Obama’s Community Organizing Model: 2008 and Beyond
This panel will examine the community organizing model employed by Barack Obama in his successful presidential campaign and look at how the energy and resources of that campaign is being sustained through ongoing grassroots efforts. Veterans of the Obama and Clinton campaigns will discuss the new shape of presidential campaigns and whether this model can be replicated by other nominees—or, perhaps, by Republicans. The discussion will focus on channeling the enormous energy and resources these campaigns inspired into ongoing grassroots action at the regional, local and issue levels.
Zack Exley is the President and Co-Founder of the New Organizing Institute, a progressive political technology training organization. An experienced union organizer, Zack went on to direct online organizing efforts for the 2004 Kerry campaign, the 2005 UK Labour Party campaign and MoveOn.org. He is also a writer for the Huffington Post, for whom he wrote extensively about the Obama community-organizing model, and founded the satirical website GWBush.com during the 2000 presidential election.
Jeremy Bird is the National Deputy Director for Organizing for America. Bird got his start in politics as a community organizer in Boston working to empower youth. Bird has a strong background in community organizing, electoral campaigns, online organizing and advocacy campaigns.
In early 2007, Bird joined then-Senator Barack Obama’s Presidential race as South Carolina’s Field Director. He later worked in Maryland and Pennsylvania during the hard fought primary season and in Ohio as the General Election Director. Before joining the Obama campaign, Bird worked for WakeUpWalMart.com, 21st Century Democrats and Democratic Gain.
Karen Hicks rose to national prominence as the Campaign Director for Howard Dean in the 2004 New Hampshire Primary. She was the Deputy National Field Director for the DNC during John Kerry's 2004 general election campaign and for the Tony Blair Labour Party campaign in the UK in 2005. She was the Senior Advisor on Grassroots and Early States for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and is currently organizing for SEIU's healthcare and EFCA efforts.
Marlon is the National Field Director at the DCCC.
Before that, Marshall served as the Deputy White House Liaison to the State Department.
Marshall worked in the field for a number of state house races, a U.S. Senate race and the 2004 Kerry Presidential campaign in Missouri and Ohio. Recently, Marshall served as Field Director in Nevada, Ohio and Indidana for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign. He then went on to serve as the General Election Director in Missouri for Obama's Campaign for Change. Marlon is from St. Louis, attended the University of Kansas, and now lives in Washington, DC.
Joy Cushman was the Georgia Deputy Field Director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and then the GOTV Director for North Florida. During the primary, Joy was Deputy Field Director in South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Pennsylvania before she headed to Chicago to help organize the Obama Organizing Fellows program and the Unite For Change kickoff. She is now Organizing Director at the New Organizing Institute, which is committed to building the field of organizing through research and training.
