Who We Are & How We Vote - Connect The Dots!

With the Midterm Elections on our doorsteps, it is crucial that we a) get people to register and b) get them to vote up and down the ballot, and c) of course Democrats. 

Our conversations with a very diverse group of BIPOC voters revealed that a significant number of Black Voters living abroad feel concerned and let down because the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious equity agenda has been watered down, and in some cases thwarted by a deeply divided Congress driven by an obstructionist opposition. In particular voting rights legislation.

We believe that making Black lives matter means establishing, maintaining, and protecting a fair playing field rooted in economic and educational equity, and equal justice under the law. Achieving this requires motivating people to create a thriving, diverse electorate that is committed to bringing people together for the greater good.  One that unites and educates our fellow Americans about how the nation’s past and present history is directly tied to why we continually fail Black and Brown communities, and in turn, the wider community. Many voters are currently unequipped to connect the dots. Fears, whether real or imagined,  often obscure their view from the ties that bind us.

Join our insightful and inspirational live Q&A on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 1 PM EST / 7 PM CET with our guests of honor,  Michael Blake, Brencia Berry, and an insightful presentation from Twanna Hines (GBC Health Equity) connecting the dots on the Roe vs. Wade decision. 

Please support us in getting Democrats elected up and down the ballot with a donation. Every contribution will help us get out the vote, and reach eligible voters abroad all around the world in 2022. Donate

Michael Blake

Michael Alexander Blake is a proud native of The Bronx, New York, and is the youngest son of Jamaican immigrants. His mother is a retired 40-year manufacturer and raised four boys, including a retired Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army and his late Father was a 1199SEIU maintenance supervisor at St. Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx.

Michael is the President of Next Level Sports and Entertainment - the only Black-owned national TV Sports network in our country's history. Viewed in 21 million U.S. households and more than 100 million global households and with programming ranging from HBCU-Know to the What'sNXT studio show, Blake is leading a team that is disrupting the Sports, Media, and Technology industries. 

Michael Blake is the Founder & CEO of Atlas Strategy Group, Inc., which focuses on Economic Empowerment through increasing Access to Capital, Contracting, and Opportunities to Minorities, Women, and Small Businesses along with creating metrics-based programs for Social Justice and Civic Engagement for Communities of Color. Blake has worked with the Washington Football Team, Escalon, Operation Hope focusing on Financial Literacy for Individuals and Businesses, and Green For All as its National Policy Director.

He served as a Founding Visiting Fellow at Monroe College's Institute of Social Justice, Government, and Civic Engagement teaching more than 140 students twice a week about Civics and public policy. Blake is also leading the My Brother's Keeper efforts for Monroe College.

Michael served as a three-term Assembly Member in the New York State Assembly representing the 79th District in The Bronx, New York from 2014 to 2020.  Blake had his signature piece of legislation signed into law for Small, Minority, and Women-owned Business Enterprises with less than 300 employees who contract with New York state to get paid in 15 days instead of 30 and was the led Co-Sponsor on the five-year extension and expansion of the statewide M.W.B.E. program. Blake led the efforts to create the first and only statewide My Brother's Keeper education program in the country, now totaling more than $74 million in four years. Moreover, Blake helped led the charge to Raise The Age of criminal responsibility so that 16 and 17-year-olds are not tried as adults in criminal court, secured funding for lead remediation in New York City public housing, and continued to lead the effort in funding Diversity in Medicine medical scholarships for Students of Color. 

He served as a Vice Chair at Large of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2021, being the first Black man elected to DNC leadership since Ron Brown, helping lead efforts to mobilize millennials, communities of color, local elected candidates, and training. Blake has traveled to 31 states and Japan since the DNC election in February 2017 ranging from candidate training to creating Get Out The Vote strategies in base communities across the country.

Michael served in the Obama-Biden administration as the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement and Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs coordinating outreach to the African American, Minority, and Women Business Enterprises and state and county elected official communities. Michael created and executed the Urban Entrepreneurship Summit series, a seven-city tour coordinating Public, Private, and Not for Profit Partnerships across the country.  Moreover, Blake along with Bibi Hidalgo coordinated the Interagency Federal Procurement working group dedicated to increasing procurement spending to Minority and Women Business Enterprises, leading the highest percentage and dollars spent across agencies for MWBEs on record.

His public and political service began in 2006 as one of the first ten participants in the "Yes We Can" training program led by Senator Barack Obama. After successfully managing three state houses in Michigan, in early 2007, Michael joined then Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign as the Iowa Deputy Political Director and Constituency Outreach Director. A 2007 Time Magazine article stated:

"At just 25 years old, Michael Blake may have more to do with Barack Obama's chances of becoming President than anyone besides the candidate himself. That may sound like a stretch, but Blake has the all-important job of bringing in new Iowa voters to caucus for the Illinois Senator". 

In his 20-month, eight-state campaign tenure throughout the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign, Blake concluded as the Michigan Deputy State Director and Political Director for the general election.  Blake departed the White House to serve as the national deputy director of Operation Vote for the Obama-Biden 2012 re-election and helped expand the diverse electorate that later re-elected President Obama and Vice President Biden, leading to historic turnout among constituencies nationwide.

Blake is a Five Year Term Member fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow.  Michael is on the board for iVOTE, served as a 2016 Resident fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics, becoming the first sitting elected official to serve in that capacity, and recently was an advisory board member for the My Brother's Keeper Alliance. Michael is a national Honorary Co-Chair of the New Leaders Council, which has trained more than 7,000 millennials in progressive policies and political organizing.

Michael Blake is a proud alum of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and Brother of Alpha Phi  Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men, and Prince Hall Freemasonry. Blake is a licensed minister in the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal church. Michael absolutely loves the Yankees, College Football. Live Music and of course, Jamaican cuisine.

Brencia Berry

Brencia Berry is a political strategist and public policy expert who is the DNC Coalitions & Community Engagement Director.

Prior to joining the DNC, she ran the national outreach program as Vice President of Equity and Political Strategy for PL+US (Paid Leave for the United States).

In 2020, Brencia served as National Deputy Director of Public Engagement, overseeing policy and coalition outreach for Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign. Before joining Senator Warren's team, Brencia was the first Black woman to serve as Chief of Staff for a Council Member in San Antonio. She has also worked in Intergovernmental relations and state legislative affairs.

Additionally, Brencia is a Hillary for America national advance team veteran and has experience working in state and local government in Louisiana and Texas. She is a proud graduate of Louisiana State University and received her master's in public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Berry is a proud Texas native, and her ultimate goal is to build power and equitable outcomes for marginalized communities.

Please join the Democrats Abroad Canada Black Caucus for this moderated presentation. This is an online virtual event on Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent to you when you RSVP.

We can all share our challenges with obtaining requested ballots, confirmation of voted ballots and other examples of barriers to voting our ballots from abroad. We look forward to seeing everyone.

Star (Starla) Goggins, Chair
Dr. Laura Allen, Vice Chair
Larry Roseau, Liaison/Advisor