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William McNary, President
William McNary has been called one of the most electrifying and inspirational speakers of our time. McNary serves as the President of USAction, the nation’s largest coalition of progressive grassroots organizations working together to win social, racial, economic and environmental justice.
 He is also the Co-Director for Citizen Action/Illinois, the Illinois affiliate of USAction. Citizen Action/Illinois is the state's largest public interest organization working on an ambitious agenda that includes health care reform, environmental safety, utility reform, public education funding and campaign finance reform. He served as the Legislative Director of the state's largest public interest organization for twelve years.
One of the leading advocates for health care reform, McNary has traveled extensively across the country, addressing churches, labor unions, health care providers, senior citizen organizations, community groups and others. He was appointed by the Illinois Senate President to serve as the Consumer Representative to the Illinois Department on Aging’s Senior Pharmaceutical Review Committee.
McNary currently serves on the Climate Change Advisory Group for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He was the Vice Chair of Consumer Affairs for Governor Blagojevich's transition team.
McNary is on the Board of the Center for Budget and Tax Accountability, an organization that promotes fair and progressive tax policy.
He is also on the Board of Directors of Public Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to building national grassroots support for public financing of elections.
McNary has run Leadership Training forums where he teaches everyday citizens how to effectively lobby the legislature. These groups have included the AARP, the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and the NAACP.
He was a labor union member of UNITE/HERE where he was elected as the president of his local for two years. He was elected and once served as the Parent Representative for the Local School Council of the Chicago Public Schools.
Over five election cycles, McNary has worked with the Rainbow/Push Coalition where he co-directed targeted voter registration and "Get Out the Vote" campaign efforts. He has a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.
Deana Knutsen, Secretary/Treasurer
Board Chair, Washington Citizen Action Network
Deana Knutsen was first recruited by USAction affiliate Washington Citizen Action Network’s field canvass in 1990. Starting in 1992, she served as the Secretary of the Washington CAN Board, and became Board Chair two years later; she continues to serve in that capacity. Knutsen has been active in the movement for universal health care in her state, including chairing the statewide health care coalition in 1993. She also chaired the state Health Care Quality Committee and the Health Care Helpline project, and served on the state’s health advisory committee for children with special needs and the health advisory committee for chronic care.
Betty Ahrens, Vice President for Internal Affairs
Executive Director, Iowa Citizen Action Network
Betty Ahrens has been with Iowa Citizen Action Network since 1993, and has served as Executive Director since 2002. Before becoming Executive Director, Ahrens performed nearly every job within the organization. She has been a field and phone canvasser, Organizer and Program Director. She was the Iowa Project Director of Money Watch 2000, and the Coordinator for the Coalition for Corporate Responsibility. Ahrens also worked on a contract basis for four years with the Midwest States Center as the Midwest Regional Partner for Public Campaign. Ahrens has a law degree from the University of Iowa College Of Law where she graduated with honors in 1992.
Heather Booth, Vice President for External Affairs
President, Midwest Academy / Director, AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign
Heather Booth has been organizing for social justice for more than 40 years. She founded Midwest Academy, which has trained thousands of social change organizers since 1973. She was the training director for the Democratic National Committee during the Clinton administration. She was the founding director of the NAACP National Voter Fund in 2000, which helped to increase African American turnout by nearly 2 million votes. She has been a consultant to a variety of social change groups including the Center for Community Change (advising on the development of the Community Voting Project), MoveOn, the Campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Campaign for America's Future and NOW..
Booth is the Director of the AFL-CIO health care campaign. She also serves on the board of the Center for Community Change and the search committee for the new President of the NAACP.
Jo Ann Bowman
Executive Director, Oregon Action
Jo Ann Bowman is the Executive Director of USAction affiliate Oregon Action, a statewide multiracial membership organization that works on issues of racial, social and economic justice. Since 2004, she has created many leadership development programs that have produced remarkable new leaders who now have the skills to advocate for their own best interest.
In 1996, Bowman was elected to the first of three terms as an Oregon State Representative. She serves on the board of several organizations, including: USAction, the Coalition for a Livable Future and the NW Constitutional Rights Center. Bowman is a member of the Social Justice Fund and serves as co-chair of the Social Justice Fund’s Basic grant committee. In 2007, Bowman was given the Jeanette Rankin Award by the Social Justice Fund of the Northwest; the award is given to a lifelong activist who has provided extraordinary service to the Social Justice Fund.
John D. Cameron
AFSCME
John Cameron has been the Director of Political and Community Relations for ASCME Council 31 (Illinois) since January 2000, where he oversees electoral, legislative and community coalition work. He also serves as Secretary-Treasurer of Citizen Action/Illinois, 9th Congressional District COPE Chair for the Illinois AFL-CIO, and as a coordinating/steering committee member for several issue-based coalitions (A+ Illinois, Illinois Retirement Security Initiative, Emergency Network to Save Cook County Health Services). He was the founding Executive Director of Citizen Action/Illinois (1997-1999) and spent 18 years at Illinois Public Action (1979-1997).
Jesse Graham
Executive Director, Maine People’s Alliance and Maine People's Resource Center
Jesse Graham is a Maine native who has been involved with community activities since he was a Teen Counselor with the Weld (Maine) Recreation Department.
Graham has held several positions at Maine People’s Alliance and Maine People’s Resource Center since he was hired in 1999, serving as Field Director, Community Organizer, Environmental Organizer, Associate Director and liaison to many coalitions, including Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine and the Maine Civic Engagement Project/Blueprint. In 2000, Graham was honored as an up-and-coming progressive leader with the Dirigo Alliance’s “Leader for Change” award.
LeeAnn Hall
Executive Director, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations
LeeAnn Hall is the founding Director of the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations. In that capacity, she has worked closely with affiliates and a range of immigrant organizations and health care organizations to build strong, effective organizations and execute successful campaigns at the local, state and national level. She co-leads, with Center for Community Change staff, the Health Rights Organizing Project, and she sits on the boards of Hate Free Zone Washington, Fair Immigration Reform Movements, and the Applied Research Center.
Hall participated in the founding of USAction. She has also served as the interim director of USAction affiliate Washington Community Action Network during leadership transitions.
Linda Honold
Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Linda Honold has been Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin since June 2007 after serving as Deputy Director for one year and Interim Executive Director for 4 months. Prior to joining Citizen Action, she spent 15 years as a strategic and organizational consultant including as a consultant to the Wisconsin Progressive Blueprint Project, where she was responsible for the implementation of the organizing components of the strategy. Her consulting work has focused on helping the organizations develop goal-oriented systems which also enable the growth and development of the organization, its employees and members.
Honold is the author of “Developing Employees Who Love to Learn” and co-author of “Organizational DNA,” as well as numerous articles on adult learning and organizational development.
James Johnson
Civic Engagement Director, Colorado Progressive Coalition
James Johnson served as Eagle County (Colorado) Commissioner from 1993-2000, during which time he worked to increase participation in the political process by county employees. Because of citizen participation, issues such as affordable housing, child care, transportation and the environment were addressed in a way that was beneficial for the residents of Eagle County. Johnson has also served as the Director of Kentucky Jobs with Justice.
Johnson has worked as the Political Director for SEIU Local 105, and helped to increase the political participation of their members, and increased political giving by more than 300 percent. During his tenure at SEIU, he served on Colorado Progressive Coalition’s (CPC) Board of Directors for two years, and served as Co-Chair for nine months. Johnson joined CPC staff as the Civic Engagement Director in March 2007.
Richard Kirsch
Executive Director, Citizen Action of New York
Richard Kirsch leads Citizen Action of New York (CANY), a grassroots organization with 10,000 members and six offices in New York. Kirsch has led successful campaigns to provide affordable, comprehensive health coverage to more than 1 million working families in New York, and is an author of New York’s Managed Care Bill of Rights. He helped to direct a 1998 ballot initiative campaign that resulted in dramatic improvements in New York City’s system of providing public financing of elections. Kirsch is also the author of several studies on health care reform including: the Managed Care Bill of Rights: A Health Care Policy Guide for Consumer Advocates; the financing of universal health care; health and health system global budgeting; and risk management. Kirsch was honored by Families USA in January 2001 as national Health Care Consumer Advocate of the Year. He received the New York Statewide Senior Action Council Human Services Advocacy Award for “his vision, boldness and relentless dedication in pursuit of health care for all” in June 1995.
Kirsch has worked for USAction affiliates since 1980, serving as the Financial Director of what is now Citizen Action of Illinois and as a founding co-Director of New Jersey Citizen Action. He has worked for Citizen Action of New York since 1985.
Debra Nixon
Michigan Citizen Action
Debra Nixon has been active in the labor and social justice movement for many years. She participated in the founding meeting of USAction, and has been a board member for both Michigan Citizen Action and Michigan Citizen Action Education Fund since 1998. She also worked with MI Citizen Action Education Fund during the historic Get Out The Vote in Detroit in 2004, which resulted in the first turnout of more than 50 percent.
Nixon served as co-chair of the USAction Education Committee, and has served as an invited presenter on public education issues at numerous Congressional Town Hall Meetings. She also conducts training on leadership development, political action organizing, minority issues and advocacy, closing the achievement gap, and organizational development training. Nixon is currently employed with the National Education Association affiliate, Maryland State Teachers Association, as an Organizational Specialist. In her career, Nixon has worked with other NEA affiliates including Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana in a variety of positions, including political action organizer, lobbyist, Managing Director of the Center for Revitalization of Urban Education, Associate Executive Director, Uniserv Director and Organizational Specialist.
Gabriel Pendas
President, United States Student Association
Gabriel Pendas is the President of the United States Student Association (USSA), the nation’s largest and oldest student-run, student-led organization. USSA represents 4 million students to the White House, the U.S. Congress, and the Department of Education. Before serving as USSA president, Pendas was a student at Florida State University where he served as the Senate president. During his tenure, FSU developed a citywide student coalition that played large roles in turning out the youth vote in Tallahassee, as well as leading a sit-in in then-Governor Jeb Bush’s office that resulted in the closing of Florida’s juvenile boot camps.
Duane Peterson
TrueMajority.org
Duane Peterson has worked for 10 years with Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, executing their vision for social change through novel marketing and organizing activities. He helped to build the Priorities Campaign, whose mission is to cut government waste in the Pentagon and shift the savings to address unmet human needs. Peterson is a co-founder of the online grassroots community TrueMajority.org, which has grown to 600,000 members. He serves as president of the Board of Directors for VPIRG, Vermont’s most aggressive grassroots membership organization. He has been a professional campaigner on 17 elections; a senior official in the California Attorney General's Office, chief of staff to the California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and its chair Tom Hayden. He has brought the compassionate power of the state to his neighbors in need as an ambulance driver, firefighter and police officer.
Peterson coordinated TrueMajority’s participation in the Save Social Security effort – producing and funding radio ads in 6 house districts and the local mobilizations for direct influence and earned media. As president of the TrueMajority ACTION Board of Directors, he shepherded the merger through the Board and helped negotiate the transition to USAction.
Khalid R. Pitts
SEIU
Khalid Pitts is the Director for Political Accountability for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest labor union in North America with over 1.9 million members. He manages SEIU’s public education campaigns, working closely with USAction on issues like healthcare, Iraq and economic justice. Before coming to SEIU, Pitts was the Virginia State Director for Dick Gephardt’s presidential run in 2004. Pitts has served as the State Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and its sister organization, the Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence, where he guided the organizations’ state legislative department and managed their political campaigns. Prior to joining to the Coalition, he was the court-appointed health analyst at the Central Detention Facility in Washington, DC.
Pitts has worked as a senior researcher at the National Institutes of Health and project director for the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a national lecturer on the subject of violence prevention. His publications include the book Building Violence: How America’s Rush to Incarcerate Increases Violence, Stop the Shooting: Calling Foundations to Arms and the article Medical Care “Solicitation by Criminals with Gunshot Wound Injuries” published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Journal of Trauma, respectively.
Pitts is a native of Detroit, Michigan and received his B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and a Masters in Public Health from the George Washington School of Medicine in Washington, DC.
Marvin Randolph
Director of Organizing & Politics, Center for Community Change
Marvin Randolph, Director of Organizing and Politics at the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC, is a 20-year veteran of political campaigns and a nationally recognized expert in voter contact strategy, training and advocacy. He previously served as a partner in Urbanomics Consulting Group; Executive Director of Project Vote; Voter Contact Director for the NAACP National Voter Fund; and Western Regional Political Director for the Service Employees International Union. Randolph joined the Center for Community Change in 2005 as Director of the Community Voting Project, working with grassroots organizations to increase political participation of low-income and of-color communities in America.
Randolph is a former Executive Director of VA Citizen Action, and a former consultant to USAction in Political, Civic Engagement and Transit Vote Programs.
Phyllis Salowe-Kaye
Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action
Phyllis Salowe-Kaye has been the Executive Director of New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) for 22 years. NJCA is one of the largest USAction affiliates by budget, members, staff, and offices. NJCA’s Board reflects many leaders from organizations that work with closely with USAction closely. NJCA’s staff, Board, and affiliates are extremely diverse. NJCA operates a successful high donor program and employs in creative fundraising approaches.
Salowe-Kaye has been a USAction Board Member since its founding.
Vinod K Seth
ndpeople.org
Vinod Seth came to Chicago in 1971 from India at age 24, as a physician in training. He moved to Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1989. Dr. Seth has a consulting practice in Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine and holds an appointment as Clinical Professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. Dr. Seth is involved in social action issues through his commitment to NDPeople.org, a USAction affiliate, and as a board member on the Development Committee. He has been actively involved with the North Dakota affiliate for over 6 years and has actively worked in campaigns including the Medicare Part D and Social security campaigns.
Seth has participated on the Executive Committee as Vice President since 2003.
Lonnie Thompson
Florida Consumer Action Network
Lonnie Thomson has served on the Orlando regional board of Florida Consumer Action Network (FCAN) since 2000 and was elected as the Chair of the Orlando region in 2001, becoming a member of the statewide board and the Executive Committee.
Thompson is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for Florida Senior Programs, which is the sponsor for the Foster Grandparent Program and Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Orange County. FSP has a budget of more than $2 million and has more than 1,200 senior volunteers serving the community. He works for the elected Public Defender in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida (Orange and Osceola Counties). He also owns Central Florida Hands Real Estate a real estate investment company.
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