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Alejandra Salinas and Jeremy Feigenbaum President and Vice President
Your CDA: Alejandra and Jeremy
Alejandra C. Salinas for CDA President
Jeremy Feigenbaum for CDA Vice President
Through the collective efforts of the College Democrats of Americas board members,
Executive Director, appointed officers, state federation leaders, and chapter
presidents, CDA has grown and expanded tremendously in the past year. We have
built new relationships, redefined the expectations of our organization, and worked
to further empower College Democrats.
As President, Alejandra has been at the forefront of that growth, while Jeremy has
worked to support her throughout the year as CDA Programs Director.
The work of improving CDA began as soon as we were elected and has continued
through the present. Beginning last summer, our organization experienced immenseturnover. Three months before the midterm elections, CDA had a new board and
was conducting a search for our next Executive Director.
We welcomed the challenge and took the opportunity to provide new and
innovative resources for a midterm election cycle. We also spent countless hours
working on exciting new initiatives such as the Back2School program, putting
resources and guides into the hands of state leaders.
As soon as school began, we launched the Again 2010 efforts to elect Democrats,
investing unprecedented resources in campaign invasions, organizing our first Fall
Campaign Contest to allocate additional resources to state federations for GOTVprogramming, coordinating hundreds of watch parties for the Presidents youth
address, planning Dial4Dems phonebanking days to support five targeted races, and
hosting a conference call with President Obama.
After the elections were over, College Democrats moved forward to regroup and
rebuild in preparation for new legislative and electoral challenges. We coordinated
the Stand With Students campaign and created a comprehensive advocacy guide and
held call days to support key Democratic issues. In addition, CDA enacted its State
Communications Grant and grew our social media presence, we ran an exciting
Service Week, and Alejandra nominated a former College Democrat,
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, as the new Chairwoman of theDemocratic National Committee.
Despite these accomplishments, we are not done yet and we look forward to leading
CDAs continued expansion. As CDA prepares for the challenges that 2012 will bring,
we need to recognize what our organization is most effective at and act accordingly.
From Alabama to Wisconsin, we have learned that providing resources and support
to the incredible work that chapter and state leaders are already performing on
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their campuses is what we do best. Our campaign, with its theme of Your CDA,
reflects the ways in which we both intend to develop the numerous and exciting
aspects of state and chapter College Democrats organizing.
The Reelect, the DNC, and You
Nothing can be more important to College Democrats than guaranteeing a strong
relationship between CDA, the DNC, and President Obamas reelection campaign.
We are proud of the relationship we have already built, and Alejandra was honored
to be one of the DNC members chosen to nominate Congresswoman Debbie
Wasserman Shultz as Chair. Here is how we will continue to build that relationship:
Coordinate and provide support to voter registration drives at campusesacross the country from August of 2011 until November of 2012.
Develop a Voter Registration and Primary/Caucus Organizing Guide. Establish a Youth Delegate Guide for interested College Democrats and lead
the efforts to get our members elected to these positions in 2011 and 2012.
Ensure that White House and DNC messaging is being brought to states andchapter leadership through CDA Wire, social media, and the National Council.
Coordinate internship opportunities for College Democrats with DemocraticParty offices including the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, and DGA, as well as State Parties,
State OFA organizations, and others.
Providing Resources to You
College Democrats states and chapters do amazing work on campus, whether
planning new events, conducting social media outreach, organizing issue advocacy,
or volunteering on local campaigns. But such impressive agendas often need
support from the national level. Here is what we will do to help:
Produce a comprehensive Chapter Fundraising: Best Practices Guide and aState Federation Fundraising: Best Practices Guide.
Offer full website development and support for state federations that seekassistance in improving their online communications.
Expand the newly created CDA Communications Grant to ensure that stateshave the opportunity to utilize social media advertising and micro-targeting
free of cost.
Create at least 10 CDA Alumni contacts in each chartered state withfundraising potential for that state federation.
Support Your Campus Organizing
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Supporting our states and chapters means more than grants and resources, however.
Our pledge to assist your efforts also means offering advice on programming,
guidance on membership development, and more. Here is some of what we can do
for you:
Produce a Membership Outreach Guide that includes includes best practiceson state federation and chapter expansion, as well as advice on outreach to
specialized campuses including HBCUs, community colleges, and womens
colleges.
Revamp the Chapter Contact portion of the website and develop a means bywhich chapters can update incorrect information.
Host "Social Media 101" and "Advanced Targeted Social Media" Webinarswith the DNC at the beginning of this year.
Collaborate with targeted state federations to help them build relationshipswith their State Party and states OFA.
Develop five central programming ideas to be released at the beginning ofthe fall and spring semesters, and work continuously with states to execute
those programs.
Create a CDA Speakers Bureau that provides assistance to states andchapters looking to attract Democratic officials.
Access and Accountability to You
The CDA Executive Board cannot support your efforts on campus and in the
community if we are not accountable to you. In addition to expanding ourrelationship with the reelect and the DNC, and providing resources, training, and
advice to states and chapters, we plan to ensure that CDA is even more accessible to
its members. Here is how we will do so:
Streamline the National Council by increasing the number of regions so thatrelationships between states and regional directors are stronger and more
reciprocal.
Improve the participation in and the quality of National Council calls byincluding prominent guest speakers and publicizing detailed agendas one
week in advance.
Institutionalize officer Fireside Chats, in which 2-3 officers will provide anofficial update and offer opportunities for questions on National Council calls
every month.
Continue this past years experience of drafting monthly officer reports andreleasing these reports on CDA Wire.
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Continue our pledge to reply to all College Democrats emails within 24 hours.We are so thrilled that College Democrats across the country have come together
this past year to elect Democrats and fight for the issues we care about. We look
forward to an even stronger community, and an even stronger CDA next year. We
know you will enjoy our exciting National Convention, with amazing keynote
addresses and exciting speakers, and look forward to working with you and the
entire CDA Family in the coming year.
We cannot wait to see you all at Convention!
Alejandra & Jeremy
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Michael Worley Communications Director
To Whom It May Concern:
I, Michael Dominic Worley, would like to formally announce my candidacy for re-
election as the National Communications Director for College Democrats of America.
I usually would have a much longer candidacy statement, but I have decided to focus
all of my time and resources on our upcoming convention.
Thank You,
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Andrew Slade Development Director
Since arriving at Boston College nearly two years ago, College Democrats has been
my biggest single commitment outside the classroom. Having taken on active roles
in campaigns at home in Pennsylvania throughout high school, I knew that I wanted
to become even more politically involved in college, and I have been able to do just
that by working with College Democrats at the chapter, state and national levels. In
April, I completed my one-year term as Finance Director of College Democrats of
Massachusetts and was elected Vice President. Since last summer, I have also served
as a member of CDAs finance committee. It is now my honor to officially declare
myself a canidate for Director of Development of College Democrats of America.
Having seen both ends of College Democrats finance as a state finance director and a
member of the national finance team, Ive developed a vision for the position of
Development Director as one that raises money for CDA nationally, while
simultaneously facilitating state-level fundraising efforts. In both capacities, the end
result is the same, and that is for CDA to serve as a resource to state and chapter
leaders, whether it be through direct support in the form of grants, or assistance
with respect to the establishment of relationships with banks, credit card companies,
fundraising groups and campaign finance regulators at the state and national levels,
as well as general help when it comes time to plan and execute a state fundraising
campaign.
As far as national fundraising efforts go, I have learned firsthand that they can be
particularly challenging, and different from state-level development. We cannot
eliminate the hurdles we face along the way, but we can work efficiently around
them by being persistent and organized, and by adapting to work more productivelywithin the institutional structure of the DNC. As Development Director, I will do this
by building on great ideas like a small-donor program, and seeing them through to
execution. I will, moreover, bring to the position new and innovative ideas for
fundraising, like working with the Political Director and caucus leaders to target
donors based on salient, high-stakes issues. I plan to also collaborate with the
National Council and regional directors to bring College Democrats together in
person for a series of regional fundraising events co-hosted by CDA and a given
chapter or state federation. In Massachusetts, I have been on the receiving end of
financial support from CDA, and I have seen just how great its impact can be. With
this understanding in mind, I will work to ensure that we at the national level are
able to continue offering grants to maximize the efficacy of our membership in
coming elections.
Beyond raising money for CDA, I will take the understanding I have gleaned by
building fundraising efforts in CDM and apply it to help states in their own
development initiatives. I have committed myself to not only being accessible to
state and chapter leaders, but to proactively reaching out to you, even if it is just to
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check in and see how things are going with an event that you have been planning or
a campaign you have been working on. I will be holding regular weekly virtual
office hours, but I also want to make clear that you should feel comfortable
contacting me at any time, and I will be making it my priority to make sure that you
do. Ultimately, I want to help you engineer fundraising plans that will be effective in
your area, and I know that I have the experience to do just that.
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Ryan Terrell Development Director
Dear College Democrats,
My name is Ryan Terrell and I am honored to run for the CDA Director ofDevelopment position. Now, more than ever,
it's important for CDA to have a Director of Development who understands the
financial struggle of the majority of our state federations
and who is able to think creatively, embody transperency and be able to adapt to the
changing world of campaign finance. As the former Chief
Financial Officer of the Florida College Democrats, I understand the situation many
of our state federations and chapters are in. Many are
lost and unsure how to raise the basic funds needed to keep the state fed operating.
A few new federations have begun debating whether they should
operate as a branch of their state party or branch off to become a state PAC or 527.
And some states even have new officers who have never dealt withfinances before and are looking for guidance.
As I've traveled and spoken with state federations across the country, Im left with
one overall feeling: disappointment. CDA entered the year with amazingly talented
officers and wonderful plans to help College Democrats become an effective
structure ready to fight for the Democratic message. CDA accomplished so much this
past year. But on the financial front, much more could've been done. Many state
finance directors, including myself, went entire months without ever being
contacted by the CDA Finance Committee. As your next Director of Development,maintaining an accountable and transparent process will be a central component to
our Financial operation. That's why I've pledged to hold at least one call every
month with our state leaders specially related to CDA finances and the financial
picture of our state federations. As we gear up for the 2012 elections, it is crucial
that all College Democrats are on the same page because we are all in this fight
together.
As I've listened to state's concerns, another crucial issue has continued to arise in
this race: campaign finance laws. Many states have confided in me that they are
either unfamiliar with their tax code status or that they are unfamiliar withthe campaign finance rules and restrictions related to their status. This is a serious
concern, because not only could accidentially breaking these rules lead to financial
or criminal reprecussions, but it could severely damage College Dems credibility in
those states. Therefore, as your next Director of Development, I pledge to assemble
a team of experts in campaign finance law to help create a CDA guide on tax statuses
and basic rules state federations need to be aware of.
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Emma Gibbons Membership Director
In order to win in 2012, our work begins right now. As CDA Membership Director, I
will build and recruit state federations key to the Presidential Election. I will not
limit my focus to the states that are high priorities for the Obama campaign, butinstead will also emphasize the states that have important Congressional races. I
plan on doing this by working with the National Council and regional directors to
identify the highest priority states in each region. Working through that list will
ensure we are maximizing our time and energy in preparation for 2012.
As for the states that have already chartered, I will work to produce helpful
documents and templates that every chapter at any level can use. For example, Id
like to have examples of what campus lit looks like, what a student groups budget
should be like and perhaps a list of creative membership recruitment techniques. I
hope to also help with outreach to targeted colleges and universities, such as HBCUs.
I want to make State Fed and Chapter Presidents jobs as easy as possible, especially
when it comes to recruiting and maintaining members.
By the time the 2012 Presidential primaries begin, I want to have an established
chapter in 80% of the states and hopefully by fall 2012 there will be a CDA College
Democrats Chapter in every state. Building CDA Chapters gives students a strong,
unified message throughout the country. Effective communication and flow of
information is key to winning any election and a large membership base will lead us
to victory. I look forward to earning your vote for CDA Membership Director at the
National Convention in June!
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Eliza Hernandez Political Director
Politics has been my passion since becoming involved in issues surrounding
comprehensive immigration reform. It has been an amazing experience to serve as
the Hispanic Caucus Chair for the past year, as well as working with the College
Democrats in multiple capacities. On the state level, I am currently the Vice-
President of the College Democrats of North Carolina, and I previously served as the
Director of Finance. I am also serving my second term as President of the UNC
Charlotte College Democrats, the same university that hosted the 2010 CDA National
Convention last summer.
This past year, CDA has moved into the direction of serving as a resource to state
and chapter leaders. My goal is to steer the caucuses in the same direction. As
Political Director, I will work to ensure caucuses are building and maintaining
relationships with state and chapter leaders to provide ideas and new sources of
information to College Democrats across the country. I want caucuses to be able to
live up to their potential, and not miss any chances to expand opportunities for
political involvement in their respective communities.
As Political Director, I will work closely with the DNC and CDA to create effective
programing, messaging, and legislative guides on how to advocate and organize
around caucus issues. The caucuses will be given the tools they need to understand
how this system works from the beginning in the form of a guide with defined roles,
responsibilities, and ways they can push their demographics agenda. I also aim to
create the position of Legislative Director to assist in keeping caucuses up to date on
items in state legislatures across the country so that CDA can organize effectively
around those respective issues.
As a caucus chair, I was able to see firsthand what has worked for caucuses andwhat can be improved. Continuing bi-weekly conference calls with caucus leaders
and calling caucus chairs weekly is critical in ensuring communication is kept open
so they are able to meet their goals. To strengthen communication with state leaders,
monthly reports on caucus developments will be sent to help build CDAs
relationship with the caucuses constituency groups in each state.
In order for caucuses to be a resource to College Democrats, it is important that they
work with the CDA Membership Director to strengthen outreach in specific
collegiate constituencies. A great way for caucuses to start their new direction as a
resource is to organize relevant caucus organization directories for every state
federation to increase collaboration with other progressive groups. My plans for thecaucuses next year continue to grow. I hope to be elected and be given the privilege
of working with the CDA Executive board next year, to serve the College Democrats
this country.
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Elsie Raymer Programs Director
On June 12, 2011 I formally declare my candidacy for CDA Director of Programs. If
elected, I intend to use CDA programming to help foster strong relationships
between the national organizations and State Federations. Its important to me not
only that the states know about CDA programming, but that they also have
necessary support from CDA in implementing national programs, as well as in
developing their own initiatives at the state and chapter levels. I want to structure
programs so that they fit every state's agenda and ability by ensuring programs are
relevant to the states. The first projects I hope to complete will focus on student
voting rights and will include issue advocacy to combat state voter ID bills, a
national voter registration drive, and a national voter protection program. With
these projects and with others, I want to ensure that CDA programming is a state-
based effort and that CDA's primary role will take form as a reliable resource for
state federations. First, it's absolutely essential we register as many students as
possible in 2011, not just for the sake of the 2011 elections, but also for the
purposes of laying the groundwork for 2012. I want to collaborate with the DNC andOFA to coordinate the biggest student voter registration push CDA has seen. Next,
we need to engage College Democrats in issue advocacy against the voter ID bills
that have been proposed throughout the country. These bills are aimed directly at
preventing students from voting, so it is CDA's responsibility to see that we retain
our rights. Immediately after my election, I will work closely with states like
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Wisconsin. Tennessee,
Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Rhode Island. I want to work hand in hand
with state federations and the Democratic Lawyer's Council to place lawyers on as
many campuses as possible on election day in order to ensure that every student,
including College Democrats, are able to vote. Lastly, CDA should be a leading
organization in supporting Democrats in upcoming debates on immigration policy,gay marriage legislation, and energy reform. I want to help state federations take the
lead on these efforts by helping the coordinate around issues that matter to them.
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Tori Taylor National Council Chair
Growing up in a small, conservative town in western North Carolina, I never had
many opportunities to be politically active until I got to college. Two days after
beginning my freshman year of college, I was volunteering at my schools College
Democrats table during our student activities fair. I was instantly hooked. From
making new friends to campaigning for my local congressional candidate to
lobbying for education with state legislators and organizing rallies on campus, being
a College Democrat helped me define the past few years of my life. The friends Ive
made and the opportunities presented to me in this organization have been
invaluable. I want every College Democrat across the country to have the same
amazing experiences Ive been able to have in this organization.
After serving as a chapter president, I am currently serving in my second term as
President of the College Democrats of North Carolina. I have also served CDA in dual
roles this year as Southern Regional Director and National Events Coordinator. Over
the past few years of being involved in College Democrats, Ive been able tounderstand the importance of chapters and states in CDA. They are truly the
backbone of this organization. The hardest working people in CDA are the ones we
dont know. They dont have national titles or insane resumes they are the
inspired students that spend their Saturdays canvassing for local school board
candidates and work summers volunteering at their state party headquarters. They
are the students that set up tables around campus and convince their peers to come
to a phone bank for a couple hours. These are the students that need a national
organization listening, supporting, and ensuring that they have the resources
necessary to be successful on a local and state level. It is imperative that CDA has
these students, their chapters, and their state federations on the forefront of every
agenda item we implement. This is one of the reasons why I want to serve as yournext National Council Chair.
CDAs National Council is the link between the national executive board and state
federations and chapters across the country. The first of these is how efficient we
need to become. National Council needs to establish consistent and productive
lines of communication between state federations and CDA in order to promote a
working and representative national agenda. This means making our calls
informative, productive, and consistent with guest speakers, CDA officer reports,
state federation highlights, useful information, and questions & answer sessions. I
believe that this will ensure that state federations have a voice in CDAs national
agenda and direction and keep the CDA executive board accountable to states.
Our next step to an exciting CDA experience for all our students is simply being
inclusive. We have to be able to create an open and comfortable dialogue on
monthly National Council calls for states to ask questions about CDA
programs/initiatives and discuss what they are doing on a state level to promote the
Democratic Party. Likewise, we have to prepare people to ask these questions by
publicizing detailed agendas for every National Council call at least one week in
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advance on the CDA Wire, website, and Facebook.
Lastly, we need to do everything we can to ensure that our most productive year is
ahead of us, especially as we continue to be a resource for chapters and state
federations. I think this can best be accomplished through a streamlining of National
Council by adding additional regions, thus improving Regional Director (RD)accountability and involvement. With that will come expectations, timelines, roles,
and responsibilities of the RDs toward the goal of creation stronger relationships
between RDs and their states.
I know that every person here loves being a College Democrat. CDAs National
Council needs to make sure that the students who will be sitting in our seats next
year feel the same way.
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Jake Sticka National Council Vice-Chair
Jake Sticka is from San Diego, California and is a member of Georgetown Universitys
Class of 2013, majoring in Government and minoring in History & Philosophy. Jake
first became politically mobilized by issues surrounding education reform while
attending the Preuss School UCSD, a public charter school for low-income, first
generation college students. It was after realizing that the Democratic Party was the
only party willing to work toward correcting these issues of educational inequality
and other problems facing America's urban poor that Jake became involved with the
party, first as an Obama for America volunteer and later as a member of the
Georgetown University College Democrats. Since then Jake has campaigned for
Democrats in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, and the
District of Columbia, become the Vice President of GUCD, Historian of CDA, and the
President of the DC College Democrats.
As a state federation leader, Jake has been very active with National Council,
attending every call and initially being a part of the Council's Constitution
Committee. In this time, Jake has seen the potential of National Council but also
observed several ways in which it can reach this maximum potential. As National
Council Vice Chair, Jake hopes to work toward the goals set forth in the platform
that he shares with National Council Chair candidate Tori Taylor and National
Council Secretary candidate Dashell Fittry. Foremost in these platform goals are the
principles of efficiency, inclusivity, and productivity.
Toward efficiency, Jake plans to work to make calls more interesting, by asking CDA
officers to give reports on calls and inviting guest speakers to jump on. It is his hope
that this will keep CDA leaders accountable and encourage more state federations to
participate in National Council. Similarly, Jake is committing to make sure that
internally National Council is organized, releasing notices about calls at least a weekin advance on the Wire, the website, and Facebook / Twitter. Jake also wants to
make National Council more inclusive by replying to all emails within 24 hours and
being proactive in contacting other state federation leaders. Further, Jake also wants
to make National Council more productive. Jake thinks the best way toward this goal
is creating additional Regional Directors and keeping them more accountable by
providing them with measurable goals.
Outside of College Democrats, Jake tutors court-supervised youth as a part of
Georgetown's After School Kids Street Law Program and serves his student body as
their elected representative on Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E.
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Dashell Fittry National Council Secretary
I am honored to announce my candidacy for the College Democrats of Americas
National Council Secretary. While I am relatively new to the CDA, I was happy to
jump right into the fray, fighting for Democratic and American values throughout
the past year alongside of other College Democrats. Not only did I defend and
support these principles, I also worked on multiple campaigns from state house
races to gubernatorial races in multiple states. Soon after last years convention, I
submitted an application and was appointed Northern State Outreach Coordinator.
This position allowed me to reach out to many states to see how their relationship
with their state party was and how the CDA could more effectively facilitate good
communication between each body. This is the most important task I plan to
undertake if elected Secretary of the National Council. I want to ensure that both the
CDA federations of each state have a good working relationship with their
respective state parties and that when federations or the individual parties need
help or support from one another they have a line of communication that is effective
and supportive. Along with that I want to continue to work to ensure statefederations have a voice in the decision making process of the state parties. My goals
are not only restricted to relationship building between state federations and
parties, but also lies within the CDA. I want to work with the other members elected
to the CDA executive board to make communication between the states and the
executive board more effective and more conducive to collaboration and idea
building. If elected to the position of Secretary of the National Council I will work
tirelessly to advance the good work the CDA does annually and be as open and
helpful as possible while in the position to help all members of the CDA.