Kevin Bondelli

Kevin Bondelli: DFA Netroots Nation Scholarship Competition

Hey everyone. I'm competing for a DFA Netroots Nation Scholarship (the same one fellow FMer Sarah Burris won last year) and I need your help.

Please visit http://democracyforamerica.com/netroots_nation_scholarships/401-kevin-bondelli and support me in the competition. You need to create a free account with Democracy for America if you haven't done so already in order to vote.

Here are two reasons why you should vote for me:

1: I'll blog the conference like I did last year. Here are those posts:
Netroots Nation: Recap of Thursday
Netroots Nation: Friday
Netroots Nation: Saturday Part 1
Netroots Nation: Saturday Part 2
Final Thoughts on Netroots Nation

2: Who else is Sarah going to take pictures of pretending to be Matt Stoller?

Convinced? Awesome! Please vote for me and spread the word!

Thank you all!

-Kevin

Huckabee: Voter Suppression is 'the Lord's Work'

Hat tip to our own Kevin Bondelli:


During a campaign rally for Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell in Virginia Mike Huckabee made this statement:

You have two jobs. One, get all those people who are going to vote for Bob out to the polls and vote. If they’re not going to vote for Bob, you have another job. Let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on Election Day. Keep ‘em home. Do the Lord’s work, my friend. I’m giving you an opportunity…yes, do the right thing.

This looks like a pretty good reason to do something to help Brian Moran.

You know how Huckabee and Co. will explain this. They'll say it was a simple joke and wasn't meant to be taken seriously. The problem is that we all know people out there fanatical enough to believe they are doing "the Lord's work" by doing this stuff. The last thing they need is a prominent politician validating it, giving them cover.

Check out Brian Moran's campaign here.

The Future Majority Bloggers

If you ever wanted to know what we all looked like here we are.

Michael Connery, Sarah Burris, and Kevin Bondelli

YDA Blog on Communications 101

Can I just say that in the last week the YDA blog has become indispensable reading for anyone working in a communications capacity at a youth org or project?

Today's entry is on Developing a Traditional Media Strategy. Go read it.

Why You Should Get Involved In Your State and Local Parties

Kevin Bondelli is on fire this week, first with his post about why and how chapter-based youth orgs should blog, and now with a new post outlining why young people should become involved in state and local parties, and a few ideas for how to go about doing it.

Here's an excerpt, go read the whole thing:

I know that’s what your thinking, and trust me, as a former state party employee I feel you, but the rewards of involvement will vastly outweigh the costs if you and your organization commit. Here is why:

  • The local and state parties determine the allocation of a lot of resources, and if nobody is there to advocate for youth programs, they are going to be overlooked.
  • Elected Precinct Committeepersons and state committee members (at least in Arizona) vote on who becomes delegates to Democratic National Conventions, so while advocating for youth representation goals in delegate selection plans is important, having a number of young democrats involved will make the biggest difference.
  • Some of those older activists are actually quite interesting, and talking to them and learning from their experiences can be an invaluable education for you and your members.
  • Fundraising lead generation. The members of your state and local parties are the high-efficacy donors, even if they are small-contribution donors, and knowing them personally will give you a much better opportunity of raising money.
  • You can sell your organization and young voters in general to party regulars, and getting your message out to them will increase your legitimacy and exposure.
  • You are officially changing your role from “future of the party” to the “present of the party.” As long as young democrats are absent from the regular party apparatus it will appear that Young Democrats is AAA and the local/state party is the major leagues, and when you get older you graduate and get called up.
  • The more your state party knows you the more you will be able to partner up with their big events. In Arizona the state party works with YDAZ to have after-party fundraisers following their big dinners.

About Future Majority

Future Majority is a blog dedicated to covering the involvement of young voters in progressive politics. The site was founded in August of 2006 by Michael Connery, Alex Urevick-Acklesberg, and Josh Koenig.

The site features original reporting on progressive youth organizing, polling analysis, opinion pieces, and guest blogs by leaders in the progressive youth movement.

The site is built on the Drupal open source platform and is hosted by Chapter Three LLC. The site design is by Nica Lorber and the implementation was done by ZivTech.

Our Team

Sarah Burris has worked with numerous campaigns from presidential to city council races. She says she likes the smaller campaigns the best and prefers the Red-States. Recently, she worked for Skyline Public Works where she helped state based youth organizations connect with major funders across the country and develop better networking opportunities. In 2008 Sarah was named one of the five Rock the Vote Rock the Trail Reporters and traveled the country during the 2008 Elections covering the campaign from the youth perspective. She's reported from both conventions and debates and followed candidates on youth tours through their states. Sarah was also a recipient of the Democracy for America Netroots Nation scholarship and was named by the New Leader's Council as one of the 40 Emerging Leaders Under 40. She is a founding blogger at Everyday Citizen, a long time writer and researcher for Wiretap Magazine, and a new partner at Mixed Media. Sarah's writing focus has been faith based politics, rural youth, young progressive democracy, and youth specific legislation. You may contact her at sarahkatheryn at gmail dot com.

Kevin Bondelli has been working in youth activism and Democratic politics since 2000. He has served as Young Democrats of America (YDA) Communications Chair, YDA Southwest Region Director, YDA Convention Credentials Chair, YDA Parliamentarian, YDA Judicial Council Member, YDAZ National Committeeman, and YDAZ Vice-President of Finance.

Kevin was Undergraduate Student Government Vice-President of Arizona State University in 2003-2004 and in 2009 was a recipient of a Democracy for America Netroots Nation Scholarship.

Professionally Kevin has been Internet Organizer, Non-Traditional Campaigns Director, and Internet and Technology Strategist for the Arizona Democratic Party. He currently consults as a web/graphic designer, writer, and internet strategist and also writes on KevinBondelli.com.

Craig Berger has been interested in civic engagement, politics, Millennial Generation, and higher education for several years. Craig is currently employed as Coordinator of Campus and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Craig recently completed his Master of Science degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University in 2011; prior to graduate school, Craig was employed at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College working in Residence Life. Craig received his BA in Political Science at Allegheny College in 2006. While there, Craig served as President of the Allegheny College Democrats in 2003 and 2004, organizing Democratic students and liberals on campus in support of John Kerry. Craig resides in Owings Mills, MD.

Karlo Barrios Marcelo is a policy researcher and writer. He got his professional start as Research Associate at The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). While at CIRCLE he published numerous fact sheets and academic articles on youth civic engagement, especially youth volunteering and voting. During the 2008 presidential election, he wrote about young voters and young politics for WireTap Magazine. More recently, he worked at The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program where he supported the advancement of microenterprise development organizations from across the U.S. Along with Mike Connery, Karlo serves on the Advisory Board of HeadCount. He holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland, where he was a CIVICUS Associate and Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow, and a M.P.P. from the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Karlo now lives in Washington, DC.

FM Team

Mike, Sarah and Kevin at the DNC.

Emeritus

Michael Connery is the author of Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority, a book about the role of the Millennial Generation in progressive politics. In addition to blogging at Future Majority, Michael is an occasional contributor to MyDD, TechPresident, and the Huffington Post's "Off the Bus" blog.

Michael is a Board Member of the Young Voter PAC, an At-Large member of the DNC Youth Council, and sits on the Advisory Board of HeadCount, a non profit that registers young voters at live music events. In 2003, he was the cofounder of a similar organization called Music for America, and served as its Communications Director and Web Editor in 2003 and 2004. In 2008, he was a National New Media Fellow with the Center for Independent Media.

Michael has a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College and an MA in English from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Josh Koenig is an internet technologist, Drupal sensei, outlandish blogger and self-described velvet revolutionary. He helped instigate the DeanSpace project, driving grassroots web technology for Howard Dean's presidential campaign, in mid 2003. He later served as Technical Director for Music For America from its foundation as a 527 through the end of 2004. Josh is currently pioneering the internet-enabled rural lifestyle in the State of Jefferson, spending most days fulfilling his role as a founding partner of Chapter Three LLC, a next-generation internet organizing consultancy (which also hosts Future Majority, natch).

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg has been working in technology since 1999, and with Drupal since he hooked up with Music for America, a voter education and registration initiative, during the U.S. 2004 presidential campaign. He has helped to create numerous blogs and online communities including Young Philly Politics, a local political blog, Blue Force, a progressive national security site, and Future Majority, which looks at the intersections of youth, culture, and politics. Alex worked at The New School for Social Research in New York City for eight years, where he also received his Bachelors and Masters degrees, both of which focused on psychology, politics, and communications. After he left the New School, Alex worked various jobs in politics and communications, including doing Online Marketing/Internet Outreach for the award winning film The War Tapes, working as the Youth and Cultural Field Organizer for Philadelphians Against Santorum, and managing a City Council race in Philadelphia. In early 2007 Alex decided to pursue Drupal Development full time, and he hasn't looked back since. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, dog, cats, and a salt-water reef tank that scares his wife half to death every time he's away on business (which is fairly frequently).

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