Grassroots Campaigns: another key component of the Soros “Resistance”.
grassrootscampaigns.com/meet-our-staff-2/
Here is another Soros nationwide network supporting Democratic election campaigns and fundraising for Soros allies including Planned Parenthood (in terms of funding the largest Democratic Party organization), ACLU and SPLC (peas in a pod), Greenpeace, Democratic National Committee, Sierra Club, Organizing for America, Human Rights Campaign, and Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options.
And MoveOn.org of course.
The issues promoted are the usual Soros issues: LGBT, lawfare, euthanasia, and abortion, abortion, abortion.
Key figures, as well as some token minorities, are highlighted in short bios.
“My proudest achievement through all this? In 11 weeks of canvassing I raised $10,000 for Planned Parenthood Federation of America over the summer, in spite of the smear campaign that was simultaneously being propagated by right-wing extremists.” — Nina Wheeler. (I think the smear she was referring to was the reporting on the illegal baby organ harvesting by Planned Parenthood.)
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Who We Are. Boston, Mass.: Grassroots Campaigns, N.D. [2018].
Principals:
Sue Moran, Co-Founder & Principal: Sue graduated from Oberlin College in 1998 with a degree in Political Science. Sue has worked on outreach, advocacy, and fundraising campaigns for numerous progressive organizations including the State Public Interest Research Groups, the Human Rights Campaign and the Sierra Club. Prior to her work with Grassroots Campaigns Sue was the Organizing Director for CALPIRG.
Wes Jones, Co-Founder & National Canvass Director: Wes Jones has played instrumental roles in some of the most groundbreaking face-to-face canvassing and fundraising efforts in the United States. Wes helped engineer political outreach operations like the very first small donor fundraising canvass for the DNC, and the first successful street canvassing operation in the U.S., for Greenpeace in the 1990s. Since co-founding and building Grassroots Campaigns from scratch in 2003, his teams have raised more than $100 million for clients like the DNC, ACLU and Planned Parenthood. As the director of the canvass operation, he oversees the leadership team running 30 offices across the country, is bottom line for training and strategy, and advises on the launching of new campaigns.
Jon Scarlett, Co-Founder & National Field Director: Jon Scarlett has over 30 years of experience running canvasses and voter contact operations, including 10 years as the National Canvass Director for the Fund for the Public Interest overseeing 50 canvass offices in 20 states. Since 2004, he has been the National Field Director for Grassroots Campaigns. After launching the DNC’s first canvass with GCI, Jon directed a cooperative campaign with MoveOn in 2004, helping them take their citizen outreach beyond the Internet with a volunteer-based voter contact operation, and subsequently helped MoveOn build 200 local volunteer chapters. As Vice President, he oversees many aspects of Grassroots Campaigns’ operations.
National Leadership:
Jeff Grady, Chief Financial Officer
Steve King, Asst. Nat’l Canvass Director
Bridget Klene, Field Director
David Katz-Hackman, Clients Operations Director
Laurie Owen, General Counsel
John Gagain, Outreach & Communications Director
Sam Varmer, Project Manager
Wilson Karaman, Strategy and Development
Bill Baker, National Recruitment Director
Merida Lloyd, Senior Leadership Hiring Director: Merida’s passion for grassroots activism developed in college but it wasn’t until she worked as a Field Organizer for Organizing for America that she realized the effectiveness of grassroots organizing as a vehicle to drive the progressive movement forward. After Election Day she simply googled “grassroots campaigns that are hiring” looking for a permanent position in activism in order to avoid jumping from one campaign to the next. Merida was hired, and quickly moved to Massachusetts from Florida for an Assistant Canvass Director position with Grassroots Campaigns.
Since joining Grassroots Campaigns, Merida has run both field and fundraising campaign offices in MA, NC, PA and CO. She is proud of the team that she developed to work with her through the harsh winters of western Massachusetts, on behalf of her favorite organizations like Oxfam America, Planned Parenthood, American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Sierra Club. She expanded the scope of the smallest office in the country to cover MA, CT and NY bringing her team to success in hitting ambitious goals for our partner groups.
Merida is currently managing the senior level recruitment department for Grassroots Campaigns. She is also developing the website, managing social media, organizing monthly destination meetings, and hosting all of the birthday parties in the central office. If you are an experienced candidate interested in a leadership position within our organization, please send your resume to Merida at mlloyd(at)grassrootscampaigns.com.
“#GCI love my job because it has given me the opportunity to dedicate all of my time to so many of my favorite nonprofit organizations, while also working to get progressive leaders into office. I’ve learned so much with this organization and continue to learn new things every day.”
Ali Hoffman, Assistant National Canvass Director
Elise Steuwe, National Recruitment Director
Regional and Administrative Staff:
Benji Flores, Payroll Administrator
Chelsea Nkrumah, Legal Administrator: Chelsea graduated from Texas A&M University-Kingsville in the Spring of 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A in History. During her first two years as a student, acted as chair and member of the Executive Board of the Student Senate. She was elected Student Body President her Junior and Senior year. “I was hired by GCI as an Assistant Director after graduating with my Bachelors in June 2015. My first few weeks with GCI enlightened and expanded my knowledge in what a true grassroots movement is and can accomplish. I gained an understanding that progression comes from communicating about the issues in a productive manner, coming up with solutions and actually following through with groups of people who want to see progress happen.”
Alex Waterhouse, Special Operations Director: Alex graduated from American University in May 2012 with a degree in Political Science and Mathematics. That next month, he moved to Las Vegas to work with the Nevada Democratic Coordinated Campaign on the 2012 elections. After November, Alex recognized that the job wasn’t done with electing the right people to office. Alex began working with Grassroots Campaigns in June 2013 as an Assistant Canvass Director in the Washington, DC office. In the three years since, he has run a healthcare outreach campaign in Albuquerque, worked on the national recruitment team, and held the roles of Data Flow Administrator and National Administrator in the Central Administration department. Among his other accomplishments, Alex has organized classroom-style trainings for over 200 entry-level staff, facilitated the opening of over a dozen new offices, and increased the company’s tablet computer fleet five-fold to allow all fundraising campaigns to be run paper-free. “The fight for progress doesn’t stop on election day. Working with Grassroots Campaigns allows us to get the best folks elected, increase citizen participation in the political process, and build membership in some of the best non-profit organizations working for a better future, every day.”
Peter O’Connor-Divelbiss, Cashiering Director
Alexander Jones, Data Flow Administrator
Andrea Rojek, Data Flow Administrator
Tiffany Mitchell, National Canvass Administrator
Tiffany Alves, Leadership Hiring Assistant: Tiffany graduated from Suffolk University in the Spring of 2016 with a B.A in Politics, Law and The Courts and a Minor in Sociology. At Suffolk she was actively committed to social justice and worked as a Diversity Peer Educator creating and leading trainings on campus to promote important progressive ideals. After graduation she moved to London to attend the London School of Economics & Political Science as part of the MSc in Human Rights program. While in London, she was fortunate to work as a parliamentary research assistant which allowed her to get first hand experience with Politics in the U.K. by working with constituents and campaigning during the 2017 snap election. After completion of the program she returned home to Boston in search of work that would combine her love of human rights with the political work our country is in desperate need of. She knew that Grassroots Campaigns was the best place for her because of our organization’s dedication to important groups like Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Doctors Without Borders. As a Leadership Hiring Assistant she feels connected to the progressive movement in a real way by recruiting activists and professionals dedicated to the causes she cares about!
Hitesh Bussie, Regional Canvass Director
Erich Schrader, Regional Canvass Director
Gavin Caster, Regional Canvass Director
Malcolm Barnes, Assistant Canvass Director
Casey Bourkney, Assistant Canvass Director
Shea Dlott, Canvass Director
Bart Comegys, Canvass Director
Kayleigh Cox, Assistant Canvass Director
Annie Drew, Canvass Director
Grant Dutton, Assistant Canvass Director
Cat Fraser, Assistant Canvass Director
Jack Gephart, Canvass Director
Mabel Groenendyk, Canvass Director
Jimmy Halderman, Canvass Director
Curran Hamilton, Assistant Canvass Director: Curran graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Humboldt State University in 2014. While pursuing a career in web development he ended up working at an advertising agency making websites for those fighting against what he believed in. Curran was then canvassed by a Grassroots Canvasser and was informed about the Southern Poverty Law Center and all of their great work. He took the plunge and started supporting the work of the SPLC. This step lead Curran into a life of activism, and he soon started canvassing for Grassroots Campaigns. Curran has worked his way up from a Core Canvasser, to a Field Manager, Lead Field Manager, Lead Assistant Director, and is now Canvass Director of the Sacramento Door Office. “I love getting people involved in activism work, whether through canvassing them and getting them to contribute, or by interviewing them for canvassing positions and starting them down their own path to activism!”
Julian Highsmith, Assistant Canvass Director
Chrissi Jackson, Canvass Director
Stephen Johnson, Canvass Director
Everett Johnston, Canvass Director
Marcus Kamal, Assistant Canvass Director
Kevin Kennedy, Canvass Director: Kevin Kennedy grew up in upstate NY and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2013, with a B.A. in Political Science. While living in Vermont, he became heavily involved in progressive politics, studying (and participating in) the Occupy Wall Street movement, and canvassing for Senator Bernie Sanders’ reelection campaign. After returning from a year teaching English in South Korea, he was hired as an Assistant Director by Grassroots Campaigns in Boulder, Colorado to work on behalf of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “In a time when women’s rights and affordable healthcare are under constant attack, I am proud to work with such a skilled, dedicated team of activists in the fight for social progress”.
Hannah Kraus, Assistant Canvass Director
Bridget Mantello, Assistant Canvass Director
Axel Martinez, Assistant Canvass Director
Weston McClung, Assistant Canvass Director
Dean Mendolera, Canvass Director
Stephen Moller, Canvass Director
Chelsea Navitad, Assistant Canvass Director
Kyle Newman, Assistant Canvass Director
Fennec Nightingale, Assistant Canvass Director
John O’Neil, Canvass Director
Ashley Parsons, Assistant Canvass Director
Francisco Pedro, Assistant Canvass Director: Francisco Pedro graduated from Florida International University with a B.A. in English Literature and a Film Studies Certificate. Since then, he worked in the film festival circuit and relocated seasonally in order to attend and/or work for showcases in cities including Miami, New York, São Paulo, Havana and Karlovy Vary. Wanting to live in New York City permanently, Francisco joined Grassroots Campaigns in 2015 as a canvasser for the American Civil Liberties Union. Inspired by the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court verdict a few weeks before, his fundraising supported legal and lobbying efforts that would prevent LGBT individuals from facing workplace discrimination in 29 states. He eventually had the honor of representing Planned Parenthood Federation of America during the year when the attacks against the reproductive healthcare provider reached an all-time high. After months of working for the Manhattan office as a field manager, Francisco eventually became a director and ran multiple field projects in the 2016 election year. The mobile campaigns he worked on included door outreach for the Nevada caucus, voter activation for the Connecticut primaries, get-out-the-vote efforts in the key state of Florida, and support for local candidates in Colorado. The major victory of 2016 was running the Denver office for the Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options petition campaign. After 150,000 signatures were gathered in order to get it on the ballot, the measure gave terminally ill Coloradans the right to end their lives peacefully when it passed on November 8th. When he’s not helping run the Manhattan fundraising office, Francisco continues to direct field projects around the country as we continue to build the resistance. “If anyone has the skills to communicate with people and build membership through outreach, not getting involved in 2017 is irresponsible.”
Ellee Peterson, Canvass Director
Madeleine Queary, Canvass Director
Anna Reed, Assistant Canvass Director
Corey Reidy, Canvass Director
Brandon Rhodes, Assistant Canvass Director
Raynal Sands, Assistant Canvass Director
Kelvin Stallings, Assistant Canvass Director
Darrius Summers, Canvass Director
John Swartz, Assistant Canvass Director
Vic Vasquez, Canvass Director
Jesse Ward, Assistant Canvass Director
Nina Wheeler, Canvass Director: Before GCI: I graduated from Elizabethtown College, located in Central PA, in 2014, with a B.A. in Political Science. My focus was primarily international politics. I represented the Foreign Affairs Minister of Poland in my school’s participation in the Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation in 2011, and was Head Delegate for my school’s participation in the Harvard National Model United Nations in 2012. In 2012, I studied abroad in Beijing and learned basic Mandarin. When I graduated I decided to take a break from the whirlwind of college and decision-making, and worked as a cook in a hotel for a year. Since GCI: I was hired by GCI as a canvasser on behalf of Planned Parenthood, in Boston, in June 2015. Within four days I worked my first Field Manager shift, and was soon approached about becoming an Assistant Director. September was my first month as a Director, and I spent it in Philadelphia, running a field experiment that will hopefully result in groundbreaking voter registration tactics. Then, I joined the directing team in the Kansas City office, campaigning to save the prairies for The Nature Conservancy. A few weeks into that post I was pulled onto a 14-day Get Out the Vote campaign in Denver, where we were knocking door to door to push a ballot initiative that would make college cheaper. Just recently I was promoted to Canvass Director of Chicago, and cannot wait to lead their campaigns into success! My proudest achievement through all this? In 11 weeks of canvassing I raised $10,000 for Planned Parenthood Federation of America over the summer, in spite of the smear campaign that was simultaneously being propagated by right-wing extremists.
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