Stay Safe, Get Creative! Pandemic Organizing Strategies We Should Use All the Time
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Friday, Oct. 8 2:15 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Friday, Oct. 8 3:15 PM (Eastern)
What do you do when a pandemic shuts down your whole field operation three months before an election? You get creative. Campaigns adapted in innovative ways during COVID, and we should keep using a lot of these strategies even if and when it’s safe to knock doors again. Join this session to hear from organizers from the campaign to elect Janeese Lewis George, a progressive Black woman who now represents Ward 4 on the DC Council, and to share your experiences: bring the ideas and strategies you developed during shutdown that other people can use through reopening and beyond.
Moderator
Alex Dodds
Alex Dodds (she/her) is a communications organizer who works with progressive campaigns and nonprofits to amplify their work and help more people participate. She works with clients and collaborators to set strategy, organize events, write emails, and run social media campaigns that are grounded in the power of community and contribute to the multiracial movement for justice.
Prior to establishing Worthy Studio Alex was the Open Cities Storyteller at the Sunlight Foundation, part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities. Her previous experience includes serving as the Communications Director for Smart Growth America, Campaign Communications Director at Change to Win, and Publications and Online Editor for Walmart Watch, part of SEIU. From 2019-2020 she served as the Communications Chair for the Campaign to Elect Janeese Lewis George.
Alex is an Aquarius, the daughter of an immigrant, a person who hears in mono, and believes that our liberation is interconnected. She lives and organizes locally in Washington DC’s Ward 4.
Panelists
Janeese Lewis-George
Janeese Lewis George is honored to serve as DC Councilmember for Ward 4. Janeese is a third generation Washingtonian, a native of Ward 4, and a proud graduate of DC Public Schools. Growing up in a working-class family Janeese learned early on the importance of family, hard work, education, and public service. Inspired to fight inequities head on, Janeese received her Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law. She went on to work for DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine as the Assistant Attorney General in the Juvenile Section of the Public Safety Division. There, she worked to advance juvenile justice reform by utilizing innovative, evidence-based practices. She was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in 2020. Janeese and her husband Kyle reside in the Manor Park neighborhood of Ward 4 with their puppy Sully.
Other sessions: DC Statehood is Racial Justice
Michelle Whittaker
Michelle C. Whittaker serves as Director of Communications and New Media for the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS).
Michelle focuses on online constituency engagement, social media interaction, website development and maintenance, audio/visual resource production, and conference communications. She has led social justice workshops for African-American leadership events, serves as a staff liaison to the Div. on Ministries with Young People, and facilitates Fair Trade initiatives with church members. Michelle joined the GBCS staff in September 2006.
Prior to joining GBCS, Michelle worked as a technical writer and interface design specialist for Towers Watson, a financial consulting firm.