I deeply value the opportunity to be active in helping my community. It is important to me to use my skills and experience to be of service to my clients. Proven track record in the following areas: Fundraising, Record keeping and Donor Management, Cultivation, Solicitation, Stewardship, and Event Management. Particularly proficient in the areas of Community Engagement, Marketing and Communications. My leadership and management experience expand my capacity to help organizations achieve their goals, as community development and politics demand a team effort and often a multi-faceted approach. I thrive in a fast-paced environment, working both collaboratively and independently, to drive desired results for clientele.

As an energetic and enthusiastic supporter of River Watch I designed and built a website for the organization and am working to grow the social media presence of the organization. My focus is on creating a platform from which the organization can put in place a fundraising campaign based on the strategic plan the organization is developing. I am working with FaceBook, using it as not just a membership development tool but as a coalition builder as well. The website which I designed and built, serves as a blog, membership communication tool and also as a fundraising tool. I supported the leadership team in creating a committee focused on fundraising. Our work led to a $10,000 matching grant which was more than doubled. We are using FaceBook to identify what messaging and narrative is most compelling to our membership. I offer free space on my server to all non-profits I serve.

A 2 day symposium sponsored by the Aspen Institute focused on the writing of Hunter S. Thompson. I was a co-organizer of this event and was responsible for the funding. We brought together such distinguished participants as Senator George McGovern, Professor Douglas Brinkley, and Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists Carl Bernstein and Loren Jenkins, along with past president of the NACDL (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) Gerry Goldstein, Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, author John Nichols and Dr. Audrey Sprenger (Jack Kerouac Wrote Here), in addition to other writers and journalists, for a total of approximately 10-15 participants. The organizing theme of the symposium was Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, which was particularly relevant as the 2008 Presidential election cycle began. The goal of the Hunter S. Thompson Symposium is to bring attention, through discussion, to the enduring qualities of Thompson’s writing, both in terms of content, theme, and style, to examine how these qualities might be relevant to the present, and to explore how they can be developed and encouraged in a new generation of writers.

Worked with a PR professional and Hunter S. Thompson on a major press rally. Over 3000 people were in attendance and we had press in most major papers across the US often on the front page and TV coverage in Colorado. I was responsible for Message, Branding, Image and Speech writing. I worked with a PR professional and a volunteer membership group to create ‘buzz’ and the ‘look’ of the rally ensuring major press coverage. I also assisted in the details for the celebrity speakers transport and their messaging. I completely re messaged and branded the campaign. After the rally I worked with key players for several years to restructure the message for different audiences and different players as the need changed according to circumstances. The case went before the Colorado Supreme Court and Lisl Auman was freed from prison in April of 2006.

Assisted in the planning, developing and implementing of PR strategies; Assisted in liaising with and answering enquiries from media, individuals and other organizations, distributed press releases to targeted media;Assisted in collating and analyzing media coverage; supervised the production of publicity brochures, handouts, direct mail leaflets, maintained and updated information for our client base. Maintained public presence of clients in all media appropriate. I managed all financials.

Market research specializing in political issues both state and nationwideAs Director of Operations I was responsible for the operations of a quickly growing research firm. Duties included hiring and managing of all staff. I was responsible for client interface. I oversaw data entry, accounts payable, payroll, managing human resources, creating organizational and program budgets in collaboration with the President of the company. Working closely with the President position's primary responsibility was in ensuring organizational effectiveness by providing leadership for the organization's primary functions. I worked to develop management leadership from within our staff. Working with the management team, I was also responsible for the development and implementation of organizational strategies, policies and practices. Responsibilities:Improved the operational systems, processes and policies in support of organizations mission -- specifically, support better management reporting, information flow and management, business process and organizational planning.Manage and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Support Services (HR, IT and Finance), through improvements to each function as well as coordination and communication between support and business functions. I was the primary client contact. Played a significant role in long-term planning, including an initiative geared toward operational excellence.Develop long-range forecasts and maintain long-range financial plans.Manage functions.Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Support Services through improvements to each function (HR, IT, Finance) as well as coordination and communication between functions.Drive initiatives in the management team and organizationally that contribute to long-term operational excellence. Organizational LeadershipContributed to short and long-term organizational planning and strategy as a member of the management team as we grew.

Nationwide survey research operation. I interviewed people from all walks of life across the country, from big cities to small towns to rural areas about political issues. Administered carefully developed, field-tested questionnaires to respondents using a computer. Insured respondents’ privacy by keeping their answers confidential. Duties included telephone interviewing, respondent locating and screening, survey response coding, hard copy document management, computer assisted data entryPrompting –contacting respondents to prompt the respondent to return a completed questionnaire. CADE (computer assisted data entry) - data entry of respondent questionnaire data.Retrieval - contacting respondents to collect incomplete, inconsistent or illegible data. Transcription/editing –interpreted and transcribed records in addition to identifying and correcting errors which is incomplete or unclear. Receipt Control - updating the status of documents into a project specific databaseQuality control of various data preparation related activities

Canvass Directors work with a high level of autonomy and are expected to be self-accountable and self-motivated. I recruited, trained, developed, and managed a staff of 15-30 organizers and canvass leaders, ensuring high-quality organizing I put a field canvas in place and worked on major donor cultivation. I trained and mobilized staff and community members in priority political districts to raise awareness of environmental and public health issues.The field canvas was the primary source of funding for Freeze Voter. I was also charged with leadership development in the organization. In addition to the daily management of the canvass team, I regularly attend strategy meetings, rallies, and other events throughout the week and on weekends. Leadership Qualities As Canvass Director I was a key leader of a city-wide program. I was able to recruit, train, and motivate a large staff of activists to perform at a high level. I had a strong grasp of politics and election dynamics, as well as excellent public presentation skills in order to clearly communicate the mission of the organization. Team Oriented My primary responsibility as the Canvass Director was to grow large, effective teams of organizers. I worked with organizational directors and the Phone Canvass Directors to evaluate and shape our organizing strategies.SuccessRocky Flats was a United States nuclear weapons production facility near Denver, Co. In August of 1989, due to our organizational work, more than 3,500 people surrounded the plant and were arrested in an massive act of civil disobedience. Our efforts made national news. Our efforts prompted investigations into the safety of the plant. By 1992 Rocky Flats was shut down.

Was a lead organizer for electoral and issues campaigns specializing in community outreach and GOTV (included speech writing, branding, candidate prep, event planning, advance work and community development) I was the Campaign Manager from the issues side. I guided the candidate’s relationship with the media, including campaign literature, television, radio and print. I was in charge of writing copy and press releases and creating concepts for signs and billboards or bumper stickers. I worked on a wide range of issues campaigns. The proof of my success was walking away knowing I had identified, cultivated and developed a leadership team that would stand and continue to be successful in every community I worked in. Raised funds all across the country from individuals and major donors. At the root of every campaign I worked with Citizen Action was fundraising. Fundraising was a key tool used in building strong community and coalition commitment and enthusiasm for each campaign. Traveled across the country to work with state and community organizations on issues campaigns and elections. Specialized in working with offices in trouble: worked to identify the problem, created a plan, implemented that plan, solved the problem. Worked on the Clean Water Act across the country, worked to designate several Super Fund sites across the country among other issues affecting communities and states.I worked with non-profit coalition groups and helped to build strong citizen groups and leadership development from the grassroots in order to support each issues campaign I worked on.

Major event planning * Iowa State convention during a presidential year; arguably the MOST important event in any election year given the attention and import of Iowaʼs positioning as the first state in the electoral primaries. The Rules and Nominations committee is responsible for allaspects of the planning of the Iowa State Democratic Party convention but for security. This event is attended by 5,000 + people.