Political organizer and technologist Dan Ancona builds and evangelizes tools that push power to the edges by creating spaces for individuals to better connect with organizations, democracy and each other. He was a software engineer for fifteen years at several startups and in academia (with a research focus on visualization), but since 2006 has been accelerating the shift from top-down, broadcast style politics to a more networked and person-to-person system at California VoterConnect. His other interests include urban design, economics, strategic communications, DJing and sailing. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and fellow organizer Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, their son Marco, and their extraordinarily large and friendly cat, Oscar.

Jenifer Fernandez Ancona is a strategist in the progressive movement, with a focus on multi-racial coalition building, fund raising and strategic communications. She is currently an advisor to Presente.org/Citizen Engagement Lab, National People's Action and Simple Revolutions. Jenifer was previously a senior advisor to Steve Phillips and Susan Sandler, where she was responsible for communications and messaging to a broad network of progressive donors. Jenifer has also served as a consultant for the Roosevelt Institute, a top legislative aide in the California State Assembly, and was a news reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and fellow organizer Dan Ancona, their son Marco and their cat, Oscar.

Jim Gilliam is the founder of 3dna, making internet tools like act.ly, GovLuv, and pro.act.ly to shake up a broken political system. He co-founded Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, building a non-profit grassroots media powerhouse of a million members. In the late 90's, he launched Business.com as its Chief Technology Officer, and worked at Lycos, one of the first internet search engines. Gilliam produced four documentaries, and was honored in 2008 with Take Back America’s second annual Maria Leavey Tribute Award. His work has been featured in publications like the New York Times, Forbes, Wired, and the Washington Post. Jim fought cancer twice, and is the enormously grateful recipient of a bone marrow transplant and a double lung transplant.

Reshma Saujani is a dedicated Democrat, attorney, and community activist, currently running for Congress in New York's 14th Congressional District in Manhattan and Queens. She is the Indian-American daughter of political refugees forced to flee Uganda under Idi Amin. Arriving here with nothing, America offered her parents amnesty and a chance to rebuild.

Reshma graduated from the University of Illinois and went on to work her way through Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Yale Law School with the help of student loans. After the enactment of the Patriot Act, she volunteered with the New York Bar Association to offer free legal services to documented immigrants in Queens.

After witnessing the disengagement of young people, minorities, and women in the political process, Reshma was inspired to build a national movement within the Democratic Party to activate those constituencies. She started a national organization within the Democratic Party, South Asians for Kerry, and went on to lead the Trailblazers program -- the under 40 effort at the Democratic National Committee -- from 2004-2007.

In addition to advocating for comprehensive immigration and education reform, Reshma has made innovation and entrepreneurship cornerstones of her platform. Her commitment to innovation has earned her the endorsements of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey as well as Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. She has also been applauded for harnessing the power of technology within her own campaign, accepting donations using Square, and utilizing a new tool called Pro.Act.Ly, developed by Jim Gilliam. Still in private beta, Pro.Act.Ly enables campaigns, volunteers, and their friends to manage all online and offline activities, from fundraising to field, in one integrated dashboard.

Reshma is committed to bringing new ideas and new leadership to Congress -- and feels passionately about the importance of ending the pervasive special interests culture in Washington. She is leading the way in this effort by refusing to accept PAC donations, and instead running a true grassroots campaign with nearly 2,000 individual contributors.

Jeff Such is an accidental political entrepreneur. After organizing for Obama, Jeff worked on down-ballot campaigns and learned firsthand that only the most well-funded candidates have access to the latest web technologies. He co-founded Stumpwise with Marc Love to correct that inequity and remove any barriers preventing direct communication between candidate/elected official and voter. When he’s not democratizing political technology, Jeff balances graduate studies in political management with his passion for skiing, hiking, and all things outdoors. He lives in San Francisco with his fiancée, Dalia, and their dog – and home-state namesake – Jersey.

Aharon Wasserman is co-founder and President of NationalField, a data-driven social networking tool developed in the field of the historic Obama for America campaign to elevate communication and effectiveness of staff and volunteers.  Wasserman held a number of positions during the 2008 campaign, including Deputy Field Director in Georgia and Regional Field Director in Ohio.  NationalField is now headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has a client list that includes hundreds of key races this year.  Along with his leadership role in NationalField, Wasserman is a frequent contributor and presenter for the New Organizing Institute.  When he's not working, he's gathering friends, hosting dinner parties and listening to Prince.