Meet our Executive Committee
Ken Sherman - International Chair - Canada (New York)
A member of Democrats Abroad since 2004, Mr. Sherman is former Chair of Democrats Abroad Canada. Since 1967, he has helped establish eight not-for-profit organizations in Western New York, and served as a community organizer on issues related to peace and justice, housing, human service, environment, historic preservation, and waterfront planning. Mr. Sherman was a delegate for candidate Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Mr. Sherman holds a bachelor of arts degree from Valparaiso University in Indiana and a bachelor of divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in Springfield Illinois. A New York voter, Mr. Sherman lives in Burlington, Ontario with his wife, a native of France. They have three children all living in Canada with the exception of one son who lives in London.
Vicki Hansen-Thackray - International Vice Chair - Luxembourg (Iowa)
Ms. Hansen Thackray has been a member of Democrats Abroad since 2002 and served as chair of Democrats Abroad Luxembourg. For 15 years she worked as an implementation specialist for large IT programs as well as business continuity for banking. In 2001, she created an event centre in a chateau specializing in change seminars and private events. Currently, Ms. Hansen-Thackray works in film with newly founded company Royal Road Entertainment, promoting movies that bridge East West. She is also the founder of a micro finance project aiding fishing people at Lake Victoria. An Obama supporter, Ms. Hansen-Thackray worked in Florida for the 2008 elections.
Ms. Hansen Thackray holds an MBA from The Open University with honors in International Enterprise and a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Louis S. Hureston - International Secretary - South Africa (Maryland)
Mr. Hureston is currently the chair of Democrats Abroad South Africa. He is an engineer advising executives in the telecommunications and electricity industries and is a past chairperson of the National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension.
He holds a BSEE from Illinois Institute of Technology and a MSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology. Additionally, Mr. Hureston has been selected for Executive Management training programs at Northwestern University, Stanford University and Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain. He and his wife, Denise, reside in Wilderness, South Africa.
John Eastwood - International Counsel - Taiwan (Port Washington, NY)
Mr. Eastwood is an attorney with an international law practice in Taiwan and China, where he specializes in intellectual property, employment and investment matters. With a legal career spanning 15 years, he is currently the co-managing partner of Eiger Law. During 2003-2009, John headed up the Democrats Abroad efforts in Taiwan, including everything from voter registration and absentee-ballot matters through the coordination of events. During 2009-2011, John served as the chair of Democrats Abroad Taiwan and as a member of the Democrats Abroad bylaws committee. Active in local American service and community organizations, the International Bar Association, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the International Trademark Association, John also chairs the ECCT IPR Committee and works closely with the U.S., E.C., and Taiwan governments on intellectual-property policy matters.
John was graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and he was a visiting scholar at Peking University's School of Law's Financial Law Institute (1996-1997). He regularly publishes and speaks on legal issues.
Katie Solon - International Treasurer - Austria (Colorado)
Katie Solon was a founding board member of Democrats Abroad Austria (DAA) in 2003 and has coordinated voter registration efforts, organized events, served as vice chair, acting chair and counsel. She was elected DAA chair in March 2011.
Overseas for most of the past 29 years (in the Philippines, Germany, Italy, Austria, El Salvador, Somalia, Croatia/Bosnia), Katie first worked in refugee camps then as a US Foreign Service Officer. She now lives just outside Vienna and works in a program for US-bound refugees.
A Colorado voter, Katie earned a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University and an M.P.A. from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
John Paul Chudy, Ph.D. - Regional Vice Chair for The Americas - Guatemala
.jpg)
John is a 62-year old retired international development professional, now residing in La Antigua, Guatemala. His U.S. voting precinct is Arlington, Virginia. A lifelong Democrat, in 2005 John took on the task of organizing a start-up committee of Democrats Abroad in Guatemala. Democrats Abroad Guatemala was formally recognized as a full country committee by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad, the parent international arm of the Democratic National Committee, in 2007.
Prior to his current life as Chair of Democrats Abroad Guatemala, (and Vice Chair for the Americas Region), John worked in international development. In 1970-72, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru. Later, John worked for a number of years with the international relief and development agency, CARE, in a variety of assignments that included Haiti, Bangladesh, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. In recent years, he worked as a private contractor and also served with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a personal services contractor, managing development projects and activities in India, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador. He holds a Master’s degree in International Administration, and a doctorate in Public Policy.
Ph.D. George Mason University, 1993.
MIA, School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT 1974.
BSc, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 1969.
Alex Kang - Regional Vice Chair for Asia-Pacific - Republic of Korea (Cerritos, California)
Albert Kang has been involved in Democrats Abroad in Korea since 2006 and helped in the formation of the South Korea Country Committee in 2008. He served as the treasurer in its initial year and was elected Chair in 2009. He is a native of California who currently finds himself in Korea.Mr. Kang has degrees in Anthropology and Environmental Sciences from UC Berkeley and a graduate degree in East Asian Philosophy from Korea University. He has worked in research and most recently in an inter-governmental organization promoting development cooperation between Southeast Asia and Korea, and now finds himself working as a radio host. His interest includes grassroots activism, new democracy, new capitalism, new media, and education.
Susan Haug - Regional Vice Chair for Europe, Middle East and Africa - United Kingdom (Arlington, Virginia)
Susan Haug has lived abroad for more than twenty years, having spent most of that time in Germany before moving to London in 2007. She has been a DA leader for the last 10 years, beginning with reactivating and chairing the Frankfurt Chapter of Democrats Abroad, Germany before serving as Vice Chair of DA-Germany from 2005-2007. Ms. Haug has been extensively involved with overseas voter outreach, local US Consulate relations and various international media and communications initiatives, last serving as Communications Coordinator for the EMEA region.
Ms. Haug is a native of Virginia and holds a Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and English. She has been practicing architecture in the US and in Germany. Ms. Haug’s volunteer service includes ‘Literacy Volunteers of America’ (Prison Program) in Charlottesville, Virginia and ‘Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation’ (Interviewer) in Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany.