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Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. On-the-Ground StaffBrandon Beall Brandon Beall
graduated from Virginia Tech in 2009 with a degree in Marketing. After
experiencing roadblock after roadblock registering people and getting
them to the polls, he wanted to commit some time to activism to fix the
current system. He enjoys Grassroots Campaigns because he truly
believes that in order to solve the issues facing us, we must change
public opinion, not by direct mail, not by the internet, but by hitting
the pavement, talking to people face to face about the issues. Brandon
has worked on six campaigns in the past ten months doing exactly that
and can't wait for what the summer holds! Mary Bogus Mary Bogus grew
up on the mean streets of Riverton, WY where the guns are a plenty,
people are few, and politics are sparse. Upon leaving the “Equality
State” for college at Colorado State University, to study political
science, women’s studies and ethnic studies, she began to understand
that the politics of Wyoming were not so equal. Mary realized the good
people of Wyoming, a historically red state, were being misled into
supporting policies that took what they claimed to give. Upset by this,
Mary was determined to create community empowerment and mobilization
through grassroots organizing. Driven by her passion for grassroots
community change, Mary began working for Grassroots Campaigns in
February 2009 as a Field Manager. Quickly asserting herself as a
crucial member of the team, Mary became an Assistant Director where she
specialized in recruitment. Currently, Mary is leading a campaign for
sustainable, community-based solutions to poverty on behalf of Save the
Children as Canvass Director in Denver. David Zeller David began his career at Grassroots Campaigns in the Summer of 2008 after graduating from the University of Minnesota cum laude with a degree in Sociology. Before that he had volunteered for several leaders within Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer-Laborer Party, like Senator Paul Wellstone, U.S. Representative Martin Olav Sabo, and U.S. Representative Keith Ellison. David had also made a name for himself in the Minnesota Pro-Choice community by organizing lobbying events. In joining
Grassroots Campaigns David wanted to make a wider ranging impact, and
he has been afforded that opportunity by working on a myriad of
campaigns in the Minneapolis office including Save the Children, League
of Conservation Voters, and Amnesty International. Midwest Regional
Director, David Hackman, says, "David took on the Minneapolis office
early in 2009. A few short months later he ran the most
successful summer campaign season we've had in the Twin Cities since
2004." David looks forward to running an even more successful office
this winter and looks forward to the 2010 election. Christina Colaizzo After graduating
from The George Washington University in 2008, Christina was inspired
by the wave of activism surrounding Barack Obama's campaign and
frustrated by the actions of the Bush administration. She had to get
involved in this election. Christina joined Grassroots Campaigns in
September of 2008 as an Assistant Director on the MoveOn.org Voter
Registration project and helped to open the Fairfax, VA office. In two
months, Christina's office, along with along with others across the
state, registered over 18,000 young Virginians to vote, helping to
ensure a victory for Obama. After the voter registration project,
Christina's office transitioned to voter persuasion and launched a GOTV
campaign. Amanda Lopez A Bay Area native, Amanda celebrated President Obama's victory and watched in disbelief as voters in California passed Proposition 8. After graduating from the University of California Davis in 2009, she decided she could not sit back idly witnessing blatant discrimination against same sex couples. Amanda joined Grassroots Campaigns' San Francisco office in September 2009. While working on campaigns for Equality California and the ACLU, Amanda quickly realized it wasn't that people didn't care about equality, but rather they just didn't know about the issues or have a way to get involved. Since then, she has worked on six different campaigns in Santa Barbara and San Diego, CA. In early 2010, she relocated to snowy Boston, MA to work in the Central Recruitment department, where she helped interview and hire the next generation of Grassroots Campaigns staff. In April, she returned to the front lines and is now an Assistant Director in Boston, MA, working on a campaign with Oxfam America. With a growing reliance on foreign oil, mounting conflict overseas and increased wealth disparity, Amanda believes it is a critical time to get out into our communities encouraging people to get involved with issues they care about. Christopher Baker Christopher was
born and raised in Central Illinois and attended Illinois State
University. While there, he became passionate about human rights and
progressive politics. After graduating with a degree in Political
Science in 2008, Christopher moved to Seattle, WA and it was
there he joined Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. as an Assistant Director.
After his brief stint in Seattle, Christopher moved on to San
Francisco, California to become that office’s head Canvass Director.
During the summer of 2009, he led his team of activists to raise nearly
$400,000 for progressive organizations including the ACLU, Save the
Children, The Sierra Club, Amnesty International, and Equality
California. After spending the fall and winter of 2009 leading the
Washington, D.C. canvass office, Christopher headed down to Orlando
where he is currently directing our outreach office for Repower America. Amanda Van Kessel Amanda thought she did her part in 2004. She voted. And we lost. The country re-elected the worst president in our nation’s history, because all she did, and, all MOST people did was vote- which just wasn't enough. After graduating from UW-Madison in 2007, Amanda swore she would find a way to get involved and influence the next presidential election. Either way, she would have no regrets- Amanda was going to make sure that everybody either voted with their time or voted with their dollars, and then they voted in the voting booth, because that is what it takes to win, and we could not afford to lose. That is why Amanda started working for Grassroots Campaigns Dec '07, and since then she has worked to turn a swing state blue in Albuquerque New Mexico, spread awareness on Prop 8 with the ACLU in Seattle WA, and eventually worked her way east, running Denver, Boston , DC and presently, our Manhattan Street office. She did her part in 2008. She’s still doing her part in 2009, because the progressive movement has only just begun-we are now left with not just a mission, but a responsibility. Vijay Bangalore Vijay came to
Grassroots Campaigns without much of a background in political
organizing (rumor is he had never actually voted before!). He
graduated from Calvin College with a B.A. in economics in May '07.
He served a brief stint as a Financial Advisor before quitting to
spend more time in music. Having spent some time in Kenya and
India, Vijay became interested in activism when he heard about
opportunities to fundraise for Save the Children. He started as a
canvasser in our Chicago office Feb '08. He is now the lead canvass director there and has fundraised for not only Save the Children, but also the Democratic National Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, League of Conservation Voters and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (and we know for a fact that he is now a proud voter!) __________________________________________________________________________ |
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Assistant Director
Summer Recruitment Director
Canvass Director
Canvass Director
Assistant Director
Canvass Director
Canvass Director
Canvass Director
