold's re-election campaign in 1998. Field
director for U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone's re-election campaign in 1996.
State Director Tripp Wellde
Worked on Obama's 2007-08 campaign starting on March 3, 2007, working in Davenport, IA for the caucuses, and later served as a regional field director in Nevada, Minnesota, and Ohio, and as deputy field director in North Carolina; and in the fall was filed director on the Iowa Campaign for Change. Graduate of the University of Richmond. twitter
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State Director Robert Vernon-Kubichek
Working towards an M.A. in political science and
graduate assistant at
the University of Wyoming. B.A. in political science from the
University of Wyoming, 2010, after attending University of Utah.
Grew up in Casper and graduated from Natrona County High School.
Senior Advisor David Plouffe
(started at the White House in Jan. 2011; to coordinate between the campaign and the White House) Joined AKP Message & Media in winter 2000 and became a named partner in Feb. 2004. Senior political advisor on Dick Gephardt's 2004 presidential campaign. Executive director of the DCCC, 1999-2000. Gephardt's deputy chief of staff, 1997-98. Managed Bob Torricelli's 1996 campaign for U.S. Senate in New Jersey. Campaign director at the DSCC in 1995. Managed Attorney General Charlie Oberly's unsuccessful U.S. Senate race against Sen. Bill Roth in Delaware in 1994. Managed Rep. John Olver's (D-MA) 1992 re-election campaign. Served as a state field director for Sen. Tom Harkin's 1992 presidential campaign, after serving as deputy field director in Harkin's 1990 U.S. Senate race. Attended University of Delaware from fall 1985 through fall 1988 as a political science major.
Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
(announced April 5, 2011, succeeding Tim Kaine;
elected May 4)
Elected to represent Florida's 20th CD (parts of Broward and Miami-Dade
Counties) in Nov. 2004 ("first Jewish Congresswoman ever elected from
Florida"). Member of the Florida Senate, 2000-04. Member of
the Florida House, 1992-2000. Aide to U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch,
1989-92. Bachelor's degree in political science from the
University of Florida, 1988; Master's degree in 1990. Originally
from New York.
Executive Director Patrick Gaspard
(announced
Jan.
20, 2011)
White House political director
since Jan. 2009. Political director on Obama's 2008
campaign. Executive vice president of politics and legislation
for Local 1199
SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. In 2006 he served as
acting political director for SEIU international. National field
director for America Coming Together, 2004. Acting field director
on Howard Dean's South Carolina primary campaign. 1199 SEIU
deputy
director. Chief of staff to New York City Council member
Margarita Lopez. Worked on David Dinkins' 1989 campaign for
Mayor of New York City, then worked for four years for Mayor Dinkins in
advance and political, and on Dinkins' unsucessful 1993 re-election
effort. Helped
on Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign. Studied at
Columbia University School of General Studies, 1994-97. Born in
Democratic Republic of Congo of
Haitian parents; grew up in New York City.