Crystal Strait, President

Growing up in a household mixed between life as the daughter of a local union president and daughter of post-World War II Japanese-American has shaped every aspect of Crystal Strait’s progressive values and dedication to the Democratic Party. In fact, before becoming a Democratic Party activist, most of her initial political and organizing experience was non-partisan, ranging from writing letters to Congress for East Timor’s self-determination to acting as a peer-to-peer youth minister for her local Catholic Church. No matter the cause, though, there is one common thread throughout all of Crystal’s personal and professional activism: a dedication to fighting for others.

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 2000, Crystal moved to Japan to teach English to Japanese middle school students. Upon returning to her hometown of Azusa, California, Crystal moved north to Sacramento for a fellowship with State Superintendent Delaine Eastin. After work, Crystal became active in the Sacramento County Young Democrats; first serving as treasurer and later as president. Crystal worked to get more young Democrats elected to the local party, city council and school boards through volunteer voter contact efforts and fundraising for the candidates.

After working as a local Field Director in the 2002 California Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign, Crystal began pursuing her Master's Degree in Public Policy at the University of Southern California, and became a statewide board member for the California Young Democrats.

In 2003 Crystal began working for Assemblymember Lloyd Levine; first as his Senior Legislative Aide and later as his Communications Director. During her time in the Legislature, Crystal began  the process of modernizing California Young Democrats, first as a two-term Vice-President Membership, and later two-terms as President of the California Young Democrats. She revolutionized the organization, transforming an uncoordinated, volunteer effort into a professional and effective organization that valued the grassroots and produced tangible results for the Democratic Party--in 2006 alone the California Young Democrats made over 100,000 knocks and phone calls for Democratic get out the vote efforts.

In 2006, Crystal realized that her “extracurricular” activities of helping get Democrats elected was truly her main passion and she left her job in the State Assembly to work for the California Democratic Party, where she served as the Political Director until 2009. Her focus and vision was instrumental in organizing the California Democratic Party’s 2008 coordinated campaign, which saw President Obama win the largest landslide of any Democrat in California since Lyndon Johnson, and which also produced gains in the Legislature.

On August 8, 2009 Crystal was elected President of the Young Democrats of America, making her the first Californian and first minority ever to hold that office in the 78 year history of the organization.


Rod Snyder, Executive Vice President

Rod Snyder is a former President of the West Virginia Young Democrats and former YDA Mid-Atlantic Region Director.

Rod is a native of Jefferson County, West Virginia.  He graduated in 2002 with honors from Eastern University near Philadelphia with a Bachelors degree in Political Science and currently works as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. on agriculture policy.
 
He was a candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2004 and was named the state's Outstanding Young Democrat of the Year in 2005.  In 2008, he managed three successful campaigns in West Virginia, including the election of the youngest ever female legislator in the history of the state.  He also served on the Agriculture and Rural Policy Advisory Committee for the 2008 Barack Obama for President campaign.
 
Rod is an accomplished singer-songwriter and was a semifinalist on season four of the television show American Idol.  In 2006, he released his debut full-length album entitled "Leaving Hollywood Behind."

Stephanie Hausner, Democratic National Committeewoman

Born and raised in New City, New York, Stephanie Hausner  is a proven leader on the local, state and national levels. Stephanie began early, earning awards for her work in social justice and community service from the Rockland County Legislature and the Clarkstown School District before graduating from high school. This activism continued while at Johns Hopkins University where she interned with Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Governor Martin O'Malley, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee among others. Writing her senior honors thesis on “Political Institutions, Culture, and Female Executive Power," Stephanie graduated with a BA in International Relations with a concentration in American Foreign Policy in May 2006.
 
As an early supporter of Senator John Kerry’s campaign for the presidency in 2004, Stephanie organized college students both in Maryland and across the country. She brought her skills to the Young Democrats of America, where she has  served as Vice Chair of the Jewish Caucus, Secretary of the College Caucus, New York Downstate Regional Vice President, and National Secretary. She was recently appointed by YDA President Crystal Strait as the Young Democrats' of America Democratic National Committeewoman. Stephanie is looking forward to representing Young Democrats on the DNC and fighting for furthur youth involvement on the DNC.

In last year's presidential primary, Stephanie's energy was channeled toward Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign, where she represented the Clinton campaign as a “Hillblazer” at various forums and coordinated the "Chai for Hillary" Jewish Youth Outreach. She also was active in the Clinton campaign's Ambassador program, where she organized young women to support the Senator. The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee recently recognized Stephanie as a rising star in NY politics. She belongs to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the National Jewish Democratic Council, where she is often featured as a blogger. Stephanie remains very active in New York State and Rockland County politics. She serves as a member of the Clarkstown Democratic Committee, who awarded her the 2008 Liberty Youth Award for her exemplary dedication to her community. Stephanie is currently running for Clarkstown Town Council so that she can use her skills and passion to continue to serve her community.

In addition to her political accomplishments, Stephanie is also accomplished professionally. In 2008, Stephanie managed and fundraised for Kristen McElroy's State Senate race, closing what was a 22-point deficit against a 19-year incumbent to only 4 points. Prior to that she served as the Campus and Program Coordinator for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs/United Jewish Communities Israel Advocacy Initiative, where she trained young activists across the country. Most recently, she worked at Riverspace Arts in Nyack, fundraising and coordinating special projects, including raising over $50,000 at the organization's first off-site fundraiser.
 

Francisco J. Domenech, Democratic National Committeeman

Francisco Domenech is YDA’s male representative to the Democratic National Committee.  From 2005-2007, he served as YDA’s Vice President of Development.

Francisco is a proven leader in youth, Latino, political and legal communities.  He is currently the Director of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly’s Office of Legislative Services, where he heads an agency with an 11 million dollar budget that provides research and legal services to both the Puerto Rico House and Senate.

Francisco, a member of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Hispanic National Bar Association, has a wide range of legal experience.  He has worked as a trial attorney in the Litigation Department of McConnell Valdés, has, represented clients at the trial and appellate levels and appeared before the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.  Additionally, Francisco worked career at the law firm of Colón & Román, where he represented the Department of Education’s labor unions and had extensive trial practice both at the federal and state level. He integrated his law career with his political passion during his tenure as Director of the Office of Legal Counsel and Federal Affairs for the Puerto Rico Senate and President’s offices, where he served as the President’s Chief Legal Advisor and supervised the Senate’s representation in Washington, DC.

As a campaign operative, Francisco worked in various areas of Dr. Pedro Rosselló’s Gubernatorial Campaign for the New Progressive Party (NPP).  He worked as the Rapid Response Team’s Issues Director and the Project Manager for the first Don Luis A. Ferré Memorial Activity, a massive electoral program in Puerto Rico.

Francisco was also a co-founder and the first President of the Young Democrats of America’s Puerto Rico chapter. Under Francisco’s leadership, the Young Democrats in Puerto Rico secured five delegate slots for the Democratic National Convention and raised funds to send 14 members to volunteer for YDA’s campaign program in 2004, the Young Voter Alliance.

Mr. Domenech obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, with a Major in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico. He attended the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctor Degree in 2003.

 

Renee Hartley, Vice President

Renee Hartley was born in Pensacola, Florida. There, she learned the values of hard work and determination from her mother, Lillie, who worked for the Department of Defense and her father, Bobby who was a proud member of the United States Navy.

Renee continued a proud family legacy by attending Grambling State University a Historically Black College in the rolling hills of Northern Louisiana.

Renee is currently President of Dallas County Young Democrats, and Vice President of Young Democrats of America. She has also served as National Committeewoman from Texas and Vice Chair of the Campaigns Committee for YDA. Renee sits on the Board of Positive Leadership Advances Youth Self-Development. A foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults in the Oak Cliff and South Dallas areas of Dallas. Renee is also a volunteer for People Empowerment Project and The Oak Cliff Jets, Pop Warner football team.

 
Renee, her husband Don and their children have been proud residents of Texas since 1998.

Isaac Robinson, Vice President

Prior to his election to Young Democrats of America as Vice-President, Isaac Robinson served as chair of the YDA Labor Caucus from 2007-2009.  Robinson served as Vice-Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party’s 2004 Youth Coordinated Campaign and was elected President of the Young Democrats of Michigan in 2005.

Robinson is currently the Director of Political and Field Action for Michigan Teamsters Joint Council #43; he joined the staff of the Michigan Teamsters in 2003.   He is a well-known volunteer for The ARC Detroit, an advocacy group for persons with developmental disabilities.  In 2008, Robinson was recognized by the University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns for his work raising awareness about disability issues.

A 2001 graduate of Chicago's Northwestern University School of Law, Robinson is a licensed attorney in Michigan. While in law school, Robinson clerked for the United Auto Workers Legal Department and the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society. Robinson was elected President of the Student Bar Association in 2000.   Upon graduating in 2001, he was awarded two distinctions: the Wigmore Key Recipient, which is presented annually to one law graduate that has done the most to preserve the traditions of Northwestern Law, and the Northwestern University Outstanding Leadership Award.  Robinson was the first graduate student to receive the university-wide honor.
 
As an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, Robinson volunteered for the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO's Living Wage campaign and worked as an organizer for the Service Employees International Union in 1998.  Robinson is the son of Attorney Rose Mary C. Robinson, former Wayne County Commissioner and renowned trailblazer in Detroit politics.

Colmon Elridge, Vice President

Vice-President Colmon Elridge has been involved in Kentucky politics for almost a decade. From working his way up from stuffing envelopes for House of Representatives candidate Scotty Baseler to introducing then Senator Barack Obama in Lexington in 2008, Colmon has worked tirelessly not only for Democratic candidates but for the values long held by our party.

Colmon is originally from Harrison County, Kentucky. He attended Transylvania University from 1999-2003 and while there served as state Vice-President, Communications Director, and President for the College Democrats of Kentucky. He also attended Eastern Kentucky University for his Master’s Degree and while there served as both the Executive Vice-President for the EKU SGA as well as the College Democrats President for EKU as well as the Vice President for the Madison County Young Democrats.

Colmon has been President of the Fayette County Young Democrats since December of 2006. Most recently Colmon was elected to serve as National Committeeman for the Kentucky Young Democrats which represents Kentucky on the national committee of state YD federations.

Colmon was appointed in December 2007 as the Executive Assistant to Governor Steve Beshear. Working on behalf of the people of Kentucky Colmon has championed expanding Children’s Health Care and education. Colmon also has the distinction of being the youngest Director of the White House Faith Based Initiatives in the nation having been appointed to that position by Governor Beshear in January 2008 at the age of 26.

“The political process is a great process but it need not be so divisive, Colmon says. I believe we can come to the table with our ideas and our passion about how to move our state and our nation forward, and while we might disagree on how to get there, we can agree that failure is no option. Our generation has an obligation to bring civility back to this process and once again restore hope to the millions of people who entrust in us the responsibility of making life better.”

Emily Robinson, Secretary

Emily Robinson, a native Michigander, moved to Chicago in 2004. Prior to her move to Chicago, Emily attended Hope College, graduating with B.A. in Political Science in 2004.

Upon her arrival in Chicago, Emily worked in the office of 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores. In her spare time, working with then Committeeman Flores, she founded the 1st Ward Young Democrats. Emily helped build this chapter to one of the strongest chapters in Chicago. Emily also joined the Young Democrats of Cook County and the Young Democrats of Illinois. She served as Secretary in the Young Democrats of Cook County and National Committeewoman and Treasurer in the Young Democrats of Illinois.

Emily broadened her horizons attending Young Democrats of America meetings beginning in 2005. Emily has served as the Vice Chairman of the Rules & Charter Committee, Secretary of the Site Selection Committee, and also as a member of the 2009 Convention Committee.

Emily left Alderman Flores' office to pursue a career in law, currently attending the John Marshall Law School as a full-time J.D. Candidate and part-time law clerk for a civil litigation firm in Chicago.

Emily plans to bring transparency to the Young Democrats of America by making information available in an expedient fashion and also to work with local chapters to help them utilize all available resources.

Mark Newman, Treasurer

Mark began his political involvement in 2000 by joining the executive board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Young Democrats. During this time, he was an integral volunteer for numerous campaigns up and down the ballot, including former YDA Secretary Elaine Marshall and Congressman Bob Etheridge. In the summer after his freshman year he was selected as an intern in the Capital Hill office of Congressman Etheridge, making him one of the youngest interns on the hill that year. In his sophomore year, Mark was elected Vice President of the NC Federation of College Democrats.  Soon after, Mark began his commitment to YDA by serving as National Committeeman for the Young Democrats of North Carolina.


Following three years of service in this position, Mark was elected Southeast Region Director. Under his leadership, the Southeast Region had more chartered states than any time in recent memory. After finishing his term as Regional Director in 2007, Mark was appointed to serve as Finance Committee Chair for YDA. While serving in this role, Mark has led numerous fundraising training workshops at National Committee meetings and worked to expand membership in the Tomorrow Club, YDA’s monthly grassroots donor program. Mark continues to remain active in the Young Democrats of North Carolina as a senior member and YDA leader within the state organization, ensuring North Carolina's interests are represented at the national level.


Mark's finance background is not limited to his work in the Young Democrats of America. Professionally, Mark worked as a Development Assistant for Georgetown University School of Foreign Service for 3 years, during which he earned his Master’s in Social and Public Policy from the University. He recently joined American University's School of International Service as Assistant Director of Development. Prior to his work in educational fundraising, Mark conducted fundraising operations for a political consulting firm in Washington, DC. In this position, he organized a team of fundraising experts and raised over $200,000 in 2 months for a congressional campaign.

During the 2004 campaign, Mark served as the Deputy Finance Director for a NC Commissioner of Agriculture primary campaign which raised a record-breaking $300,000 in less than 4 months. Later that year, Mark served as a field organizer for the NC Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign



Sasha Bruce

Sasha Bruce is the Assistant Director of Government Affairs for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the fastest growing labor union in North America with more than 1.8 million members. For SEIU, Ms. Bruce works on member outreach and capacity building through the management of such special projects like the 1,500 Member Political Action Conference, GOP member program and the America Dream Fund, SEIUs fundraising effort to support our work in the presidential cycle.

Prior to joining SEIU in 2006, Ms. Bruce worked for the National Democratic Institute where she managed the political party program in Baku, Azerbaijan. There she designed and conducted campaign trainings for 11 parties and 500 candidates on messaging, grassroots organizing, GOTV and election observation in advance of the parliamentary elections in 2005. She also ran the Women’s Participation Program in Azerbaijan, the countries only program that consistently brought together women from different political parties.

Ms. Bruce has had considerable experience in voter contact strategy. For four years, she managed direct mail campaigns for Mammen Pritchard, a direct mail consulting firm, and went on to be the National Deputy Director for Field Communication at America Coming Together (ACT) in 2004. At ACT, Ms. Bruce worked within a multi-million dollar budget to coordinate a layered voter contact strategy consisting of voter registration, persuasion and GOTV mail and phone programs in 15 battleground states.

Ms. Bruce has also worked for the Democratic Grassroots Action Information Network (GAIN, 2003-04) where she helped design and plan GAIN’s first campaign training for young aspiring political activists, and the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (2000-02) where she helped create the organizations first training program in Seattle, WA.

In addition to being committed to progressive politics and social justice causes domestically, Ms. Bruce is dedicated to international development politically and socially. She has worked on elections in Somalia, Palestine and Azerbaijan and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, Africa. She is from Guyana, South America where she and her Mother run the Pomeroon Education Project in the country’s rainforest region providing transportation for 52 high school children to get to school every day.

Ms. Bruce received her Bachelor’s degree from Stetson University in Florida.

 
Vanessa Kerry

Vanessa Kerry graduated summa cum laude from Yale University (PC '99) and received a BS with distinction in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, to later enroll at Harvard Medical School.

In 2004,  she took a leave of absence from Harvard to work on her father's campaign for President. During this time she focused on youth outreach and participation, health care and global health issues, women's issues, and the environment. Much of her time was spent traveling the country giving speeches, interviews, and meeting with constituents coast to coast. She helped introduce her father at the 2004 DNC.

After the campaign, Vanessa spent a year studying abroad under a Fulbright Scholarship and in 2005 graduated from a joint program at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics with an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing.

She has an interest in both global and domestic health, especially the need to address international relations' impact on medicine in poorer countries. Specifically, she is concerned with the need to bridge the political  gaps both home and abroad that prevent many from receiving basic care. While in medical school she worked for the Vaccine Fund, and Partners in Health and wrote her Master's thesis on the collaboration between the U.S. government and the government of Rwanda for the procurement of HIV drugs.

In addition she has written on the impact of trade agreements on affordable drug access for developing countries, as well as the role of governance and international forces on health in these countries. As part of her work, she has traveled to Rwanda and researched the role of NGOs in the country, and their outcomes on public health.

Her recent political work includes volunteering for the Jon Tester campaign in Montana, a campaign won by a mere 2000 votes. She currently continues to give lectures on her experience on the campaign trail, the current political landscape, and the role of youth in political change. She is now in her first year of residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Internal Medicine.


Orson Porter

Currently Orson Porter serves as the Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs for Nike, Inc. Nike is the world's largest fitness company with revenues over $8 billion. In his capacity Mr. Porter helps manage Nike's global legislative goals and policies. He also communicates daily with national policy makers and key stakeholders on matters from corporate responsibility, the environment, diversity and community relations.

Prior to joining Nike he was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton as Special Assistant to the President acting as the White House Midwest Political Director. Mr. Porter advised the President, the Vice President and senior staff on national and local issues, with particular emphasis on the Midwest region of the United States. Additionally, he coordinated political events and served as the chief political liaison when traveling with the President or Vice President. To successfully complete his duties, he interfaced regularly with members of Congress, Governors, state and local elected officials and other constituencies. Also, Mr. Porter served as the President’s personal aide for various events and travel.

Before his appointment to the White House, he worked for Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist, where he served as the City's principal federal liaison. In this capacity, he effectively lobbied members of Congress and the administration for millions of dollars in federal support toward smart growth policies and initiatives.

Mr. Porter remains committed to building his hometown community and often champions the world-renowned America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee where he has served on the board for several years. He also served on the Milwaukee Community Service Corporation Board, modeled after the successful Americorp program initiated by President Clinton that gave valuable job training to young adults. In the spirit of building a diverse community, he co-founded the Workplace Diversity Institute in Milwaukee. This institute created a "Best Practices" guide that encourages workforce diversity by assisting businesses in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Currently, he serves as the National Advisory Board President of the Strive Media Institute, which is a non-profit mentoring and training program that provides at risk high school students with the opportunity to gain real world knowledge and experience in the field of mass communications.

Mr. Porter has led numerous municipal, state and national political campaigns. In 1996, he served as the Rhode Island Clinton/Gore State Director (second highest margin of victory) and, in 1992, he volunteered as an executive assistant to the Wisconsin Clinton/Gore State Director.  In 1999, he was selected to participate in the highly competitive European Union Visitors Programme.

Mr. Porter has published several articles on community service and has given various lectures on political trends and climates. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater where he majored in Journalism and Communications.

 

Paul Yandura

Paul Yandura is an expert political and fundraising strategist who focuses on youth and GLBT constituency issues.  He advises and raises money on behalf of presidential, federal and state candidates, as well as foundations and non-profits.  He currently works with donors on their individual giving strategies and develops the venues they need to reach their goals.  To achieve client satisfaction, Paul has produced a record album to raise voter awareness, managed a groundbreaking five-state voter mobilization initiative and incubated new organizations and campaigns on behalf of his clients.

During his tenure in Washington, Paul has held both political and public service roles.  In addition to his work in The White House and as Director of Gay and Lesbian Outreach on the Clinton and Gore campaigns, he was presidential appointee at the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Paul is a Magna Cum Laude graduate with a BA in Political Science from George Washington University.

Chuck Rocha

Born and raised in Tyler, Texas, Chuck Rocha followed in his father’s footsteps as a union worker for the Kelley – Springfield Tire Company.  Chuck started his union career at the young age of 19 as a member of the United Rubber Workers Local 746.  Three short years later he became the youngest ever elected officer in the history of Local 746.  Within 15 years, through hard work, a string of electoral successes and fiery public speaking ability, Chuck was appointed the National Political Director of the largest industrial union in the U.S. in May 2005. Currently, he is one of the youngest and the only Latino National Political Directors of a major union in the nation.

Chuck leads a political department known for youth, innovation and dramatic results.  During the 2008 Election his intuition and persistence helped perfect the union’s outreach to its membership.  He grew the Steelworkers’ Activist Corps to more than 10,000 Rank-and-File volunteers, making the union a major organizer in not just the Presidential Election—but in more local and state elections than ever before.  Mr. Rocha’s leadership has perfected the Steelworkers’ political operation by blending traditional grass-roots, membership-based organizing with state-of-the-art technology and communications.  Now the union has the capacity to do its own surveying, membership polling, targeting, and mobilization to members anywhere in the country through a predictive call center from the union’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Prior to becoming USW National Political Director, Chuck worked as the Southwestern Regional Political Director for the AFL-CIO.  With the AFL-CIO, Chuck supervised and directed all labor-to-labor programs in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.  Between 1995 and 1998, he coordinated the successful labor efforts for congressmen Martin Frost, Nick Lampson and Ciro Rodiguez.

Chuck has taught political field operation tactics at St. Mary’s University, the George Meany Center for Labor Studies and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA). He also served as Dick Gephardt’s National Labor Director during the 2004 presidential election.  He is a graduate of the Harvard University Trade Union program, and currently serves on the executive boards of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the National Young Democrats, and LCLAA.