Chief Operating Officer

Media Matters for America

Washington,  DC

http://mediamatters.org/

PROGRESSIVE ROUNDTABLE ADVISOR. A member of the Media Matters team since the organization's conception, Darrin Bodner has more than a decade of government, campaign, nonprofit and corporate experience. Most recently, Bodner served as development director for the award-winning Off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company. He also served as an adviser to former New York City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone, as well as chief fund-raiser for Vallone's mayoral campaign. Bodner holds a bachelor of arts from Dickinson College.

Co-Founder

Real Reason

Berkeley,  CA

http://RealReason.org

Erik's Ph.D.-level training in American politics and history, as well as Chinese language, history, and politics, informed his previous work experiences as a project manager, teacher, and researcher. Having served as an an integral part of campaigns and policy-making teams, Erik has extensive knowledge of political communications, strategic planning, and coalition building. As Managing Director of the Rockridge Institute, Erik developed the Institute's operations and finances, facilitated the creation of research plans, presented work to key stakeholders, and supervised and mentored all full-time personnel.

President

Commonweal Institute, Inc.

Portola Valley,  CA

http://www.commonwealinstitute.org

Leonard M. Salle, President and co-founder of the Commonweal Institute, brings a business and systems perspective to the promotion of moderate-progressive ideas. As a civil engineer in high level management positions, he worked extensively with the the public and the government in creation of major projects, including new towns. His experience with engineering systems, the public, and political bodies, as well as an active and ongoing interest in political and social issues, informed his thinking about the need for an infrastructure for advancing a progressive movement. It was with this need in mind that he co-founded the Commonweal Institute in 2001.

Faithful America, National Council of Churches of Christ

http://www.faithfulamerica.org

Founder

Netcentric Campaigns

Silver Spring,  MD

http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org

Martin Kearns has been Co-Founder and Executive Director of Green Media Toolshed (GMT) since May of 2000. GMT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the environmental movement communicate more effectively by offering a professional suite of communication tools, trainings and services. GMT offers the technology groups need along with the training and support to develop strategies that leverage those tools for the benefit member organizations and coalitions. Previously, Kearns founded the Georgia River Network, a state based conservation group solely dedicated to the conservation of Georgia's rivers. Kearns also served as Executive Director of the Georgia River Network. He worked for three years for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Kearns has been political fundraiser for candidates for the US House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Kearns holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from LeMoyne College and a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from Yale. Kearns spent two years in Kingston, Jamaica as a Jesuit International Volunteer teaching computers at St. George's College and working with inner city youth. He is a runner, hiker and fisherman. He and his wife Maryann are raising their two little boys in Silver Spring, MD.

Progressive Legislative Action Network

http://www.progressivestates.org

Chair and Co-Founder

Democracy for New Hampshire

Lyme,  NH

http://www.democracyfornewhampshire.com

I am interested in how we take lessons from NH election success in 2004 to other purple, rural states. I also want to ask how we can invest in messengers & organizations (not politicians) who can increase the number of likely voters who support a socially progressive, fiscally responsible worldview. The project which aims to achieve these goals is known as the Progressive Venture Fund. I've been a university administrator and fundraiser for 17 years, working at Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Dartmouth College. I've also helped start and manage two startup companies, one of which produced the first-ever encyclopedia about the African diaspora in both print and CD- ROM. I'm a member of the Lyme School Board, the Chair of the Lyme Democratic Committee, and a Grafton County delegate to the Democratic State Committee. I was a co-captain for Howard Dean in the New Hampshire 2004 primary, and led the Upper Valley Meetup from September 2003 until May 2004. A snowboarder and occasional triathlete, I'm married to Elizabeth Glenshaw and together we have three children.

Associate Program Director, Public Works: the Demos Center for the Public Sector

Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action

Bastrop,  Texas

http://www.demos.org

Patrick joined Dēmos in 2004 after thirteen years as Associate Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas and before that as a legislative aide in the Texas House of Representatives. Patrick has an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA in Sculpture from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Patrick grew up in Washington. DC and has lived in Texas since 1982 He has raised four children together with his spouse Debbie.

Executive Director

ProgressNow.org

Boulder,  CO

http://www.progressnowaction.org

Michael Huttner is the Executive Director of ProgressNow.org and ProgressNowAction.org. As a private political consultant Mr. Huttner helped spearhead Colorado’s legislative efforts in 2004. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law where he teaches Legislation and Lobbying. Mr. Huttner worked as Policy Advisor to Governor Roy Romer and before returning to Denver he clerked at the White House for the Office of the Counsel to the President. Mr. Huttner earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. He recently got married to Debbie Herz, a lawyer by training who now teaches Yoga; they live in Boulder with their dog Yoshi.

Communications Director

Campaign for America's Future

Arlington,  Va.

http://www.ourfuture.org

WEBSITE ACCESS ONLY; WILL NOT ATTEND CONVENING. Toby Chaudhuri directs communications at the Campaign for America’s Future’s Washington headquarters. He works with progressive non-profit organizations, political campaigns and people in public office to develop messages and strategies to communicate with the public and influence public policy. Chaudhuri has managed more than $25 million in state and federal campaigns and has worked at the helm of national media operations. He fought corruption and helped to enact historic reforms directing strategic communications at Common Cause; took on corporate polluters to provide safe drinking water as a political appointee to President Clinton; and worked to elect several principled state and federal candidates including serving as deputy press secretary to Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. Before joining America’s Future, Chaudhuri worked hard to protect sick and hungry children from the right wing as Marian Wright Edelman’s spokesman and media strategist at the Children’s Defense Fund.