I've been working for Democrats Abroad since AOK – Americans Overseas for Kerry – in 2004. Over the years I have served as Chapter Chair (Munich), as Chair and as Vice Chair of DA-Germany, and I am currently serving as Cologne-Bonn Chapter Chair, Co-Chair of the DA-Germany Bylaws Committee, Chair of the DA-Germany LGBTQ Caucus and as a DPCA Voting Rep.
Although I started working for DA 20 years ago and have worked on many global projects, I have never run for any position on the global level. This is my first time to run for delegate, and I hope you give my candidacy consideration.
I was still officially a Young Dem when I took on my first elected office in DA Leadership. Obviously, I am no longer young, but I can offer you experience – on the local, national and global levels.
It would be a great honor to serve as a Biden delegate this year and represent DA at the convention, and I promise to use my 20 years of experience, if elected, to continue to serve the interests of DA.
The accomplishments in DA I am most proud of:
1p1v – One Person, one vote
Of the many DA projects I’ve worked on over the years, my proudest accomplishment was a change to the DA Charter we passed at the Global Meeting in Tokyo a few years ago. After trying and failing to get the reform passed at two previous annual Global Meetings, One person, One vote (1P1V) forced each country committee to elect as many Voting Reps as they had votes within the DPCA. The Charter revisions we had passed in Seoul in 2011 left large country committees (like mine) allocating their votes **four** to each Voting Rep. That means, in 2016 Germany had 16 votes, shared by 4 people – the DAG Chair (me), Vice Chair and 2 Voting Reps. So, not only were large country committees at an advantage by not having to elect so many people to hold their votes, the smallest country committees only had one vote which meant that their chairs and vice chairs had ½ vote each. As Chair of Germany, I literally walked into the room with EIGHT times the intrinsic voting power of the Chair of DA Hong Kong. That, of course, had to change!
Now all DA country committees elect one person for each of their allocated votes. Seems logical. And fair. 1P1V is a pretty basic democratic value, but it took **three** years, three different Global Meetings, to convince enough country committees to go along with the change and to reach the 67% hurdle to change the Charter. I spearheaded this Charter amendment because I knew that the make-up of our party leadership had to change. It had to become more reflective of the demographics and the policy priorities of our Party’s constituencies. 1P1V changed DA for the better, and I can honestly say: I did that. The DPCA today is younger, more diverse, more progressive and more welcoming than it was 10 years ago. You’re welcome.
DART – Democrats Abroad Road Trip
In the summer of 2012 I was instrumental in planning – and driving – the Democrats Abroad Road Trip (DART) “Obama Bus” around Europe, visiting 26 cities in 13 different countries and motivating local committees and chapters and registering as many American citizens as we could find. You can find the old facebook page with many wonderful pics here: https://www.facebook.com/DemocratsAbroadRoadTrip
EMEA COOP – Swag and GOTV Materials
From 2011 to 2017, I served as either DAG Chair or Vice Chair. In my first year as DAG Vice Chair, I founded the EMEA COOP, a cooperative to provide country committees and Germany's chapters with high-quality postcards, brochures, buttons, t-shirts, etc – a project which still exists to this day! To help country committees and chapters come up with nice-looking graphics, I also founded the Global Design Team several years ago and served as its first Chair.
Oktoberfest FUN-draiser
In my first year as Chapter Chair in Munich I initiated the "Oktoberfest Extravaganza" as a fundraiser for DA-Germany and Global, an event which continues on to this day. If you haven't had a chance to make it to Munich on the first weekend in October, you really need to buy a ticket for this year's event. Seriously... it is FUN!