Meet our trainers

Alexa Jakusovszky is currently pursuing an MBA at Willamette University's Atkinson Graduate School of Management in Portland. They grew up in the mountains of Colorado but moved to Oregon to study International Affairs and Gender Studies at Lewis & Clark College. Prior to business school, Alexa spent time working in development and communications at a nonprofit where they discovered their passion for transportation policy. Alexa later transitioned to a policy role at the state legislature where they could make a larger impact in this arena. They currently serve as the Legislative Director for Oregon State Representative Karin Power. In this role, they focus on energy policy and LGBTQ+ advocacy. They hope to use their MBA to enhance collaboration between Oregon's private and public sector. In their free time, Alexa enjoys long distance bike riding and exploring new Portland restaurants.

Amanda Clarke is a political professional with six years of experience developing and managing organizing programs across the country. After helping elect New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2013, she joined Ro Khanna’s congressional campaign in Northern California. She joined Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign in 2015 in Nevada. After helping Hillary win the Nevada caucus in the 2016 Presidential, she ran one of the largest voter registration programs in the country in North Carolina and helped elect Governor Roy Cooper. She subsequently joined Jim Johnson’s gubernatorial race in New Jersey as Organizing Director, and then returned to New York City to run Mayor de Blasio’s organizing and digital organizing programs for his re-election campaign. She most recently served as a Regional Director with Run for Something, an organization whose mission is to build a deep and diverse Democratic bench of candidates at the state and local level.

Ambar Calvillo-Rivera is the Principal and Co-Founder of CR Strategies LLC, a stakeholder and civic engagement consulting firm. Ambar brings nearly a decade of experience in strategic partner engagement, coalition building, and civic engagement across diverse communities. Ambar served as the Vice President of Campaigns for Voto Latino, where she led the implementation of Somos Más, a national campaign that mobilized young Latinos with SMS and digital engagement ahead of the historic 2018 midterm elections, successfully registering 202,339 people to vote in 11 states, with 76% voter turnout. Prior to that, Ambar led the mobilization of national organizations and caucuses during the historic 2017 special elections, to support down-ballot candidates across the country, as the Director of Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She also previously served as National Director of Field and Partner Engagement for Enroll America.

Anastasia Apa runs ApaFirm, inc., which provides progressive political organizations and non-profits with management and fundraising consulting services. Her favorite things to do are problem solve, plan and organize. In 2002, she managed her first political campaign and quickly realized that if there was no money, there was nothing to manage, so she focused on fundraising. Since, she has traveled the country, managing political campaigns and raising money while building a fundraising system based on what she’s learned over the last 17 years, 38 states, and $50,000,000 raised.

Apa, as she is called, has worked no “easy races”, always opting for the chance to do what folks say cannot be done, and specializes in raising money in tough-to-win races, Republican-stronghold districts, and with first-time candidates or elected officials who had not had to raise much money in past elections. Apa’s strengths are fundraising, management, and operations.

Andrea Johnson’s first campaign staff job was in 1999, with Sen. Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. Since then she’s worked on campaigns big and small, from presidential to state house, and has worked in almost all regions of the country. Andrea has worked on 4 of the last 5 presidential campaigns cycles. Most of her experience is in digital, in particular, online fundraising and organizing, but she’s also worked in the field, fundraising, communications, message development, and has managed campaigns. Outside of campaigns, Andrea has worked with Moveon.org and the Kaiser Family Foundation. She currently focuses primarily on getting Democrats elected in Kansas, her home state—and she was Hillary Clinton’s Kansas State Director. Andrea has an undergraduate degree from Rice University and a graduate degree from Harvard.

Andrea Kraus is no stranger to swing states and purple regions. Growing up in Kissimmee, Florida, she first discovered volunteering with Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. In 2012 in Ohio she was back at it again in her college town of Delaware, OH. In 2013 her first job out of college was as an organizer in Loudon County, VA for Terry McAuliffe’s gubernatorial election and followed up with Jennifer Wexton’s first state senate campaign. In 2014 she worked in Dillingham, AK as the regional field director for Bristol Bay, on the rural Alaska team for Mark Begich’s senate race. Since campaigning she has lived in Seattle enjoying the Pacific Northwest, her dog Hamilton, and working on adult education in tech. She is passionate about empowering women, people of color, and underrepresented folks from all stretches of the US though education, knowledge sharing, and winning Democratic seats up and down the ticket.

Anna has a background in civic engagement, policy, community and labor organizing. As the daughter of Polish immigrants and a first-generation college graduate, Anna’s initial ventures in organizing were on her own campus, leading a campaign to declare hers and other colleges in the region Sanctuary Campuses. Anna’s current role is at BallotReady, a start-up with the mission of informing and turning out voters.

Previously, Anna worked for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and later worked as a labor organizer with SEIU and AFT/AFL-CIO. Working her way through many electoral campaigns, in 2016, Anna was the GOTV Director on an issue-based electoral campaign with NextGen America. There she led the largest youth voter engagement program ever—spanning 96 campuses.

As the Roosevelt Institute’s Midwest Director, Anna oversaw a growing student network of policy wonks and activists.

Atima Omara is a nationally recognized award-winning political strategist, leader, advocate, and speaker who has focused her 16-year career on engaging youth, women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people at the intersection of politics and advocacy in the progressive movement. As President of Omara Strategy Group, LLC, Atima provides, training, coaching, and strategic political services to political candidates and organizations that center women, people of color, and LGBTQ people in their advocacy and campaigns. Over a decade, she worked as campaign manager, field director, finance staff, and other staff on more than nine federal, state, & local political campaigns in many red and battleground states across the country. She has also successfully led organizing efforts for voter registration, ballot initiatives, and GOTV operations in low-income communities of color and immigrant communities. She has a BA from the University of Virginia and an MPA from George Mason University.

Austen is a native North Carolinian with a background in counseling, childcare, and education.

Austen served as Executive Director of Wake County Democratic Party from 2014 to 2018. She directed the federalized county party to facilitate Senator Kay Hagan’s statewide coordinated campaign while overseeing the More with Four Campaign to flip the Wake County Commission to a 7-0 Democratic majority. In 2016, Austen led Wake County Democrats to historic voter turnout of 75.33% which provided 19,000 more votes for Governor Roy Cooper than any other county in NC.

Austen offers general consulting services and trainings to elected officials, campaigns, and nonprofits. In her free time, Austen enjoys NYT crossword puzzles, cooking for friends, and trying to convince everyone to buy an espresso machine.

Ben Deverman is the current Field and Data Director for the South Dakota Democratic Party. He is responsible for developing and mobilizing field strategies for progressive candidates in South Dakota. Prior to working for the SDDP, Ben graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in Political Science and History. He has been involved with Democratic politics in South Dakota for several cycles and has helped candidates running in municipal, legislative, and statewide elections. Ben currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with his fiancé Gabrielle and his cat Luna.

Briayna is a lifelong Democrat whose community involvement and calling to public service began in elementary school. Her upbringing by politically active elders has resulted in valuing cultural awareness, social and racial justice, the political process, and a desire to bring intersectionality to politics. From door-knocking to serving as a Campaign Manager, she takes delight in being a part of campaigns whenever and however, she can.

While completing her degree at High Point University in North Carolina, she held internships with World Relief, the Guilford County Democratic Party, U.S. House of Representatives, and more. Over the years she acquired significant hands-on digital marketing and public relations experience, in addition to working in the state legislature.

In 2018, Briayna was featured as a High Achieving Millennial by SparkVision, currently serves on the Board of Supervisors of Elections for her municipality, and works for the federal government.

Brittny Baxter is a Political Organizer currently in Maryland. She is the Progressive Pipeline Coordinator for Maryland Working Families, and she is responsible for coordinating statewide trainings in partnership with Wellstone Action to prepare progressive Democrats, their campaign managers and grassroots organizers to run and win effective campaigns. Brittny is from Buffalo NY, where she cut her teeth on local and state legislative races. She formerly worked for New York Working Families as the Upstate Legislative Organizer, mobilizing and uniting labor, EJ, racial justice and community groups across the state. She has worked on many issue campaigns from environmental justice and safe staffing to the Fight for $15 and reproductive rights.

A strong supporter of labor and a former AFT organizer for NYSUT, she is committed to the fight for equity for all. “I stand with the poor, people of color, LGBTQ folks, immigrants and organized labor because our liberation is bound together.

Bryan Eastman believes that digital strategy is the future of politics, and the way Democrats will win the future. He is currently a partner at Statecraft Digital, a progressive digital marketing firm that works to bring cutting edge targeting and strategy to Democratic candidates at all levels. He is also the founder of PoliEngine, a web building, design, and hosting platform for Democratic candidates and issues. Bryan has worked on dozens of races across the United States, from Congress to City Council, using a “digital first” model to integrate digital strategy and analytics into every facet of the campaign. For this work he has flipped dozens of races blue, was named a “Rising Star” of Florida politics in 2019 by Influence Magazine, and won numerous awards. While politics consumes most of his time, Bryan’s happiest when he’s out hiking and birding with his wife, playing bluegrass/country music around his home city of Gainesville, Florida, and nerding out on American history.

Flint Community Schools, industrious parents, Flint’s Fifth Ward, and a fair share of luck have contributed to the Social Scientist that is Calvin Orr II. Calvin’s parents, both entrepreneurs, modeled the importance of cultivating relationships, while his stepmother exemplified brilliant teaching. Calvin leveraged his personal experiences to earned a BS in communications, interdisciplinary leadership, and nonprofit administration from Eastern Michigan University and a MSW specializing in community partnerships from Georgia State University. As Principal Consultant at Stoëx LLC, Calvin has trained hundreds of progressive individuals representing dozens of progressive organizations over the previous five years. His clients have won issue campaigns, nationally. Calvin is an expert at walking clients through a process of cultivating emotional intelligence and leveraging deep authentic relationships to meet campaign fundraising goals.

Carly Manes is a reproductive health, rights, and justice advocate based in Washington, DC. She is currently the Director of Training and Fellowships at Priorities USA, working to increase Democratic power and digital infrastructure across the country. She is a practicing abortion and birth doula, and runs an on-the-ground collective in DC to support patients traveling to the area for abortion care beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy. She loves chicken tenders and the ocean.

Cheryl Mayes currently serves as the Director of Finance & Operations for the office of Congressman Jim Cooper, TN, District 05. She has previously worked in as an Accountant, Community Engagement Advocate/Organizer and Education Program Director. In 2017, Cheryl founded and is the CEO/Principal Consultant of My Toolbox Consulting, a leadership development and training consulting firm based in Nashville, TN.

Cheryl was elected to public office as a member of the Board of Education for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) where she served for four years, her last two as the Chairperson of the Board (2012-2014).

Cheryl earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Tennessee State University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Organizational Leadership from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Christopher has a singular fascination with the nature of leadership, civic society, and governmental structure. For the better part of a decade, he devoted his academic like to the study of political theory and history. In the wake of the 2016 election cycle, he decided that it was time to make a shift from the bookshelf to the ballot box. He signed on with MO Political Consulting, and hit the ground running.

Since then, Christopher has worked on over a dozen Missouri campaigns, including Annie Rice's race for the 8th Ward, Paula Brown's win in House District 70, and most recently Trish Gunby's flip of District 99. He has organized field programs, fundraisers, and election-day efforts alike, and has personally knocked thousands of doors on behalf of candidates worth fighting for. Now, he wants to bring those skills to Democrats nationwide, to help them thrive in organizing, advocacy, and activism.

Chuck Cook is the former Political Director of the Maryland Democratic Party. He’s a veteran of numerous campaigns at every level of government, and was the Field Director for the Maryland Democratic Party for President Obama’s re-election in 2012. Originally a software developer, he left his former career in 2008, and has worked on Congressional campaigns, Gubernatorial campaigns, County Council campaigns, and Mayoral campaigns. Most recently, he ran the coordinated field program in the City of Annapolis, Maryland for the November 2017 Election. His passion in electoral politics is in messaging and field for Progressive Democratic candidates who support Unions and working families. Chuck lives in Crofton, Maryland with his wife Jessica—a Special Educator at Old Mill High School—and their three children.

Colmon Elridge has been a leader in Kentucky and national politics and governing for over a decade. Coming from humble beginnings, Colmon broke the cycle of poverty through hard work, education, and opportunities afforded to him through the Democratic Party.

Colmon, 37, has served as the Outreach Director for the Kentucky Democratic Party, served two terms as the Executive Vice President of the Young Democrats of America, and served for eight years as the Executive Assistant and Senior Advisor the Kentucky’s 61st Governor.

Colmon, his wife Victoria, and their three sons Colmon, Carter, and Camden, live in Georgetown, KY.

Dan Kovats has worked on campaigns for 10 years, starting on local races & working his way up. In 2014 he served as the Downstate Field Director & Deputy Political Director for US Senator Dick Durbin’s campaign. He served as Campaign Manager & Advisor for several candidates including Springfield Alderwoman Kristin DiCenso, District 186 School Board Vice President Scott McFarland, and Rianne Hawkins for City Clerk. In 2012, he was elected Vice Chair of the Sangamon County Democratic Party to oversee all campaign & Get Out The Vote operations within the county.

He is currently the Executive Director of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA). The IDCCA’s mission is to be a Democratic partnership resource for all 102 Democratic County Party Chairs’, to support the political agenda of the Democratic Party, to grow the Party, and to elect Democrats at every level including county, statewide, & national.

Dan lives with his wife Jennifer & two children in Chatham, IL.

Danielle Winterhalter specializes in political messaging, policy development, campaign management, and both traditional and emerging media communication tools. Currently, Danielle serves as the Managing Director of SpeakEasy Political—a political communications firm aimed at leveraging tech tools to cut costs in campaign advertising for down-ballot races and progressive organizations.

Prior to her current role, Danielle worked as a Campaign Manager, Policy Director, and political consultant where she’s scripted speeches, developed bipartisan policy initiatives, managed campaigns, and executed comprehensive, multichannel communication strategies for Democratic candidates, progressive causes and labor organizations.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Danielle is obsessed with her family, reading the NYT in print, running the National Mall, and crafting cocktails.

Derek is an educator, coach and political professional based in Raleigh, NC. After working for the Iowa Democratic Party during the 2018 campaign cycle, he served as a District Representative for Congresswoman Cindy Axne in Iowa's 3rd District. Prior to that, Derek was a high school social studies teacher and administrator and earned a Master's Degree in Education in 2017. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Derek entered politics in 2006 as a volunteer in the effort to pass marriage equality in Wisconsin and has advocated for Democratic candidates, teacher's unions and progressive movements ever since. When not teaching, training, or knocking doors, he enjoys playing playing rugby, distance running, and coaching high school wrestling.

Devon G. Anderson is a social impact professional with 8 years of cross-sector experience in programming and multi-channel engagement. After earning a master’s in public administration through National Urban Fellows at Baruch College in 2016, Devon went to work as an organizer for Maryland League of Conservation Voters. Together with organizers from Fair Elections Maryland partner organizations, Devon helped finalize public campaign finance programs in two Maryland counties last spring. He is eager to work with NDTC and assist new and emerging Democratic candidates achieve their goal of winning elected office in 2018 and beyond. His areas of expertise include digital engagement, social innovation, career development, and campaign strategy.

Domonique is the founder of Politics with Purpose, a consulting firm that helps purpose-driven candidates, causes, and organizations raise money, share their message, and grow movements. She got her start in politics as a field organizer for President Obama’s re-election team, ultimately serving as Deputy White House Liaison to the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, she’s worked on dozens of political campaigns up and down the ticket and in a range of roles. For her work she has been recognized as a Top 40 under 40 Consultant by the American Association of Political Consultants, a Rising Star by Campaigns & Elections Magazine, and sits as a juror for the North American Excellence in PR Awards. Domonique is a graduate of Spelman College. She was born and raised in Denver and now lives in DC.

Elise Shrock is a Co-Founder of Wide Awake Digital where she specializes in candidate communications development, strategic campaign communications, and press relations. In addition to her work there, she serves as the Director of Operations at Tamm Capital Group, where she leads the firm’s association management program and serves as the principal Democrat on their government affairs team.

Shrock is the President of the Indiana Democratic Latino Caucus, where she works to engage Latino voters and ensure that the state's growing Latino population is reflected in local, state and federal representation. She is also a founding board member of Hoosier Women Forward, the state's leading leadership program for democratic women.

Within the Indiana Democratic Party, Shrock serves on the Indiana Young Democrats leadership team and is a member of the Indiana host committee that put on a historic Young Democrats of America convention in 2019.

Evan has been working in politics and advocacy since beginning with the Obama campaign in 2007, and has worked in field, digital, media and organizational leadership. Evan has deep training experience including four years at the New Organizing Institute where he helped develop, lead and plan some of the organization's signature trainings. As communications director at the American Federation of Teachers, Evan led digital and media messaging and strategy for one of America's largest unions. In 2018, Evan founded Firekit Campaigns to help rising leaders in labor and politics navigate today's media landscape and build values-based strategies to build power.

Hannah is currently the Convention Director with the Texas Democratic Party. Born in St. Louis and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Hannah graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a degree in Political Science and Women’s Studies. While still in school, she joined with several classmates to launch and later serve as the first Executive Director of MOVE San Antonio (now MOVE Texas), an organization dedicated to empowering underrepresented youth communities through civic education, leadership development and issue advocacy. Since her time at MOVE, Hannah has supported non-profit organizations & Democratic infrastructure through fundraising, campaign management, and political strategy.

Ibie is a Civitas Child Law Fellow J.D. and M.P.P. Graduate from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. In her first year of law school, she became an education reform advocate and founded Stand Up For Each Other, Chicago! (SUFEO). SUFEO is an organization she created to address the school to prison pipeline and support student rights in the school discipline process. Meanwhile she worked with State Senator Kimberly Lightford to support SB100 and amend the Illinois school code by writing and passing SB565, which implemented social emotional screenings into health examinations. After law school, she worked for Common Cause as their state outreach and engagement manager. She also chaired the Just Democracy money in politics coalition and worked on an initiative for campaign finance reform in Chicago. Recently, Ibie has become the Chief of Staff for State Senator Robert Peters of the 13th District.

Jasmine Worles currently serves as the Strategic Planning Advisor to the Chief of Staff of Shelby County Schools in her hometown of Memphis, TN. She has a burning desire to see reform in policy and electoral politics that reflects the needs of marginalized and underserved people. She has pushed for fluid communication between grassroots communities and local government and has also promoted the importance of civic engagement by developing Nashville's first Black Millennial Voter Registration Rally. She has been named a Rising Star by the American Society of Public Administration, and is on a continued mission to use her skills to bring the voices that matter most in Democracy to the decision making table. Jasmine has previously served as Training Coordinator with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. She lives with her husband and their dog, Tutu, and in her free time, she enjoys hoarding house plants and traveling.

Jeff Greene is a lobbyist and political fundraiser for both local and national races. Over the last 15 years Jeff has played a part in several wins and several heartbreaking losses. Jeff has been with NDTC for two years and has worked with dozens of potential candidates, staff and party attendees to master the skills associated with fundraising. As an entrepreneur, Jeff has had to raise money for not only candidates and party but also for business visions. Jeff’s ability to bring so many life lessons and business skills to the Democratic Party is what sets him apart.

Jennifer Alberts is a field-obsessed campaign operative who relishes the challenge of turning red seats to blue.

Her professional career began as Campaign Manager, where she successfully launched a winning Michigan State Senate campaign. Jennifer then worked as Organizing Director at NextGen Michigan, working to mobilize young people to get out and vote in the 2018 election cycle and overseeing a staff of over 40 organizers. Most recently, she was the Field Director for a successful slate of State Assembly candidates running for re-election in New Jersey.

When she’s not on the campaign trail, Jennifer enjoys traveling, performing improv comedy, and flying airplanes.

A proud Colorado native, Jennifer comes to the NDTC having worked on 25 campaigns and counting at every level of government. Since Jennifer found her love of community organizing volunteering on the 2012 Obama campaign in Fort Collins, Colorado, she can’t stop and won’t stop organizing. Jennifer is currently serving her second term as the Vice Chair of the Larimer County Democratic Party. In that role, she trains their local candidates to run for office and manages the county’s field program. Larimer County is the only county party in Colorado that pays young people to knock on doors and make phone calls to help elect Democrats in their swing county. Jennifer thrives in training the next generation of community organizers. She is especially passionate about electing more women and people of color to office. When Jennifer isn’t knocking on doors to remind people to vote, she enjoys unwinding with a Colorado craft beer while watching any show with a woman serving as President.

Joanne Antoine is a Haitian American organizer and progressive strategist based out of the Washington DC Metro Area. She currently serves as Manager of State Outreach & Engagement for a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working for open, honest, and accountable government in Maryland and also serves as the Liaison to Caribbean Communities for Montgomery County Government, where she works to ensure the community voice is heard in county government. Ms. Antoine is the Director of Campaigns for Young Democrats of Maryland and works with At The Forefront to help build winning campaigns for women candidates in the Caribbean region and Democratic women candidates of Caribbean descent here in the US. She holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Bachelor of Arts in English and in her spare time, loves to try new recipes and watch reality TV.

Jordan Berg Powers is the Executive Director at Mass Alliance, where he previously served as Deputy Director of Mass Alliance. In his ten years there, he has helped elect new progressive leaders across the state, recruited progressive champions to run, and trained hundreds of grassroots organizers. Previously, Jordan was a campaigns organizer for Free Press which worked to fight for Net Neutrality and against further media consolidation. In 2015 Jordan was recognized for his exceptional work in politics as an inaugural inductee into the 40 under 40 Poly Award. Jordan has also advised and supported statewide campaigns and ballot initiatives on paid sick leave, saving public education, LGBTQ equality and a more progressive tax system for the Commonwealth. Jordan has a Masters in International Politics from the London School of Oriental & African Studies.

Joshua is a seasoned veteran of Democratic politics and progressive issue advocacy. His experience includes 12 years of leadership in some of the most pivotal races, including the election and reelection of President Barack Obama and Senator Tim Kaine’s impressive victories in Virginia. He has worked and advised on over 30 races at the national, state and local levels. In addition to his work in electoral organizing, he has worked in the labor movement and fought fiercely for environmental and social issues. Joshua is a single father of two young boys; he works wholeheartedly to leave behind a more fair and just world in which they can thrive and prosper.

Judy P. Neufeld has over 15 years’ experience in elevating and amplifying women’s voices and leadership. She is an expert leadership development consultant, facilitator, and trainer and passionate about building high-performing teams, inspiring future leaders, and facilitating honest conversations necessary to take action towards making the word a better place. Judy’s work with Emerge America, the nation’s premier organization that recruits, trains and supports women running for elected office, increased the size and diversity of candidate training programs and designed and launched their first bootcamp program, which is now replicated across the nation. In addition to being a Boston Marathon Finisher, Judy holds degrees from top universities—her MBA from Crummer School of Business at Rollins College, and her BA from Tufts University.

Kandice is an experienced political organizer with a background in movement politics, legislative advocacy, fundraising, voter mobilization, and political consulting for progressive campaigns.She currently is the Midwestern Regional Director for Run for Something, a progressive political action committee and NDTC partner, that helps young Democrats run for office. Kandice is a firm believer in the power of grassroots and community driven campaigns and is passionate about empowering diverse voter bases and promoting women of color in campaign leadership.

Kate Wolfe works as an independent political consultant and as a legislative aide in the Nebraska Legislature. A Nebraska native and lifelong Democrat, Kate entered politics in late 2007 as a volunteer for the Obama for America campaign and the first Nebraska Caucus. As a result of her volunteer efforts, Kate moved on to work for the county and state democratic parties. Following that, she has worked consecutively for three state senators in the country’s only unicameral legislature. Kate founded her consulting business, PolitiKate, Inc., in 2010, and has consulted on over 20 campaigns ranging from local to statewide candidates and ballot initiatives. She has been a fundraising trainer with the National Democratic Training Committee since 2017. Kate has four children: Bailey, Cody, Drew, and Peyton.

Kimberly Swett is a political consultant with fifteen years of wisdom. Kimberly has worked to elect democrats operating in diverse and politically difficult districts in red states at the Presidential, US Senate, Congressional, State Senate and Mayoral levels. Kimberly has mostly worked in the southeast region with her first race on the road being one she’ll never forget where she served as Campaign Director in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. She and the team were able to successfully reelect the Mayor only winning by 96 votes. After countless adventurous road travels Kimberly returned to her hometown of Nashville, TN where her political career began. Kimberly primarily consults on fundraising and outreach.

Kimberly received a Bachelor of Arts from Fisk University as a Political Science major, she is a very proud and active alumnus. Kimberly is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and one of the founding board members of New Leaders Council Nashville Chapter.

Leann Knapp was raised in Colorado, and moved to Portland, Oregon to attend college. After graduating, she worked on her first political campaign, and later in the Oregon State Capitol as Chief of Staff to State Representative Teresa Alonso Leon in the only House District in the state home to a majority of people of color. It was there that she developed a strong passion for ensuring language access in progressive work. She then took on the role of Organizing Coordinator for the Fair Shot Coalition, a collection of 30+ labor and community groups across Oregon who set a policy agenda centered in racial, gender and economic justice. Leann now works at the Oregon Food Bank as the Uniting Oregon Organizer, working in rural communities to organize around ending the root causes of hunger.

Outside of her day job, Leann is deeply passionate about workers rights and supporting seniors. She also enjoys gardening and crafting with her partner, and spending time with their dog Eleanor Roosevelt.

Liz is a campaign professional who has spent the last 6 years organizing for progressive candidates across the country. She is currently the Campaigns Director at MobilizeAmerica, a digital organizing tool that connects thousands of volunteers to action. She started her career as an organizer for the Obama campaign in Colorado and has worked in several states since. Liz was a Deputy Organizing Director in North Carolina for Hillary Clinton and began working on the campaign during the Iowa caucuses. Liz currently lives in DC and when she’s not working, she enjoys hiking, listening to podcasts, and cooking whenever she gets a chance.

Marty is a partner in the Democratic political consulting firm Stones’ Phones.

Marty did five election cycles with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He was the finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And he knows what it is to be a candidate, he ran for Congress in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

He served as a lobbyist for Environmental Action and for Americans for Democratic Action. On a pro-bono basis, Marty has worked with the National Democratic Institute in Bosnia, Croatia, and Azerbaijan.

He is the proud father of Stella Quincy Stone, a sixth grader. If campaigning gets into her blood, it won’t be a surprise. Marty’s grandmother, Lillian, was a suffragette and his mother, Nikki, now in her 80’s, still runs local races (and wins).

A Californian and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Marty can’t figure out how he has spent most of his life in Washington DC!

Matthew Hatfield is currently working as a Deputy Organizing Director during the 2020 presidential primaries as well as a regional organizing coordinator for Swing Left. Matthew has experience with both issue advocacy campaigns as well as electoral campaigns, where he has worked for youth organizing initiatives, successful state legislative races, as well as coordinated state-wide campaigns to elect candidates from the top to the bottom of the ballot. He has a passion for building strong volunteer teams, rural organizing, as well as building a strong sense of community within the organizing teams that he has worked on. He is currently living in Richmond, Virginia, and in his downtime away from politics, enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, and the occasional long walk on the beach.

Morgan Harris spent nearly ten years overseeing the film and television field marketing division of a nationwide agency, working on campaigns for Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, IFC Films, and more.

In 2017 he served as deputy communications director for Ameya Pawar’s gubernatorial primary. Following Pawar’s exit he joined Daniel Biss’ primary campaign as a communications consultant.

In 2018, Morgan formed Acacia Consulting Group, a full-service communications and marketing firm with political, consumer, and social impact expertise. Acacia has consulted on races including Lori Lightfoot for Mayor and several aldermanic campaigns. Other Acacia clients include Cirque du Soleil, Netflix, IFC Films, Showtime, and Higher Healing CBD products. Pro bono clients include Indivisible Illinois and the Publicity Club of Chicago.

When not obsessing over campaign strategy, you can usually find him engaging in a Netflix binge or playing with his cats, Oliver and Simon.

Originally from Augusta, Georgia, Quentin Mays is the Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement at the Analyst Institute in Washington, D.C. He leads the team that builds strategic partnerships and convenes the progressive and civic engagement community to measure and increase the impact of their programs. He has previously worked on progressive campaigns in Georgia and Virginia. He has also worked with State Voices and America Votes, across multiple states and nationally. He centers his work around Black people and Black families while actively fighting for Black liberation.

Rebekah Caruthers is managing partner at CAE Strategies and principal consultant at Caruthers Consulting. She has managed or advised campaigns in over two dozen states including presidential and down ballot races. Rebekah worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman John Dingell on the Affordable Care Act.

Rebekah’s goal is to remove barriers for participation in the American political system. She often works with emerging candidates and mobilizes communities of color. Her expertise is in political strategy, messaging, and engaging black women.

Outside of politics, Rebekah is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the Links, Incorporated. She attended Creighton University and Nebraska Law.

Rosetta Okohson is intimately aware of unique struggles and the impact political leadership can have on progress. This keen awareness guides her work. Previously, Rosetta honed her consulting and fundraising skills working for the Missouri Democratic Party and statewide campaigns.

Along with her fundraising acumen—which began with the YMCA of Greater Hartford's annual giving and capital campaigns—Rosetta brings valuable team-and relationship-building skills to the political scene to help her clients connect with voters.

Currently, Rosetta is the Founder & Principal Fundraising, and Political Consultant at MO Political Consulting, an NDTC Trainer, and a board member of the Gateway Regional YMCA.

Ryanne Olsen is the Training and Curriculum Director at Emerge. She has personally trained over five hundred women on topics including campaign strategy, field, messaging, fundraising, and preparing oneself to run. She comes to Emerge after serving as the Executive Director of Emerge Massachusetts for almost three years. As Executive Director, Ryanne also increased the resources of the organization, raising a surplus every year and raising over $405,000 during her tenure. The Emerge Massachusetts alumnae won 72% of their races in the 2017 election cycle.

Prior to her time at Emerge Massachusetts, Ryanne worked the Public Policy Field Organizer for Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education. Ryanne also has a deep history in political campaigns, serving on races from City Alderman to U.S. Senate. Ryanne graduated from Northeastern University, summa cum laude with a dual degree in Political Science and Communications.

Salim Zymet is a digital strategist with nearly 10 years of experience who has helped manage multi-million dollar ad buys and raised millions of dollars online for progressive candidates and causes.

He most recently worked at Crowdpac as the Director of Engagement and Marketing, a startup that helps political candidates raise money online.

In 2016, as Digital Director for Hillary Clinton in Ohio, he managed a team of 9 staff and 5 full-time fellows that amassed millions of social media views, nearly 100,000 social media followers, 52,000 online volunteer shifts and 175,000 online event RSVPs within the 6 months of the coordinated campaign.

Salim got his start in politics on the Obama 2012 campaign, where he served as a digital organizer in Southern California and Chicago in 2011. In 2012, he served as the deputy digital director in Ohio.

Coming soon!

Sandra is currently a Vice President at BerlinRosen where she manages messaging, field and coordinated engagement with campaigns across the country. A veteran organizer, she’s worked for several progressive Candidates including President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Wendy Davis and Cory Booker as well as organizations like Planned Parenthood Federation of America and FWD.us. She is experienced in areas of issue advocacy and electoral organizing, strategic communications and campaign management.

Sarah jumped into politics in high school when she was elected to her local school board. Since then she has worked for dozens of candidates across the country from the local to presidential level. She is currently the Director of Political and Membership Engagement at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Previously, she worked at Run for Something as their National Political Director where she helped young candidates win down ballot offices. Before that, she was a Deputy Organizing Director for Hillary Clinton’s Virginia team, along with working for the campaign in the Iowa caucuses and 3 state primaries. She loves plants, flying trapeze, and will talk to you about traveling to all 50 states if given the chance.

Sarah Scanlon began her political activism as a child growing up in Arkansas. She has worked as a national Wellstone Action trainer and was Deputy Director for the Wellstone Labor Program. In 2016, she was the National LGBTQ Outreach Director and Arkansas State Director for Bernie Sanders in 2016. Today she is the principal of Southern Strategies, a political consulting firm located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sophia Kerby is the Director of Reproductive Rights at State Innovation Exchange, where she supports state legislators across the country in advancing and defending progressive reproductive health policy. A political strategist with over eight years of experience, Sophia has trained hundreds of elected officials and advocates on storytelling, organizing, and policy advocacy. Based in Washington, DC, Sophia holds a B.A in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland College Park and is pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at Georgetown University. She is a practicing abortion doula and serves on the board of Reproductive Health Access Project, a national organization dedicated to integrating abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care into primary care providers’ practice.

Stacey Chavis works as a Public Policy Consultant with nonprofits to develop their public policy and advocacy agendas. Stacey also founded Campaigns Academy train leaders to serve in elected or appointed office and serve in leadership positions for political candidates and campaigns.

Stacey previously served as the Southern Regional Director for the White House Project, Deputy Finance Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia, Finance Director for Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA 4th) and Constituent Services Representative for former Congresswoman Denise Majette (D-GA 4th).

Stacey serves on the United Way of Greater Atlanta Board of Directors, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia Advisory Board, League of Women Voters of Georgia Board of Directors. Previously, she served on the Red Clay Democrats Board of Directors, Junior League of Atlanta Board of Directors, Oglethorpe University National Alumni Association and Wellspring Living Board of Directors.