40 Under 40 Award Winners

Orson Aguilar is Executive Director of the Greenlining Institute, a multi-ethnic coalition – originally founded to combat “redlining” by banks and create reinvestment into low-income communities – of nearly forty community-based, faith-based, and civil rights/immigrants rights groups. He is an expert in banking and housing policy, economic development, youth leadership training, and other social justice policy issues.
Orson’s first-hand, personal experience of poverty predates his professional pursuit of its alleviation. He grew up in the largest apartment complex in Boyle Heights (East Los Angeles) where he attended public schools and experienced not only material poverty, but also its corollary realities of environmental injustice and gang violence.

Today Orson focuses on private and public policies that promote investments and equity in low-income and minority communities like East Los Angeles. He has played key organizing and advocacy roles in corporate mergers and acquisitions that have resulted in billions of dollars in investments for the poor.
Orson received his Masters in Public Affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Psychology. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife, Dr. Claudia Canizales Aguilar.

After serving six years in the United States Air Force and deploying three times with the AC-130H Spectre Gunships to Afghanistan and the surrounding region, Derek Blumke transitioned into the Michigan Air National Guard as a Public Affairs Photographer and started classes at North Central Michigan College. He completed his associate’s degree in the fall of 2006, with honors, transferred to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and is currently a senior studying German and double majoring in Psychology and Political Science.

In the spring of 2007, Derek founded the Student Veterans Association at the University of Michigan, in January 2008, co-founded Student Veterans of America and now serves as the organization’s first President. In 2008, Derek worked with United States Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel and veterans from across the country to help pass the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Today, Derek works with SVA's leadership team to help wounded and injured veterans transition to college, and is working with the VA and other organizations to address the transitional needs of more than 250 Student Veterans of America Chapters across the United States. Derek plans to continue his work to ensure this generation of veterans becomes America’s Next Greatest Generation.

Liz Butler has over 15 years experience campaigning and organizing on environmental, justice, and social issues. Currently, she serves as 1Sky Deputy Campaign Director. 1Sky unites scores of groups and individuals in a collaborative campaign with a single purpose: shifting national policy in the United States towards the prosperity of a sustainable, low-carbon economy while addressing the massive threat of climate change. Prior to 1Sky, she worked at ForestEthics, which she helped co-found with a team of leaders. ForestEthics campaigns protected over sixty million acres of endangered forests in the US, Canada, and Chile. These campaigns also transformed the paper policies of multi-billion-dollar companies, including Staples, Office Depot, Victoria's Secret, and many more. In addition, Ms. Butler served as the national organizing director for American Lands Alliance, the director of Missouri Public Interest Research Group, and graduated from Green Corps' Environmental Leadership Training Program. Ms. Butler has designed dozens of campaign and organizing strategies for successful legislative and corporate campaigns on many issues. She lives just outside of Washington, DC with her eight year old son.

As a child, Veronica Nicole Chapman’s parents impressed upon her “to whom much is given, much is required.” She knew she had a lot of work to do in following their lead and making her own mark upon the world.

After graduating from Spelman College in May, 2003, Veronica self-published The Advent of Planet Martyr: An Innovative Social Commentary, a book where she uses prose and poetry to address social issues. Included in the book is Ancestors Inc., a play Veronica wrote as a vehicle to educate African American youth about their ancestors’ use of entrepreneurship to improve not only their lives, but also the lives of others. Veronica produced and directed Ancestors Inc in 2005 as a fundraiser for the Urban League of Union County, NJ Guild, and again in 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Since graduating from Babson College’s F.W. Olin School of Business in May, 2008, Veronica has been building her organization, Boxxout—using out-of-the-box thinking to create dynamic educational experiences where youth in urban, low-income communities can explore their interests, and employ the skills required for success in the 21st century.

Amy Gershkoff is co-founder and CEO of Changing Targets Media, a unique firm dedicated to optimizing paid media strategy for Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. Prior to founding Changing Targets Media, she served as Vice President of Analytics at MSHC Partners, where she developed microtargeting strategies for political campaigns and advocacy organizations in all 50 states. She has also worked as a polling consultant and taught at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Her articles have been published in numerous media outlets and academic journals, including the Washington Post, Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Perspectives on Politics, and Politics magazine, and has been a commentator on NPR, XM Radio, ABC, CSPAN, and for various print media outlets.

Gershkoff has been recognized as an "up and coming" leader in survey research by Public Opinion Pros, and was the recipient of the American Association of Public Opinion Research Seymour Sudman Award in 2005. In 2008, she was named a “Rising Star” by Campaigns and Elections magazine. She holds a PhD from Princeton University.

Darrah DiGiorgio Johnson has been the CEO & president of Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside Counties (PPSDRC) since January 2006. PPSDRC is one of the largest Planned Parenthood affiliates in the nation serving close to 300,000 patient visits with a staff of over 500, 19 health centers and programs throughout San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial Counties, and a budget of 50+ million dollars.

Darrah joined the organization after a national search selected her for the role of President. Prior to coming to southern California, Darrah worked with a Planned Parenthood in New Jersey. There, she began her career as a community educator providing age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education in various schools and communities. After those early years working in the education programs, she then spent 10 years in various leadership positions, with several of those years as the president of the New Jersey affiliate.

Her educational background consists of degrees in elementary education and psychology with an advanced degree (MA) in Counseling from The College of New Jersey.

Prior to her career with Planned Parenthood, Darrah was an elementary education teacher primarily working with disadvantaged children. It was through that experience that she gained first hand knowledge of the critical importance that all children are loved and nurtured. That passion led her to a career with Planned Parenthood whose core mission is to provide unfettered access to affordable reproductive health care, education, and advocacy for all women, regardless of their life circumstances.

Darrah stays very busy with two young, active sons who love soccer, swimming, and anything superhero.

Josh Levy is the online campaign manager for Free Press, the national media reform nonprofit, where develops and implements Internet-based campaigns, programs and projects to help build the media reform movement.

For many years he has explored the intersections of technology, politics and activism as a writer and web strategist. He was a frequent commentator on the use of the web in the 2008 election via his previous job as associate editor of techPresident and Personal Democracy Forum. He was also managing editor of Change.org during the launch of its blog network. His analysis has been covered in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Salon, NPR, ABC News, AOL Politics, and XM Radio, among others.

In 2007, he received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College, City University of New York. His creative projects there included A Better World in Second Life, a machinima documentary about political activism in Second Life, and the Bronx Blog Project, a video and web project examining the role of technology in immigrant communities in the Bronx.

After graduating from UCLA, Angella Martinez joined Teach for America corps where she taught at Ralph J. Bunche Elementary for six years. While teaching, she helped the school become the first California Distinguished School in the Compton Unified School District. To broaden her impact in transforming public education, Ms. Martinez left the classroom to work for the KIPP Foundation as the Recruitment Manager where she sought new KIPP school leader candidates for the highly competitive Fisher and Miles Family Fellowships. While recruiting, Ms. Martinez found her passion in educational leadership and became a KIPP school leader successor in 2008.

Ms. Martinez is currently the Principal at KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory School, a free, open enrollment public charter middle school located in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. In her first year as Principal, the school increased 101 Academic Performance Index points, making it the seventh highest performing middle school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school also received one of 22 EPIC Awards, a national incentive award for educators who show dramatic gains in student achievement. Ms. Martinez is committed to providing a world-class education at KIPP LA Prep that prepares students to and through college.

Tyler Olson leads an adventurous lifestyle and is determined to win the game of entrepreneurship. He began numerous businesses in his youth, won his first six figure web project at 21, and sold his first business at 23. His newest venture, SMCpros, aims to help businesses utilize innovative web technologies to track results in their social media campaigns. An active member in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Accelerator Program, blogger for PCWorld magazine, and co-founder of the Twin Cities Social Media Underground, Tyler has a head-start in the entrepreneurial race for success. Tyler, also a professional speaker, has spoken at over 50 events in the last 12 months to over 5,000 people. These speaking engagements are propelling him and his business forward along a high-growth track as they now do social media work for many nationally recognizable brands. In the words of a TV show host: “Tyler in my eyes is the next Bill Gates, he's on fire and has a huge web following and works with large companies”. Ultimately, he wishes to dedicate his life to facilitating entrepreneurship for youth.

Cedric Richmond is a lifelong resident of New Orleans. Raised in Eastern New Orleans, he graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School, Morehouse College, Tulane School of Law and the Harvard University executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

After passing the Louisiana Bar Exam, Cedric was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives where he has been a leader and served with distinction since 2000. Currently, he is the Chairman of the committee on Judiciary and a member of the Ways and Means, House Executive, and Legislative Audit Advisory committees.

Cedric has been instrumental in many important issues in the legislature. He created the State New Markets Tax Credit program which spurred over 250 million dollars in investment in Louisiana's devastated areas after the storms of 2005. He also secured funding for small business incubators and grant programs. As a member of the and Co-chairman of the Legislative Audit Advisory committee, Cedric was vital in ending the waste and misappropriation of funds in the Orleans Parish School system.

Cedric is currently running for United States Representative in Louisiana's Second Congressional District.

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves the Managing Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org, the award-winning top political blog. Amanda has also served as the Center’s Special Assistant for Strategic Planning and has experience on various national and state-level political campaigns and in government offices.

While at ThinkProgress, Amanda has helped guide the site from a start-up nonprofit blog to an award-winning progressive site that drives the debates of the day, focusing on rapid-response research, reporting, and analysis. According to Politico, ThinkProgress has been on "a steady upward climb since launching in January 2005" and is now making its mark on the national political scene.

Amanda's writings have been published by The New York Times, Politico, Salon, The Daily Beast, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Guardian, The American Prospect, and In These Times. She has appeared as a guest on various television and radio networks, including MSNBC, Fox News, and BBC. She graduated from Colgate University magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in political science. She originally hails from Western New York.

From boots on the battleground to scrubs in the emergency room, Manan
Trivedi has been on the frontlines of the most pressing issues that
our nation faces. A son of immigrants from India, Manan was born and
raised in Berks County where his parents worked at the Red Cheek apple
juice factory. Following his undergraduate degree from Boston
University, he went on to medical school, became a physician, a Naval
Officer and a decorated Iraq War Veteran.

Manan’s battalion deployed to Kuwait in 2003 and was one of the
first US ground forces to enter Iraq. As commander of the medical
team, he oversaw the care of over 1,200 men and led his staff in
treating hundreds of Marines and Iraqi civilians who suffered
traumatic injuries. For his service, Lt. Commander Trivedi earned the
Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Commendation Medal and his unit received the Presidential Unit Citation.

In 2008, Manan served as a campaign health policy advisor to then Sen.
Barack Obama. Currently a primary care physician at Reading Hospital, Manan Trivedi is the Democratic nominee in Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional district, having just won a primary where he was outspent more than 5-to-1 in the final weeks.

Alan van Capelle became New York City Deputy Comptroller for Public Affairs in March 2010. Since April 2003 Alan was the Executive Director of Empire State Pride Agenda where he began in April 2003 making him one of the youngest LGBT leaders in the nation and the longest serving Executive Director in the organization.

Under his leadership, the Pride Agenda has won passage of a number of statewide measures, including a law guaranteeing same-sex domestic partners the same access rights as spouses and next of kin when taking care of loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes and a law giving domestic partners the same priority as spouses in making decisions about burial of a loved one. During his tenure, the Pride Agenda has also successfully worked with state agencies, like the New York State retirement fund, and local government entities like the cities of Albany, Buffalo, New York City and Rochester to respect out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

Alan has initiated new programs aimed at accomplishing the Pride Agenda's objective of winning full equality and justice for LGBT New Yorkers and their families. Emphasizing grassroots organizing both inside and outside the LGBT community, these programs—"Pride in Our Union," "Pride in My Workplace" and "Pride in the Pulpit"—build upon the Pride Agenda's traditional strength in the legislative area and strengthen the organization's ability to mobilize people across New York State in support of the group's public policy objectives.

Under Alan’s leadership, the Pride Agenda tripled its budget and he has assembled a staff of professional community organizers with experience in building alliances with groups that share the organization’s objective of winning equality and justice for all New Yorkers. The Pride Agenda’s programs and approach to organizing have also become models that other LGBT groups across the nation seek to replicate.

Prior to joining the Pride Agenda, Alan worked for nearly ten years for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), where he moved up through the ranks of the organization in rapid fashion. He began by organizing interns and residents in hospitals around the country in 1994 and after a series of promotions became the Deputy Political Director in 2001 of SEIU Local 32BJ, the largest building service union in the country. He was the driving force behind the landmark New York City Displaced Worker Law, which created job protection for building service workers when residential and commercial properties were transferred from one owner to another. Alan is credited with turning around what was a declining political operation at Local 32BJ into one of the most active and successful organizations in the labor movement.

Alan is a member of Reboot: A network for Jewish Innovation funded by Bronfman Foundation and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

Alan served as member of the transition teams of Governor Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. In 2008, Alan was elected as a member of the New York State Electoral College where he cast votes for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden.

Shevawn Akers received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from the University of Kentucky. She is a passionate advocate for justice, fairness and equality for all, including those who are unable to advocate for themselves. In addition to her professional work in the non-profit sector, Shevawn serves her community and her profession on several boards and professional organizations.

She serves as the Bluegrass Branch Representative and member of the Legislative Committee for the National Association of Social Workers, KY Chapter, the Vice-Chair for ProgressLex, Communications Task Force for Planned Parenthood of Kentucky, and as a member of the American Civil Liberties Union and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a grassroots organization which advocates for social, political, economic and environmental justice for all Kentuckians. In addition to these formal memberships, Shevawn dedicates much of her time to volunteering for, planning and coordinating community events that seek to improve the local culture and environment or to raise funds for deserving local organizations.

For more than 10 years, she has devoted countless hours to local, state and national political campaigns, registering first-time voters, soliciting donors, coordinating volunteers, delivering yard signs, making phone calls, canvassing precincts and even driving voters to the polls. Like all of us, Shevawn is more than her work. She is also a single mom to an 8-year-old son, Hayden. She and Hayden spend their summers at the baseball park and enjoy gardening, live music, hiking and cooking together in their “free” time.

Michael Brune, 38, is the executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization. He holds degrees in Economics and Finance from West Chester University in Pennsylvania and comes to the Sierra Club from the Rainforest Action Network, where he was the executive director for seven years. Under Brune's leadership, Rainforest Action Network became one of the country's most accomplished environmental organizations, winning more than a dozen key environmental commitments from America's largest corporations, including Home Depot, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Kinko's, Boise, and Lowe's. Brune now leads

Brune's critically acclaimed book, Coming Clean -- Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal, published by Sierra Club Books in 2008, details a plan for a new green economy that will create well-paying jobs, promote environmental justice and bolster national security. He and his wife, Mary, attribute their ongoing passion for environmental activism in part to concern that their outdoors-loving children, Olivia, 5, and Sebastian, 1, inherit a healthy world. He is particularly interested in promoting programs that link the Sierra Club's traditional protection of wild places, including National Parks, to urgently needed climate change solutions.

Reid Carr founded Red Door Interactive in 2002 as a premier strategic Internet Presence Management firm for some of America’s most popular companies, including Cricket Wireless, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, Petco, ESET, Overstock.com and Charlotte Russe.

Reid has made Red Door Interactive of the most successful Southern California organizations. His company is a three-time Inc. Magazine “Inc. 5,000” and San Diego Business Journal 100 Fastest Growing Privately-Held Companies member. Red Door has also received that publication’s Best Places to Work award for three straight years, and was given the 2009 Society for Human Resources Management’s Marble Award.

Reid was included in the San Diego Metropolitan's "40 Under 40" award in 2005, and received the San Diego Business Journal's Most Admired CEO Award in 2007 and 2009, was a 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young finalist.

Reid is a very much sought-after expert, who writes regular columns for iMedia Connection and has been profiled in the San Diego Union-Tribune, The Daily Transcript, SmartMoney and Entrepreneur magazine. He is a San Diego Venture Group Board of Director, an active member of the Rotary Club of San Diego and a recent graduate of INFLUENCE San Diego.

Wendy started a career in film believing that combining storytelling with online activism can lead to great social change. As the Manager of Community and Alliances at Participant Media, Wendy has developed innovative online initiatives for Charlie Wilson’s War, The Visitor, Food, Inc. and The Cove. She is currently shepherding the social action campaign for Waiting for 'Superman,’ the upcoming documentary on the American education system. Before joining Participant in 2007, Wendy was the first Community Manager for The Huffington Post in New York City and she co-founded the Screening Liberally film series, of which she remains the National Director. A native of Montreal, Wendy began her work in film in 2004 as the Programmer and Outreach Coordinator for the Media That Matters Film Festival. She also worked as the researcher and creative assistant on The Art of the Documentary and served as co-chair on the Urban Pathways Young Professional Board. She has been the co-curator of the Netroots Nation screening series since 2007 and continues to be a guest lecturer and panelist at festivals and schools around the country. In 2009, Wendy produced the award-winning short documentary about bees titled Every Third Bite.

State Representative Jay Goyal, first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in November 2006, serves as the Majority Whip in the 128th Ohio General Assembly. Goyal was named Legislator of the Year by the Ohio Association of County Boards.

Rep. Goyal has been appointed to the Finance and Appropriations, Economic Development, and Faith-based Initiatives committees.

He received the 2008 Elected Official Award from the District 5 Area Agency on Aging and the Outstanding Legislator Award from the Fraternal Order of Police. Rep. Goyal is an At-Large Member of the Democrat National Committee and serves as the Chairman of the Ohio House Democrat Caucus Campaign Committee.

Technology based economic development has been a focus of Rep. Goyal in his time in the legislature. He introduced House Bill 348 which would incentivize $100 million of private venture capital investments in Ohio.

Rep. Goyal’s sense of service extends far beyond the political realm and a seat on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Richland County and the North Central State College Foundation.

Rep. Goyal graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. After graduating from college, Rep. Goyal became vice president of Goyal Industries, a metal manufacturing firm in Mansfield, Ohio.

Patrick Keenan-Devlin served as the Health Policy Advocate at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. At the Shriver Center he worked extensively to ensure that Illinois’ Medicaid beneficiaries more easily accessed primary medical care.

Beginning in 2007, Keenan-Devlin worked as the Legislative Director of Citizen Action/Illinois – the state’s largest public interest organization. In this position, he advocated for campaign finance reform legislation, improved access to health care, and predatory lending reform.

He ran for the Democratic Nomination in the 18th Illinois House District in the February 2010 Primary. Keenan-Devlin was determined to make his campaign reflect the values of the compassionate, progressive community. He fell just short of winning, but continues to work toward the principles that inspired him to run.

Keenan-Devlin then served as the Campaign Director for the Responsible Budget Coalition of Illinois. Advocates for a responsible budget did not get over the hump this year; however, due to the efforts of RBC activists, we gained powerful momentum.

Patrick Keenan-Devlin volunteers regularly on the North Shore - his home community.

Susan Ludwig is the Director of Redevelopment for the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. CPEX is a non-profit organization that provides best-practice planning models, innovative policy ideas, and technical revitalization assistance to individual communities across the state of Louisiana. Well-versed in a variety of community and neighborhood revitalization strategies, Susan currently works with distressed low-income communities in need of economic and social capacity revitalization.
Before moving to Baton Rouge to start her new career in urban planning, Susan managed a lush and diversely populated 45 acre greenbelt and wetland system facility welcoming thousands of visitors to Acadiana annually for the Gateway Foundation of Acadiana. In 1999, Susan started her own business, Raintree Nursery and Gardens, a successful nursery, gardens and landscape design/build company promoting and implementing renewable and sustainable designs.
Susan obtained her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, concentrating in sustainable urban design and urban agriculture for low income communities. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Life Sciences from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Scott Morgan is the founder and CEO of Education Pioneers, an organization that trains, connects, and inspires a new generation of leaders dedicated to transforming our nation's educational system so that all students receive a quality education. Scott began his career teaching social studies and leadership at St. Jude High School in Montgomery, Alabama, where he won an Excellence in Teaching award. He later served as the legal counsel for Aspire Public Schools, a California nonprofit that builds and operates high quality public charter schools to prepare urban students for college. After seeing the power of professionals with diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives working together to improve urban education, Scott founded Education Pioneers in 2003 to develop a national network of leaders and entrepreneurs focused on devising and implementing creative solutions to our nation's most pressing educational problems. Scott is an Aspen Institute and New Schools Venture Fund 2010 Fellow in the Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education Program. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in government from the University of Notre Dame, received his MA in teaching from the University of Portland, and earned his law degree from Stanford Law School.

Odest is the co-founder of the Baby Boomer Consulting, Inc, a non-profit organization which vision is to provide youth with the life skills and training essential for success in today’s competitive society. Programs utilized by BBC focus on cultural consciousness and empowerment, preventing “at-risk” youth gang participation and intensive job and life skills education for the unskilled and unemployed. BBC is Odest’s internal driving force and embodies his personal the goals, vision and missions.

Odest has implemented plans to improve the academic achievement at Dorsey High by challenging students to meet higher academic standards. He donates countless funds to a variety of youth and community focused groups. He has a passion for training the next generation. In his spare time he mentors young men for their personal success and growth. Many of his past mentees keep in touch with him and update him on their progresses in life.

Understanding the true meaning of the old adage “knowledge is power”, Odest continues to strive for excellence and to better himself by expanding his knowledge base. He is currently on the path to earning his Masters in Human Services at Springfield College in Inglewood, California.

Hailing from Billings, Montana, Matt Singer helped found Forward Montana and the Bus Federation and currently serves in the leadership of both organizations. Training, mobilizing, and electing a new generation of progressive leaders through a focus on hands-on democracy, both Forward Montana and the Bus Federation have earned national reputations for their unique work combining humor and hard-minded political savvy to achieve impressive results.

Forward Montana's innovative programs include "Pink Bunny" costumed voter registration and the Equality Squad -- a rainbow clad street canvass for LGBT equality in Montana. At the Bus Federation, Matt helps oversee Trick or Vote, the nation's largest Get Out the Vote event in costume. In 2008, Trick or Vote won Campaign and Elections' Politics Magazine Reed Award for "Best National GOTV Plan and Execution."

Prior to joining the staff of Forward Montana, Matt Singer worked as one of the early staff at Progressive States Network, on Jon Tester's US Senate campaign, and as an award-winning blogger and freelance writer. His work and writings have been featured in The Nation, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, In These Times, and numerous local outlets.

Erin Switalski is the Executive Director of Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), a national organization that works to eliminate toxic chemicals that impact women’s health by changing consumer behaviors, corporate practices and government policies. Before joining Women’s Voices for the Earth in 2005, Erin worked in a variety of fields, including affordable, green-built housing and human rights. At WVE, Erin led statewide initiatives to reduce women’s exposure to mercury from mercury-containing products and introduced comprehensive legislation to ban the sale of mercury products in the state of Montana. She was also responsible for developing and implementing all aspects of the national Safe Cleaning Products Initiative, which has garnered international media attention, moved major corporations to make unprecedented policy changes, and resulted in the introduction of federal legislation that will reduce women’s exposure to cleaning product chemicals. Erin has given numerous presentations about the unique role women play as advocates to diverse audiences across the Unites States. Erin has also traveled to Colombia twice to act as a human rights observer. She holds a BA in Spanish from the University of Montana.

Tracy Van Slyke has dedicated her career as a journalist, communications professional and media producer to building a strong independent media infrastructure. As the Director of The Media Consortium, she works to organize innovative projects that will change the terms of the American political and cultural debate as well as help progressive media evolve for a 21st century media environment. She is also co-author of the book, Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (February, 2010 The New Press). In March 2010, Van Slyke was named by the Women’s Media Center as one of the 30 “Women Making History.” Van Slyke is currently on the board of both Women, Action and the Media – a group that connects and supports media makers, activists, academics and funders working to advance women’s media participation, ownership and representation and National People’s Action–a network of grassroots, community organizations dedicated to creating a society in which racial and economic justice are realized. Van Slyke is the former publisher of In These Times magazine, a national, award-winning monthly magazine of progressive news, analysis and cultural reporting.

Emily Arnold-Fernandez, the founder and executive director of Asylum Access, is a social entrepreneur and human rights pioneer.

Emily first became involved in refugee rights in 2002, when she represented refugees in refugee status determination (RSD) proceedings conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo, Egypt. After successfully helping a young Liberian write an appeal for refugee status, Emily realized that he was in a fortunate minority. Many refugees around the world do not have access to a lawyer—or even know their internationally guaranteed human rights. Emily founded Asylum Access to address this. Asylum Access helps refugees navigate the process of obtaining the legal status they need to access their basic rights: the right to work, to go to school, to access health care, and to live safely.

Emily has always believed in using the law as a tool for social justice. Previously, she has worked with the Equal Rights Advocates and as a Rapporteur for the African NGO Refugee Protection Network. She was named an “Unsung Hero of Compassion” by the Dalai Lama in 2009 for the work she has done through Asylum Access.

Nancy Bui-Thompson was elected to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors in November 2008. SMUD is the sixth largest publicly owned utility whose innovative energy programs are known throughout the country. Bui-Thompson sets energy strategy and policy that affects 1.4 Million people in the Sacramento region. She has fought for low rates for consumers while continuing to push a progressive energy policy. SMUD is the first utility to have 20% of its energy come from renewable resources and Bui-Thompson will be a part of the effort to bring SMUD to 33% renewables by 2030. She has worked with local, state and national leaders to work on climate change and energy policy.

Prior to being elected to the SMUD Board of Directors, she served as a representative to the Sacramento Transportation and Air Quality Collaborative, working to develop a long-term strategy for the area to improve transportation and air quality while maintaining the region's economic viability.

Bui-Thompson is also an active volunteer. She is also a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement as well as the founder of Bear HUGS (Hope You Give Someone), speaking to children about child abuse. After Hurricane Katrina, she became a certified disaster services volunteer for the SacSierra chapter of the Red Cross. She is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, with bachelor's degrees in Economics and Management Information Systems.

Amani Channel is an award-winning video producer, and specialist in traditional, and convergence/new media.

He is the content manager at Public Broadcasting Atlanta for the www.lensonatlanta.org social community. He is also the founder of a media consulting, video production company called Visual Eye Media. The company offers high definition video production services, media training, and social media solutions for companies, organizations, and individuals.

His content, commentaries, and reports have been featured on on NPR, APTN (Associated Press Television News), CNN, Headline News, BET, Black Family Channel, HDNews, and across the Web.

Channel blogs at http://www.MyUrbanReport.com. The video blog explores media issues, news, and Channel shares his media expertise through multi-media content.

Channel also speaks at conferences, workshops, and universities across the country about traditional and new media. He's taught video production and new media at Hillsborough Community College, and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Tampa, FL, and Kennesaw State University.

In 2010 he received a Master of Arts from the University of South Florida.

His thesis is titled: "Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism: A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Media."

Cheryl Contee specializes in helping non-profit organizations and foundations use social media to create social good. She is also the co-founder of Jack and Jill Politics writing as “Jill Tubman” on one of the top 10 black blogs. Contee is included in The Root 100 list of established and emerging African-American leaders. Fast Company named her one of their 2010 Most Influential Women in Tech. She has over 13 years of award-winning interactive expertise and previously served as Vice President and lead digital strategist for Fleishman-Hillard’s west coast region in San Francisco.

Contee has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, San Francisco magazine and on the BBC and CNN. She also serves on boards and advisory committees for Netroots Nation, BlogHer, Blogging While Brown, Applied Research Center and CommonGoods.Net.

Contee received her BA from Yale University and has an International Executive MBA from Georgetown University. In her spare time, Ms. Contee enjoys hiking, yoga, movies and tai chi sword.

Farmville, VA native Jasper L. Hendricks, III is the founder of the Broader Representation Advocacy Team – Political Action Committee also known as BRAT-PAC which is dedicated to recruiting, training, and providing financial support to African American candidates at the local, state, and national levels while identifying, education and mobilizing African American voters across the country.

Prior to founding BRAT-PAC Jasper served as the Director of Field Operations and Political Programs at National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) where he worked to develop and implement effective coalition building and political programs designed to increase the civic engagement of NBJC constituents in targeted states as well as strengthen NBJC’s electoral, fund-raising, legislative and grassroots infrastructure and capacity at the national, state and local levels.

Educated at Prince Edward County Public Schools and Norfolk State University, Jasper has also served as the National Director of Youth and College Voter Empowerment for the NAACP, Legislative Assistant to the President of Norfolk State University and as an advisor to two (2) democratic presidential campaigns and three (3) Members of Congress.

Justin Krebs is a political & cultural entrepreneur based in New York City and author of the upcoming book, "538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal." He is co-founder and Executive Director of Living Liberally, a national organization that creates social events around progressive politics including Laughing Liberally comedy shows, Screening Liberally films, Reading Liberally book clubs, Eating Liberally meals and best known for the 300+ chapters of Drinking Liberally happy hours. He is one of the founders and Artistic Directors of The Tank, a non-profit venue for performing arts and public affairs in Manhattan. Over the past decade, he has been an Activist Fellow for CREDO in San Francisco, managed issue advocacy campaigns in New York City, produced an award-winning documentary for PBS on youth civic engagement, and served in the office of US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has published “Grounds For Play,” a history of playgrounds in New York, and contributed to the Huffington Post, Open Left and other progressive blogs. He is a NJ native, Harvard alum and President of the 45th Street Block Association in Hell's Kitchen.

Karlo Barrios Marcelo is the CEO of Karlo Marcelo Consulting, an online communications and marketing consultancy with an expertise in engaging Millennials in progressive politics and civil society. He provides strategic advice to and designs communications plans for nonprofit and political leaders in order to better connect them with their constituents when using email, social media, websites and other digital modalities. His research on young voters has appeared in most major media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Associated Press. He’s blogged on progressive politics for FutureMajority.com and WireTap Magazine.

Prior to finding his entrepreneurial path, Karlo served as a researcher at CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), a national, non-partisan think tank where he analyzed trends in youth civic engagement. More recently, he’s consulted with The Aspen Institute – Economic Opportunities Program, InterAction, 80 Million Strong, The Rappaport Family Foundation and See3 Communications. He serves on the Advisory Board for HeadCount and the Board of Directors for Advocates for Youth. He holds a BA from the University of Maryland and an MPP from the University of Michigan.

Dana co-founded the global education nonprofit World Savvy in San Francisco in 2002, which works to educate and engage youth in community and world affairs. Under her direction, the organization has grown to serve more than 6,000 students and 1,100 educators annually from three offices nationwide: San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis-St. Paul, and has become a local and national leader in its field. She has taught global issues in Bay Area high schools, managed multi-site after school programs and developed a capacity building model for the educators and youth involved in World Savvy programs. She is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and received her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Connecticut College. Dana has significant academic experience in the field of international relations, economic development, local level development and poverty alleviation and microfinance. In addition to her nonprofit management experience, Dana is actively involved in a range of community based initiatives concerning youth development, education, and international education. She is also a frequent speaker on the subject of international education and social entrepreneurship.

Ben Rattray is the founder and CEO of Change.org, an online platform for social change that raises awareness about major causes and empowers people to take action. Change.org currently has more than 1.5 million members, wins rapid-response advocacy campaigns on a weekly basis, and works with more than 100 of the largest progressive organizations in the country to scale their national campaigns. Ben was previously a political consultant and co-founder of GFS, an award-winning social entrepreneurship venture to automate the federal grant application process. He is a frequent public speaker about how organizations and activists can use the social web to advance social change and is a graduate of Stanford University and the London School of Economics.

EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock is a recognized leader, bringing more than 12 years of fundraising, management and strategic planning experience to EMILY's List. She’s been described as "inspirational," a "star in American politics," and "a spectacular campaign manager."

Stephanie has been at the forefront of some of the most challenging and innovative political campaigns of the past decade. She served as the national finance director for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, leading the team that revolutionized political fundraising, exceeding previous records by raising more than $52 million in a Democratic primary. Stephanie then helped now-U.S. Senator Jon Tester unseat an 18-year Republican incumbent U.S. senator in a state with an eight-point Republican advantage.

When Democratic leaders were looking for the right person to manage Al Franken's Senate campaign in Minnesota, they turned to Stephanie. Franken's $18 million campaign was one of the most- watched races of 2008. After an extremely close vote on Election Day failed to produce a clear victor, Stephanie managed a $12 million recount operation that involved four law firms, 180 staff, and nearly 2000 volunteers. Stephanie is originally from Montana.

Emily Arata serves as the Deputy Mayor of External Affairs of the City of New Orleans. In this capacity, she oversees the Mayor’s executive office, and the departments of Communications, Intergovernmental Relations and Constituency Services. Ms. Arata served as Campaign Manager for Mitch Landrieu’s primary victories for Mayor of New Orleans in 2010 and for re-election as Lieutenant Governor in 2008. Previously, she served in the Lt. Governor’s Office since 2005, most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing communications, policy, scheduling and operations.

Prior to joining Landrieu’s team, Ms. Arata was a partner in High Note Communications, a New Orleans-based firm handling public relations and public affairs work for various clients in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. Arata is a veteran of several state and local campaigns, as well as two presidential races. At the federal level, Ms. Arata worked on Capitol Hill in the offices of Senator Landrieu and Representative Johnson of Texas. For her dedication to community service, Ms. Arata earned a Presidential Scholarship to Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee where she received a bachelor's degree.

An advantageous supporter of service and young people, Gigi Traore’s work is aimed towards advocating for and empowering the everyday person who traditionally has been excluded from political conversations.

Traore became involved as a teenager at Cincinnati Lincoln Community Center as a peer mentor, leading to her activism and progressive leadership at Cleveland State University. Since then Traore has expanded to local and national arenas.

She’s the founding executive director of Power Network a service-learning nonprofit specializing in leadership development, civic engagement, and policy study with students of color on college campuses throughout the state of Ohio.

Traore has received local and state recognition for her service to the community and civic engagement work including a January 2009 article by the Call & Post featuring Power Network’s civic engagement program; she’s the recipient of the City Year Cleveland Community Champion and Wanda M. Coleman Community Service Awards. Traore has also received awards and recognitions from Cleveland State University and the Children’s Defense Fund.

She's a 09-10 Green For All Academy Fellow, 2007 graduate of Front Line Leaders Academy and 2009 YP4’s Leadership Academy 10-month fellowship which included leadership development, organizational management, and personal ecology training.