DFA will conduct a 2 day Campaign Training in Columbia. Learn more and sign up here:
http://dfalink.com/event.php?id=17117
Thanks to the kind collaboration of the Campus Democrats, we have a very nice venue for the weekend at Memorial Union, and highly respected and experienced trainers from DFA will make this a productive event, sure to help us take back Missouri.
Rep Jeff harris, Rep Judy Baker, Sen Jeff Smith, Jackson County's Theresa Garza, and Rep Maria Chappelle Nadal have confirmed that they will come to the training and take part as panelists over lunches on Saturday and Sunday. We have the Pasta Factory banquet room reserved for Saturday evening for a social, food and Missouri DFA networking event. Jim Dean, DFA chair will be coming and we also now have the names and bios of all the trainers for this very dynamic weekend:
...Trainer Biographies...

Michael Cook

Michael Cook is a veteran of more than 25 political campaigns at the local, state and federal level. During his tenure as Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Arkansas he helped revitalize and re-organize the state party. His work there earned him recognition by the National Journal's "Hotline" as one of Arkansas' Rising Stars in 2003, and the Arkansas Times proclaimed him the "Wizard of Voter Turnout" during the hotly contested 2004 campaign season. He is the only Arkansas Executive Director who has simultaneously served as Coordinated Campaign Director, overseeing the Democrats' most intensive field operation ever in a presidential election year. He was a member of then-Governor Clinton's campaign staff during the 1992 presidential race, serving both in New Hampshire and at the fabled Little Rock headquarters. Michael previously served as consultant with Southern Strategy Group, a political and governmental consulting firm in Little Rock. In 2006, he managed the first winning Democratic campaign for Arkansas Lt. Governor in sixteen years. Michael is a veteran of the United States Army Reserves and holds a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Matt Blizek

Deputy Training Director, Democracy for America. Matt originally became involved in politics through student and community organizing while a student at the University of Iowa. After moving to Wisconsin, Matt worked as a director for a fundraising canvass for the DNC, and later as a field organizer for MoveOn.org. After the 2004 elections, Matt went into the private sector as a corporate trainer for Verizon Business. After two years, Matt found himself back in the political world in Montana working for Jon Tester’s Senate campaign as part of Senator Russ Feingold’s Patriot Corps program. Matt joined Democracy for America as the Deputy Director of Training in January 2007.

Jennifer S. Coken

Executive Director, Main Street Colorado (an Education Fund in Colorado); prior to that she served as the Political Director for Congresswoman Diana DeGette leading her re-election campaign with an historic win of 73%. Before moving to the state of Colorado in 2004, Coken was a field associate with FieldWorks, coordinating 28 state house and senate canvass operations for the democratic caucuses in the state of Virginia. Jennifer also served as the National Campaign Director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), leading a coalition of nearly 400 organizations to influence Congress to recommend the largest budget increase in National Park Service history. Jennifer founded Coken Consulting Company in 1997, a Washington, DC firm providing campaign management services and strategic guidance for national and community-based organizations. Jennifer grew up in Cleveland and received her MA in Political Campaign Management from Kent State University.

Margarida Jorge

Organizing Director, Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, a statewide coalition of over forty labor unions, choice groups, environmental and community organizations in Missouri. She leads Pro Vote’s work on coordinated federal and state issue campaigns, civic engagement and ballot initiatives, including Proposition B, the successful 2006 initiative campaign to raise Missouri’s minimum wage. In addition, Margarida works on many targeted local and state level campaigns to elect progressive candidates and candidates of color to office around the Missouri. For the past four years, Margarida has also served as the Mobilization Chair for St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice, a labor-community coalition that works for racial, social and economic justice and to develop diverse leadership in the community. Before coming to Pro Vote, Margarida spent nearly ten years as a union organizer for AFSCME, the largest public employee union in the country, organizing low-wage workers around the country for better wages and working conditions.

Arshad Hasan

Training Director, Democracy for America; Arshad joined Democracy for America in early 2005 to develop and direct the DFA Training Academy. Before DFA, Arshad worked with MoveOn PAC during the 2004 Elections. Previous to his electoral experience, Arshad based his professional political career in environmental issue advocacy and organizing. His non-electoral experience includes work on legislative issue campaigns, corporate accountability campaigns, and grassroots fundraising. Whenever possible, Arshad likes to take off from DFA and work on campaigns with staffers he’s trained. In 2006, Arshad worked as the GOTV Director for Jerry McNerney for Congress. Arshad was born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota and went to college at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel Moss

Finance Director, Democracy for America. Prior to joining the DFA team in January of 2007, Rachel worked as an Account Executive at Stones’ Phones, a consulting firm specializing in political phone communications. Rachel managed accounts with many of the top statewide and congressional campaigns in 2006, advising them on strategic voter contact, messaging and targeting. Rachel had previously served as Campaign Manager for California State Assemblymember Mary Hayashi. She was also a regional field organizer for the Alliance for A Better California in the 2005 special election, helping to defeat Gov. Schwarzengger’s anti-union agenda. Rachel got her start at the American Federation of Teachers, working in the Public Affairs department, supporting communications for the national union and locals around the country. Rachel was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and graduated from Middlebury College.

Ronny Richardson

Executive Director, Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee, has been working on Democratic campaigns for 7 years. He worked in Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina before arriving in Missouri in February of 2005. In 2006, MHDCC gained 5 new seats in the Missouri House, which was their best showing since 1978. In the 2004 cycle he was with the North Carolina House Caucus which established a Democratic majority in the state house. Ronny has an extensive background in grassroots campaigning. Prior to working campaigns he was a project manager for a leading grassroots advocacy firm in Washington, D.C. In addition to his political experiences Richardson has taught English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship courses for the Hispanic Committee of Virginia. Ronny lives in Columbia, Missouri and is currently training for his first half-marathon.

Scott Simpson

Scott Simpson joined Lake Research Partners in 2004. He holds a M.A. in Political Science with a concentration in applied politics from the University of Florida, and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and Public Relations from Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Scott has designed and analyzed survey and focus group research for progressive candidates and organizations and on a wide range of issues and ballot initiatives. Prior to joining LRP Scott was employed at a political software firm, working with political campaigns and other organizations to design software and databases for voter targeting and fundraising. Scott will be leaving LRP next week to join Hamilton Beattie and Staff a Democratic consulting firm with offices in Florida and Washington, D.C.
Register now:
http://dfalink.com/event.php?id=17117