Organizing for Change: An Inside Look at Obama For America's Grassroots Strategy
In this panel, you'll learn about how the Obama campaign built an unprecedented grassroots movement -- from the way the campaign uses community organizing principles in its local field operations, to the campaign's use of online tools that empower supporters to self-organize, to the training a new generation of grassroots leaders through our Organizing Fellows program. And you'll learn about why the Obama campaign is the first in a generation to pursue a 50-state strategy, engaging new people and empowering supporters from all across the country to not only win an election, but build a long-term movement for progressive change.
Jeremy Bird is the Ohio General Election Director for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Previously, he served as the Obama campaign's South Carolina Field Director, Maryland State Director and Pennsylvania Field Director. He also worked with the campaign's national field team to take lessons from primary and integrate into general election strategy. Prior to the campaign, Jeremy worked as Congressional District Director for Howard Dean in New Hampshire and as Deputy Field Director at the DNC in 2004. Jeremy started out as a community organizer in Boston after graduating from Harvard Divinity School.
Joy Cushman is the Georgia Deputy Field Director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. During the primary, Joy was Deputy Field Director in SC, GA, MD, and PA before she headed to Chicago to help organize the Obama Organizing Fellows program and the Unite For Change kickoff. Before joining the campaign, Joy worked as a community organizer in Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, working with churches, synagogues and unions to get more affordable housing and stable jobs as industrial jobs left the area. Joy grew up on a farm in Maine, and learned to organize in the Baptist Church her family attended.
Steve Hildebrand is the Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. He has spent more than twenty years organizing some of the most targeted and high profile political campaigns in the nation. Working extensively in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, Steve has managed races and ran two political parties. He served as Midwest Political Director for the DNC during the Clinton re-elect in 1996 and as Political Director at the DSCC in 97/98. In 99/2000, Steve ran the Iowa caucuses for Vice President Gore and ran the Women Vote! Program for EMILY's List in 2000.
Joe Rospars is the New Media Director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. He leads a team that leverages technology and grassroots energy to support the organizing, fundraising and communications goals of the campaign. He previously worked for Governor Howard Dean on his presidential run, at Democracy for America, and at the DNC. He is on leave from Blue State Digital, of which he is a founder.
