Our Staff:
Stephanie Taylor — Co-Founder
Stephanie is the proud member of a union family. She worked for years as a union organizer in the Midwest and Appalachia, and she’s a veteran of electoral and advocacy campaigns around the country. She has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.F.A. from Columbia University. In her free time, she’s working towards a Ph.D. in American labor history at Georgetown.
Adam Green — Co-Founder
Before co-founding the PCCC, Adam finished a stint as interim CEO of Change Congress, a reform group formed by Harvard Prof. Lawrence Lessig to reform congressional elections and special-interest influence on Congress.
Adam formerly served as Director of Strategic Campaigns and Civic Communications Director for MoveOn.org. He has a B.A. from George Washington University and a law degree from University of Virginia.
Forrest Brown — Senior Organizer & Director of Online Marketing
Forrest began his career in progressive politics with the PCCC in 2009 while still in high school. He’s played a variety of roles at the PCCC over years before taking on online marketing in 2011. He is a student at Harvard in Cambridge, MA.
Dheeraj Chand — Director of Research Engineering
Dheeraj once had hopes of being a professor of Classics, but left that all behind in 2004 to work in electoral politics. Since then, he has worked in analytics and technology, building tools to build a better America. One of these days he will get his PhD in Latin and happily teach students about Cicero.
Jake Conarck — Electoral Associate
Jake is a longtime veteran of electoral politics, having worked on campaigns throughout the country. After graduating from Stony Brook University, he moved to Arlington, VA to work on politics full-time. In his spare time, you’ll find him doing the New York Times crossword (in pen!) or watching movies.
Keauna Gregory — Field Director
Keauna began her career in electoral politics on Congresswoman Donna Edward’s campaign in 2007 and has never looked back. She’s worked on several federal races including Bill Halter’s Senate campaign and did a stretch at MoveOn.org in 2009. Field and volunteers are her passion. When she’s not traveling the country working on campaigns, you can find her in Calhoun, GA with her pups – Spunky, Patches, and Peanut.
Caralyn Hamel — Administrative Assistant
Amanda Johnson — Chief of Staff
Amanda Johnson started her foray into the political world working at Changing Targets Media, before finding her passion organizing for progressive causes at the PCCC. She lives in Washington DC, where she can be found cooking dinner with friends and striving to beat her fastest time at solving Sudoku.
Ethan Jucovy — Web Applications Developer
Ethan has been a professional Python software developer since 2006. Before joining the PCCC, he built web applications for community organizers and government transparency at a NYC-based nonprofit, and distance learning platforms and new media teaching tools for Columbia University professors. He is active in open source communities and has made core contributions to prominent Python projects like Django, Plone and Virtualenv. One day, he hopes to build software that will help all the robots evolve better.
Connor Kennedy — Senior Associate, P Street
Conor has worked on constitutional law and progressive policy issues with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Campaign Legal Center, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School.
Drew McConville — Graphic Designer
Drew began working with the PCCC through the Next Generation of Talent project where he designed the Petition for the Public Option, a full-page ad that ran in the New York Times at the height of the battle for the public option. In addition to working with the PCCC, he has worked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, with voting rights groups and the Boston Election Department to help improve the Boston’s poll worker training program, and in higher education. Drew currently lives in Illinois with his wife, Kassie, and their dog, Beacon.
James Ploeser — State Organizing Director
James is a longtime political activist who got his start in progressive electoral and issue campaigns in his hometown of Madison, WI. Since then, he’s organized with SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign, directed the Iowa Fair Trade Campaign during the 2008 Iowa Caucus, and led the organizing operation for the Global Trade Watch team at Public Citizen in DC. His passion is fusing spirituality with systemic social change – but he is by no means praying to save your immortal soul.”
Jason Rosenbaum — Senior Online Campaign Director
Jason is an activist and musician living in Washington, DC. After graduating from Northwestern University, he worked to win health care for all, started a major political blog called The Seminal, and helped candidates like Bill Halter run great new media programs.
Kristiane Skolmen — Organizer
Kristiane Skolmen lives in the Pacific Northwest and is frequently on-the-go, organizing wherever progressive battles need to be won. She co-founded the largest network of climate organizers in the region as a student in 2006, and has since worked in communications and direct action with environmental and human rights organizations alike.
Michael Snook — Chief Information Officer
Michael is an organizer from Charlottesville, VA, specializing in data, targeting and technology. He enjoys playing guitar, organizing for social justice, and apple cider.
Neil Sroka — Press Secretary
Prior to becoming the PCCC’s Press Secretary, Neil was the Communications Director for Ann McLane Kuster’s 2010 campaign in New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District. He has also served in the Obama administration as the Director of New Media at the U.S. Department of Commerce, ran social media projects for MoveOn.org, and managed new media for Barack Obama’s primary campaigns in South Carolina & Ohio. Neil graduated from George Washington University and studied politics and philosophy at Pembroke College, Oxford. Neil currently lives in Washington, DC, enjoys climbing tall buildings many times over via his gym’s stairmill, and recalling his “good ol’ days” as a teenage Mac guru.
Matt Wall — Press Associate
Matt is an activist living in Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of Boston University, he has volunteered and worked across Massachusetts on a number of local, city and state campaigns.
Our Fellows:
TJ Bateman
TJ Bateman is a former high school teacher. Though this is his first foray into progressive politics he has long been a supporter of progressive causes and candidates. He lives with his wife and two dogs in Nashville, Tennessee.
Jeff Budd
Jeff entered politics as a community organizer in his hometown of Baltimore. After going broke and a year working abroad, he spent three years working in social media, online advertising and web content management. By these powers combined he aims to take on corrupt politicians of all stripes and win power for poor and working people.
Jordan Krueger
Jordan has been an LGBT-equality advocate for over 12 years, most recently leading a grassroots organization in Los Angeles to fight Proposition 8 and work toward full federal equality. He lives in Washington, DC, with his partner Hank and their dog Baxter, a Humane Society rescue.
Andrew Mayersohn
Andrew recently graduated from Yale University, where he was the treasurer of the country’s largest student-run political action committee, Students for a New American Politics. His first experience with campaign work was as a volunteer for Tom Perriello in 2008. He enjoys looking at columns of numbers. He lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Karen Oelschlaeger
Karen is a a longtime political enthusiast with a particular passion for utilizing social media to facilitate civic engagement and progressive change. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and is currently pursuing her Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Taylor Sappington
Taylor is a student of political science at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and enjoys the alto saxophone when the political world allows him a break. He looks forward to getting deeper into public service, fighting for bold causes, and the next Ohio State football national championship.
Robyn Swirling
Robyn Swirling is a DC native who has been active in politics since childhood. Robyn has worked on the Bill White gubernatorial campaign in Texas, as well as with some of the world’s leading public health organizations. Her experience is in public policy and policy communications, with an emphasis on women’s issues. Robyn currently lives in Bethesda, MD with her rescue mutt, Dogger.
