Staff

Judith Freeman, Co-Founder and Executive Director

Judith is the co-founder and Executive Director of the New Organizing Institute, a training, research and development organization for technology-enabled organizers, activists, staff, and leaders. In 2008 Judith was on a short leave from NOI for a five month position on the Obama new media team, coordinating their field and new media efforts. Previously, she was the senior political strategist at the AFL-CIO, where she also co-founded the Analyst Institute. During the 2004 presidential election, she worked on the Kerry campaign's internet operations. She advises political campaigns, unions and non-profit organizations on organizing, targeting, strategy and technology infrastructure. She worked for 5 years in technology at the University of Chicago where she also organized with social justice organizations. judith at neworganizing dot com

Zack Exley, Co-Founder and President

Zack is a strategic consultant with ThoughtWorks, Inc., where he advises organizations on communications, organizing and technology. He is also a co-founder of the New Organizing Institute. In 2005, he directed the online campaign for the British Labor Party's re-election, and was Director of Online Organizing and Communications for John Kerry's presidential campaign. Before that, he served as Organizing Director at MoveOn.org, and was an adviser to the early Dean campaign. Zack spent the 90's working as a union organizer. He entered Internet politics via his political parody website GWBush.com, which earned him the nickname "Garbage Man" from President Bush, as well as other early experiments in online organizing. He blogs at the Huffington Post about politics, and writes the blog RevolutionInJesusland.com about the rise of progressive evangelical Christians in America. zack at neworganizing dot com

Heather Cronk, Chief Operating Officer

Heather is the Chief Operating Officer at the New Organizing Institute, overseeing NOI's growing operations and planning strategically for NOI's programs. Prior to her work at NOI, Heather worked with PledgeBank, a project of mySociety, reaching out to organizations and individuals across the country to encourage use of PledgeBank as a tool for local community organizing and citizen-centered collective action. Heather's background is in campus organizing -- she worked with Idealist.org's campus program, traveling nationally to train at campuses and conferences, running day-to-day operations for the program, helping to organize a 1,500-person national conference on student engagement and activism, and building a network of engaged university programs and nonprofit organizations. A native of Lexington, KY, Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion/philosophy from Berry College in Rome, GA, and a Master of Divinity degree from Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, NC. heather at neworganizing dot com

Ethan Roeder, Director of Data and Technology

Ethan is the Director of Data and Technology for NOI, coordinating efforts to improve political technology and to make election data more widely accessible across the country.  Ethan was the National Data Manager for the Obama campaign where he pioneered the integration of new technologies with an extensive neighborhood organizing model in the field.  Ethan has several years of experience as a data manager, field director, and organizer on numerous campaigns and issue efforts. ethan at neworganizing dot com

Matt Stempeck, New Media Program Manager

Sam Oliker-Friedland, Deputy Director of Data and Technology

Sam is the Deputy Director of Data and Technology at NOI, working on a number of projects to help give the progressive movement the infrastructure it needs—particularly in the field of election administration. In 2008, Sam founded and managed a nationwide absentee ballot request website, GoVoteAbsentee.org, after establishing a joint student-administration voter registration program at Brown University. In 2006, he organized with FairWisconsin, the campaign to fight a ban on gay and lesbian unions. When he was ten, he was promised ice cream for walking precincts on Russ Feingold’s first reelect, and has been a political junkie ever since.  Sam graduated in 2009 from Brown University with a degree in Linguistics, and when not working, he can usually be found at an airport or a bookstore. He will still do nearly anything for ice cream. Sam at neworganizing dot com

Anthea Watson, States Liaison for Voting Information Project

Anthea is the States Liaison for the Voting Information Project, spending her time working to get states to publish election information - including polling place location data - in a standard format that will enable web developers to create tools which connect voters with the information they need to be more effective citizens. Prior to joining NOI, Anthea worked on the Obama campaign as a field organizer and deputy regional field director in several states. Previously she worked at the National Associate of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, and as a Legislative Fellow for Representative Carolyn Maloney. In 2005, Anthea graduated from the Boston University School of Law where she spent time studying the effect domestic tax policy has on women's economic choices. Anthea swims so much she smells permanently of chlorine, and she likes to make English style fruitcake and force her friends to eat it.

Joy Cushman, Organizing Director

Joy Cushman is the Organizing Director for NOI.  Joy grew up on a potato farm in Northern Maine and first learned to organize in the Baptist Church she grew up in during the 1980s and early ‘90s.  While a student at Bowdoin College, she organized scholarship students to defend need-blind admissions and to raise awareness of socioeconomic diversity on campus.  Joy studied American and British labor movements during her doctoral studies at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.  She then returned to organizing as a community organizer for the Merrimack Valley Project, a faith-based organizing project in Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts working on affordable housing and immigrant worker justice campaigns.  Joy worked most recently as co-Coordinator for the Obama Organizing Fellows Program, and as a trainer and Deputy Field Director in several states during Barack Obama’s campaign for President. joy at neworganizing dot com

Kristen Dore, Organizing Trainer

Kristen is an Organizing Trainer at the New Organizing Institute. Kristen first began organizing in college where she helped families come together against unfair practices at Donovan State Prison. Prior to joining NOI, she served as the executive assistant to the Director and the Assistant Director at Organizing for America.  Kristen was also a community organizer on the Obama for America campaign, and was on the ground in over half a dozen states. Kristen graduated with a degree in Media Studies from San Diego State University. She studied abroad in Singapore and eats ice cream as a sport. Kristen at neworganizing dot com.

Nirmal Mankani, Lead Analyst

Nirmal Mankani is the Lead Analyst at NOI, working to conduct best practices research in new media and volunteer engagement, along with performing analysis for other NOI data research projects.  Prior to joining NOI, he worked on experiments, survey research, targeting, and other data analysis to inform strategy for the AFL-CIO's national voter contact program during the 2008 election cycle.  Nirmal first began in progressive online activism as a blogger for Michigan Liberal and The Seminal.  He graduated from the University of Michigan in Political Science and Statistics in 2007. nirmal at neworganizing dot com

Santiago Stocker, Operations Manager

Santiago is the Operations Manager for the New Organizing Institute.  Prior to joining NOI he managed a House of Delegates race in Virginia and served as finance director for Harry Teague’s 2008 Congressional campaign in New Mexico.  He has also worked in the office of Development & Strategic Planning at the Center for American Progress and served as a finance assistant on Sherrod Brown’s 2006 Senate campaign in Ohio.  In the 2004 Presidential Primary, while on leave from Oberlin College, he served as Howard Dean’s statewide visibility coordinator for the state of Iowa.  He graduated from Oberlin College in 2006 with a bachelors degree in political science. While attending Oberlin, he studied classical guitar, worked as a student fundraiser for the Oberlin Fund and formed the first shooting club in the history of Oberlin College. santiago at neworganizing dot com

Anne Marie Ashburn, Program Manager

Anne Marie is a Program Manager for NOI, working closely with the entire NOI team to develop their progressive human capital program, placing talented individuals with progressive organizations. Before her work with NOI, Anne Marie worked on the Obama For America campaign as a New Media Field Representative, based out of Chicago and hopping state to state to train staff on new media technology, and develop new media tools and strategy at the Obama national headquarters. Anne Marie graduated from the University of Portland (in OR) with a Political Science degree, and has just started training for a marathon. annemarie at neworganizing dot com

Nick Gaw, Trainings Coordinator

Nick is a Trainings Coordinator with the New Organizing Institute, working to organize new media trainings across the country for nonprofits and college campuses.  Prior to joining NOI, he was the Director of STAND: The Student-Led Division of the Genocide Intervention Network, where he managed strategic partnerships and managed the development of campaigns for STAND's 800 chapters at colleges and high schools across the country.  Nick graduated from Swarthmore College in May 2009 with High Honors in History and Linguistics.  Nick plays guitar, and is best known for his work with "The Horticulture," the now-defunct Swarthmore rock powerhouse. nick at neworganizing dot com.

Olivia Chow, Program Assistant

Olivia operates the scheduling, office management and special projects at NOI, working closely with the NOI team to keep things running smoothly. Olivia is a recent graduate from UC Berkeley with a Bachelors degree in Political Science and minors in Education and Public Policy. As a native to the San Francisco Bay Area, Olivia has been engaged in the intersection of government and community throughout her college career. She served as a Campus Organizer for Tuition Relief Now! the first-ever student-led ballot initiative campaign to stop tuition fee hikes at California public universities. Prior to the 2008 election Olivia served as an intern at the National APIAVote office where she trained over 50 college students and created a Community Organizer's Toolkit with her fellow summer interns to run voter mobilization drives in the AAPI community. Olivia is currently a New Leaders Fellow through the Center for Progressive Leadership. olivia at neworganizing dot com.

Helen Adeosun, Fellow

Helen Adeosun is a fellow at the New Organizing Institute, working on several projects including the planning for RootsCampDC (February 20-21) which promises to be an amazing testimony to the work that progressives are doing to make change happen.  Previously, Helen taught 9th Grade English in Atlanta, Georgia with Teach for America and co-sponsored a club that taught lessons in social justice.  Helen graduated with a degree in Arabic and Political Science from Notre Dame, was the President of College Dems, and a Student Field Coordinator for Joe Donnelly for Congress (IN-2) in 2004 and 2006.  Helen currently buddy mentors at Higher Achievement in Washington, DC where she teaches lessons in Conflict Resolution.

Chris Bowers, Fellow

Chris Bowers is the co-founder of Openleft.com, a community that seeks to build a progressive governing majority through rigorous analysis, well-leveraged organizing, and effective partnerships between organizations inside and outside D.C.  During his six years as a professional political blogger, his work has received over 60,000,000 page views and 50,000 citations from websites and news organizations.  Some of his more prominent campaigns include starting the Liberal Blog Advertising Network, initiating the 2006 Googlebomb the Elections and Use it or Lose It campaigns, strengthening the 50 state blog network, developing the 2008 Personal Paid Media campaign, and organizing the 2009 Senate public option whip count. He has worked as a consultant for MoveOn.org, Media Matters, SEIU, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.  Chris lives in Philadelphia, with his wife Natasha Chart, and can be reached at christopher_j_bowers at yahoo dot com.

Mike Rodgers, Fellow

Michael Rogers is a Senior Media Fellow at the New Organizing Institute, where he directs the National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative. In this capacity he has organized summits, fellowships, training and education for over 80 on-line writers, researchers, opinion leaders and journalists. Michael is the publisher of PageOneQ and director of business development for Raw Story and the blogger at BlogActive.com.  His work was the inspiration for and Michael is a lead subject of the film Outrage, directed by Academy Award nominated director Kirby Dick.  He is the former director of development of the Harvey Milk School and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and was major gifts director at Greenpeace. He appears MSNBC and CNN and has been profiled by the New York Times, GQ, and Washington Post. mrogers at pageonenewsmedia dot com

Jamiah Adams, Fellow

Jamiah is a fellow at NOI, charged with training labor organizers in new media tools for political advocacy.  Her work at NOI will focus on web video production, which is her specialty.  Prior to NOI, Jamiah was a regional new media specialist for the SEIU International’s Change that Works campaign, where she produced new media to support the campaign for health reform and the Employee Free Choice Act.  Jamiah has served as new media consultant, most recently for the SEIU-ULTCW Home Care Workers Union in Los Angeles, California.  Jamiah has produced web videos for several progressive organizations, including Green for All; VoteHope; PowerPac and CorpWatch.  She proudly went on the stomp for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in three states.  Jamiah launched her progressive media career in 2007 as the Outreach Director in the inaugural year of Brave New Films. Jamiah produces independent short videos and hopes to finish her first feature length documentary, shot entirely on location in Cuba in the near future.

Kip Williams, Fellow

Kip Williams is a fellow at NOI, organizing activists online and offline to demand legal and social equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. He has been a community organizer since his college days in East Tennessee, and has worked with the anti-war and death penalty abolition movements around non-violent direct action and mass mobilizations. A graduate of the first NOI bootcamp in 2006, he has been training and supporting social movement organizations in online organizing for several years, and has worked with such organizations as the League of Young Voters, smartMeme, and DemocracyInAction. After the passage of Prop 8 in California, he co-founded the Bay Area direct action group One Struggle, One Fight, and recently served as Co-Director of the National Equality March in October of 2009. Kip is excited to continue to grow with NOI and grateful for their support, and can often be found rock climbing, riding bikes, and playing his accordion in San Francisco.