Technology and Social Change
Movement Building
Principal, Further Forward Consulting
- Founded a boutique consulting firm to help non-profit and social enterprise organizations scale up impact. Our focus areas are online and offline organizing strategies, countering disinformation, capacity building and strategic planning.
Rapid Response Director, Strategic Victory Fund
November 2023 - June 2024
- Developed process and tookit for rapid response to crisis communications for a broad range of progressive advocacy organizations.
- Created narrative strategies and messaging frameworks to combat disinformation.
- Convened dozens of organizations to amplify each other and break through media environment.
Vice President for Campaigns (previously National Campaigns & Digital Director), Common Cause
July 2015 – October 2023
Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy.
- Responsible for planning and execution of key national campaigns, working with program, communications and lobbying staff in state and national offices. Directs grassroots engagement efforts.
- Grew list of members and supporters from 300,000 to 1 million in under three years without advertising budget, dramatically increasing grassroots activism, engagement and online fundraising. Current list is 1.5 million.
- Developed an online fundraising program that has raised over $25 million in small-dollar online contributions, increased online contributions from $500,000/year to over $5M/year.
- Developed a digital-first grassroots engagement program, recruiting thousands of Action Team members for daily actions like phonebanking, textbanking and social media engagement.
- Directed digital communications including digital campaigns, national and state affiliate websites, microsites, email program, social media and SMS program.
- Built and managed a team of seven staff (organizers, digital campaigners and data analysts), including hiring, promoting and developing capacities.
- Developed a new online-to-offline activist project. Secured major donor funding, hired staff and successfully managed the program, growing the grassroots political power of the organization; engaging thousands of activists in local, offline democracy reform campaigns.
- Developed and led the “Stopping Cyber Suppression program” to combat disinformation in the 2020 elections that harms voters. Raised and managed a $2 million budget, directed the work of 15 staff and contractors.
- Managed a multi-year, million-dollar digital expansion grant, exceeding yearly grant performance benchmarks.
- Managed a year-long grant to improve grassroots organizing capacities.
Director, Strategy and Campaigns, Echo & Co.
June 2012 – June 2015
Echo & Co. is a digital agency with a focus on the non-profit sector.
- Led strategic management consulting engagements with non-profit and government clients to develop organizational digital growth plans, project briefs, impact and outcome benchmarks, staffing plans, and more, managing over $1 million in business annually. Clients included America’s Promise Alliance, MassTech, National Parks Service, Conservation Law Foundation.
- Served as Strategy and Client Lead for launch of Understood.org (winner of a Webby) directing strategy, staffing and execution of an enterprise-scale technology project. Developed client’s vision statement, measures of success and project RFP. Served as “Virtual CTO” for organization until project launch.
- Planned and executed website and product launches within project budgets and timelines.
Web Director, Public Interest Network
August 2008 – June 2012
The Public Interest Network houses Environment America, U.S. PIRG, Toxics Action Center and related non-profits.
- Developed the department’s $2 million, 5-year technology plan; led technology and vendor selection; trained staff; obtained buy-in and approval from seven department heads.
- Served as Project Manager for organization-wide website rebuild, managing user experience, content strategy, design and development for 150 organizations part of a national network.
Multiple Positions, Green Corps
August 2003 – July 2008
Green Corps trains recent college graduates to become effective environmental organizers. The Recruitment Director manages outreach, reviews applications, recruits volunteer interviewers and trains accepted candidates.
- Recruitment Director (August 2005 – July 2008) Recruited, hired and trained over 200 organizers.
- Canvass Director (Summers 2003 – 2007) Raised over $1.5 million in direct, small dollar contributions.
- Assistant Organizing Director (2004 – 2005) Managed 8 field organizers, three campaign clients.
- Field Organizer (2003 – 2004) Created press events securing over 50 earned media hits, helping win major concessions from the cruise ship industry.
Teaching
Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School
January 2016 – May 2016
Crafted a new full-credit semester-long graduate seminar via the Shorenstein Center.
- Developed a unique syllabus, “Social Change in the Digital Age.” Created and graded experiential assignments, delivered twice-weekly lectures, and mentored Kennedy School students.
- Syllabus.
Adjunct Lecturer, Tufts University
December 2013 – December 2015
Three full-credit undergraduate seminars for the Communications department and Tisch College of Citizenship.
- Developed unique syllabi, delivered weekly lectures, assigned and reviewed student assignments for three 13-week seminars focused on digital media, civic engagement and social change.
- Syllabus: “Social Media”
- Syllabus: “Civic Engagement in the Digtial Age”
Education
Haverford College B.A. in Political Science, May 2003
- Award-winning thesis on political philosophy of Hannah Arendt and political practice of Saul Alinksy.
Writing, Presentations, Speaking
Co-Author: “Trending in the Wrong Direction: Social Media Platforms’ Declining Enforcement of Voting Disinformation” (Whitepaper, September 2021)
Co-Author: “As a Matter of Fact: The Harms Caused by Election Disinformation” (Report, October 2021)
Co-Author: “PowerShift: How People Can Take on the NRA, March 2018” (Report, March 2018)
Op-Ed: USA Today, “Whistleblower confirms what we knew: Facebook blowing it on political disinformation” October 2021
Op-Ed, Tech Policy Press, “As Far-Right Extremists Gather Again in Washington D.C., False Election Claims Proliferate on Social Media” September 2021
Presentations