workinggrp_roleofgovn
Dave Johnson
Blogger
Seeing the Forest
Redwood City,
CA
Professional Background and Interests:
Blogger at Seeing the Forest.
Fellow at Commonweal Institute.
Darrin Bodner
Chief Operating Officer
Media Matters for America
Washington,
DC
Professional Background and Interests:
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.
Erik Sahlin
Co-Founder
Real Reason
Berkeley,
CA
Professional Background and Interests:
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.
Leonard M. Salle
President
Portola Valley,
CA
Professional Background and Interests:
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.
Bob Loeb
Business Development Specialist
NetCentric Campaigns, a division of Green Media Toolshed
Glen Ridge,
NJ
Professional Background and Interests:
I'm a social entrepreneur, currently working with Green Media Toolshed to create a business plan for offering the NetCentric Media Campaign Hub as a resource for the entire progressive community.
I am also a member of the Board of the Communications Consortium Media Center, which works on collaborative media campaigns funded by progressive foundations.
David Mermin
Partner
Lake Research Partners
Berkeley,
CA
Professional Background and Interests:
David Mermin is a partner in Lake Research Partners (LRP) and heads the firm’s Oakland office. LRP is the national political research firm established in 1995 by Celinda Lake, one of the Democratic Party’s leading strategists. LRP advises dozens of Democratic incumbents and challengers at all levels of the electoral process, as well as a wide range of non-partisan advocacy organizations, foundations, and labor unions. LRP has nationally recognized expertise on the politics of the women’s vote, health care issues, the environment, and the labor movement. LRP has offices in Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Randall Hayes
Executive Director
International Forum on Globalization
Peter Glenshaw
Chair and Co-Founder
Democracy for New Hampshire
Lyme,
NH
Professional Background and Interests:
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.
Patrick J Bresette
Associate Program Director, Public Works: the Demos Center for the Public Sector
Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action
Bastrop,
Texas
Professional Background and Interests:
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.
Beth George
Account Director
Fenton Communications and SheSource.org
Brooklyn,
NY
Professional Background and Interests:
WEBSITE ACCESS ONLY; WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE CONVENING. Beth George has more than five years’ experience helping public interest organizations leverage the media to advance their social justice goals. At Fenton, she specializes in women’s issues, global affairs and economic justice. She is a lead advisor on Internet and media strategy for SheSource, a joint project of Fenton, The White House Project and the Women's Funding Network to promote and increase the representation of women experts in the mainstream media. She has previously worked for the ACLU, Pro-Media Commnunications, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and New York City Council.
Paul Rivera
Bronx,
New York
Professional Background and Interests:
Paul Rivera is a New York based political activist/strategist. He recently served as the Senior Political Advisor for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004, after managing New York State for John Kerry in the Democratic Primaries. He worked for Carl McCall's 2002 gubernatorial campaign in New York and previously as a White House advance person from 1994 through 2000. He is a veteran of the past four presidential elections and the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Democratic National Conventions.
Sophia Yen
Pediatrician, Adolescent Medicine Specialist
San Francisco,
CA
Professional Background and Interests:
Pediatrician, specializing in Adolescents. Work on: advocacy for adolescent reproductive rights, pediatric obesity prevention and treatment, women's rights.
