Ezra Silk Email & Phone Number

• Led multi-year public affairs campaign that delivered $10.55 billion in public investments to America’s first high-speed rail projects, including the largest federal investment in bullet trains in American history;• Manage the government affairs work and day-to-day operations of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, the voice of America’s high-speed rail industry, including supervision of the Association’s strategic communications and political consultants.• Raised $2 million advocacy budget from labor unions and companies;• Convened and manage the U.S. High Speed Rail Coalition, an alliance of 35 leading companies and unions from across the American high-speed rail industry co-chaired by former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretaries Ray LaHood and Anthony Foxx;• Led meeting at USDOT headquarters with Secretary Buttigieg to discuss high-speed rail strategy and the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law;• Organized major high-speed rail industry conference covered by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNBC, with speakers including Mitch Landrieu, Nancy Pelosi, multiple Members of Congress, and the CEOs of America’s leading bullet train projects;

• Convened the U.S. High Speed Rail Coalition, a labor and business alliance co-chaired by three former USDOT Secretaries: Ray LaHood, Anthony Foxx, and Norm Mineta.• The Coalition's members include AECOM, HNTB, Siemens, the Teamsters Rail Conference, and WSP.

• Co-Founded The Climate Mobilization (TCM), an advocacy organization that builds public support for a national mobilization to address the climate emergency. • As Director of Strategy & Policy from 2015 - 2019, my duties included defining TCM’s policy platform, crafting political strategy, deploying campaigns, building partnerships and coalitions, serving as a lead spokesperson, providing communications support and acting as the strategic advisor and deputy to the Executive Director. • As Deputy Director in 2020, my areas of responsibility included strategic planning, organizational development, project management, coordination of staff and programs and fundraising support. From 2015 – 2020, I served on the senior management team that grew an all-volunteer operation into a national organization with a $1.2 million annual budget staffed by 13 full-time professionals.Direct Reports: Organizing Director and Research Director.

Westbrook, Me

• Wrote six articles per week covering government affairs and cultural, economic, and environmental news in nine towns across the Lakes Region of Southern Maine.

• Covered the growth and decline of the Occupy Wall Street movement across America, writing dozens of feature stories published on the America, Occupied blog. • Wrote Carnival of Dissent, a 166-page book of in-depth reporting on the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Bar Harbor, Maine

• Wrote five articles per week covering government affairs and land use planning controversies in the Town of Bar Harbor.• Published an exclusive investigative series uncovering extensive voting irregularities that resulted in a successful lawsuit against the Town of Bar Harbor.