June 2006 Bios

Erika Barrera

A 21 year old from Arlington, Texas, Erika earned her bachelor's degree in journalism and mass media from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Barrera's political involvement began while she was in high school. She became an NAACP fellow and registered voters for an entire summer, resulting in her winning a national award for the NAACP. While in college, her political involvement continued. Ms. Barrera chaired the Minority Affairs division for her schools student government association, pioneered a campus-wide early vote rally and garnered support from Sean P. Diddy Combs Vote or Die initiative, and interned in Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's Texas office.

Brace Clement

A 28 year old from Matteson, Illinois, Brace earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Mr. Clement is a United States Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from June 2004 through May 2005. While in college, Mr. Clement was the president of the student government association and vice-president of the Black Student Union. Most recently, he interned in Illinois State Senator Robin Kelley's district office.

Christopher Coes

A 22 year old from Thomasville, Georgia, Chris earned his bachelor's degree in government and politics from St. John's University in Queens, New York. While in school, Mr. Coes was a research assistant for St. John's University, an intern for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the Black America's PAC. In addition to his internship experiences, he was a McNair Scholar and conducted an independent research project entitled, "A Comparative Study of Crisis Management in the post 9/11 American Foreign Policy." As a result, he had the opportunity to present his research findings at the National McNair research conference at the University of Maryland College Park campus.

Justin Costa

A 22 year old from Brunswick, Maine, Justin earned his bachelor's degree in government and Spanish Literature from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He was very active in school where he was the president of the Wesleyan University Democrats and a student representative for the national campaign for Campus Progress. Mr. Costa worked for the Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage, and USAction as a policy intern.

Crisoforo Garza

A 25 year old from Los Angeles,CA, Cris earned his bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and American History from the University of Pennsylvania, and earned his master's degree in Elementary Education from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Garza taught for two years as a corps member with Teach For America-Philadelphia and served as a precinct leader for MoveOn PAC in the 2004 election. Most recently, he worked in the D.C. office of Congressman Donald Payne (NJ-10) as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellow, where he focused on issues of education, labor, and international relations.

Jeh'an Gordon

A 25 year old from Peoria, Illinois, Jeh'an earned her bachelor's degree in business communication from the University of Illinois at Parkland Community College. Ms. Gordon recently worked on a State Senate race in Illinois as an assistant for the Education Based Research. She currently works as a Research Developer at Illinois Central College in Peoria, Illinois.

April Harley

A 21 year old from Charlotte, North Carolina, April earned her bachelor's degree in English from Howard University in Washington, DC. Ms. Harley served as the vice- president of the Howard University Student Association where she managed a 60 person staff and maintained a budget of $250,000. Her political experience includes interning in Senator John Edwards' Washington, DC office as an intern coordinator.

Kevin Harris

A 22 year old from Birmingham, Alabama, Kevin earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Howard University in Washington, DC. Mr. Harris has interned for Senator Hillary Clinton in the communications department, Face the Nation production department, the senior media advisor for a candidate for the Maryland Legislature, and an outreach coordinator on the Mayoral Campaign in Bessemer, Alabama. He is still an active volunteer for the re-election campaign for Senator Clinton.

Lewanna Heard

A 27 year old from Arkansas, Lewanna earned her bachelor's degree in interpersonal communication and master's degree in political communications from The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She currently works on Greg Hecht's campaign for Lt. Governor in Georgia. She has also volunteered on two local campaigns as a canvasser. Ms. Heard aspires to run one-day for a public office.

William 'Nate' Jenkins

A 24 year old from Atlanta, Georgia, Nate earned his bachelor's degree in public policy from Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina. His interest for public service began in high school, but took shape the fall of his freshman year in college when he successfully won a seat on the student government legislature; from there he joined and became an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He was invited to sit on Duke University's president's council to discuss race relations/activities on the campus; he later went on to co-found the Center for Race Relations, which addresses the various issues and needs of the student body at Duke. After graduating from Duke in 2004, Mr. Jenkins joined Teach for America and teaches sixth grade at Martin Luther King Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia.

Deric Joyner

A 21 year old from Washington, DC, Deric earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Morehouse, Mr. Joyner interned for the Children's Defense Fund in a program called Freedom School where he coordinated and set up classroom activity for the students. Currently, he works as a research assistant for the Georgia Strategic Alliance for New Directions.

Alisa Morris

A 23 year old from Louisville, Kentucky, Alisa earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Louisville. As a student at the University, Ms. Morris served as the chapter president of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where they worked closely with a program called Just Go Vote that educated disenfranchised voters about ballot initiatives and encouraged them to vote on Election Day. Additionally, she volunteered during the 2004 Presidential campaign at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a canvasser, and interned with the Kentucky General Assembly where she worked closely with her State Senator to create an initiative to assist the Hurricane Katrina victims who relocated to Kentucky.

Sammy Nasr

A 23 year old from Jacksonville, Texas, Sammy attends The University of Texas at Austin. He is currently pursuing a degree in government and political science with an expected graduation date of December 2007. Mr. Nasr has taken a year off from his academic studies to intern on a Montana congressional race, where he has assisted with staffing the candidate, planning and coordinating fundraising events, and assisting with identifying key campaign supporters throughout the district. His other campaign experience includes working as a GOTV canvasser in Virginia for the 2005 election cycle and volunteering on local campaigns in Texas.

Maralyn O'Brien

A 20 year old from Britton, Michigan, Maralyn earned her bachelor's degree in public policy/service and political science in two in half years at the age of 19 from Albion College in Albion, Michigan. Mrs. O'Brien has been engaged in state politics since she was a 16-year-old volunteer canvasser on Governor Jennifer Granholm's campaign in 2002. While in college, she was involved in the College Democrats and encouraged her classmates to volunteer on local and statewide campaigns. Currently, she works as the SEIU Coalition Coordinator for the Michigan Quality Home Care Campaign.

Jacqueline Robinson

A 27 year old from Pasadena, California, Jacqueline earned her bachelor's degree in American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Robinson successfully completed the Los Angeles African American Women's Public Policy Institute, an intense 10-week program that trains women of color in several areas of public policy and governmental affairs. Her political experience includes poll watching for the AFL-CIO Voter Rights Protection Project. Currently, Ms. Robinson serves as a Community Outreach Consultant for the California Teacher's Association.

Brian Rogers

A 23 year old from Smyrna, Georgia, Brian earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Rogers served as the vice-president of his freshman class. He was the campaign manager for Yolanda Johnson a candidate who ran for School Board in Atlanta, Georgia; additionally, he was the policy intern in the office of Corporation Counsel for the Government of the District of Columbia.

Richard Santos

A 26 year old from San Antonio, Texas, Richard earned his bachelor's degree in English and history from the University of Texas at Austin and his master's degree in English from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Mr. Santos currently works at Conklin Scott research polling firm in Washington, DC, where he serves as the project assistant to the president of the company. Through Conklin Scott, he volunteered on the re-election campaign for Congressman Ciro Rodriquez in Texas. He is also a teacher's assistant in the Community Scholars Program, which is a program at Georgetown that prepares incoming African American and Latino freshman for college life and provides an academic and cultural support system throughout their matriculation at school.

Adia Smith

A 22 year old from Los Angeles, California, Adia earned her bachelor's degree in history/African and African American studies from the University of California at Davis. While in school, she became active with the African and African Americans Cultivating Education (ACE) (the largest black student organization at her school) and served as a coordinator/student director. During her tenure with ACE, she implemented a guidance, support and retention program for the students in the program. Ms. Smith has interned for Dewey Square Group in the research department in Sacramento, California office. She currently works in the Office of the Federal Defender.

Lakshmi Sridaran

A 22 year old from Peachtree City, Georgia, earned her bachelor's degree in ethnic studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Her interest in social and political activism was illuminated through her college years where Ms. Sridaran was an organizer of the CalSERVE student organization that was devoted to bringing a progressive electoral coalition into student government; in addition to these activities, she also served as senator on her schools student government association while simultaneously maintaining high academic honors. Ms. Sridaran interned with two labor unions, Unite HERE and SEIU, and helped organize voter registration rallies in different cities across the country.

Alfred Williams, II

A 26 year old from Detroit, Michigan, earned his bachelor's degree in political science/pre-law from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. While in high school, Mr. Williams successfully consulted and managed a State Representative race in Michigan. He is the executive director of Vote Smart Detroit, which is a program that educates and encourages voter participation and increases voter awareness in the Detroit area. Mr. Williams is a campaign consultant for the Greg Hecht campaign for Lt. Governor in Georgia.