Nominations from the floor of the AGM will be accepted and decided upon for the position of TREASURER. *
Chair Candidate Statements
Michele Grant, J.D., (she/her) is a dual U.S.-Canada citizen living in St. John’s, in the ancestral homelands of the Beothuck and Mi’kmaq peoples (Newfoundland and Labrador). After living in the States all of her life, she moved to St. John’s with her spouse in 2017. She is a lawyer licensed in Pennsylvania and is pursuing her call to the bar in NL.
Before moving to Canada, Michele last lived in Philadelphia (PA-03), where she raised her son and went to law school. She was a member of the Citizen Advisory Committee of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the public transit provider in metro Philadelphia, advocating for city resident ridership. She also served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the South Street Headhouse District, a quasi-municipal authority, advocating for District residents. For several years she served as Co-chair of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and occasionally as a regional vice-president of the Guild, reporting to the Guild’s national executive committee.
A Democrat for over 20 years, she worked and volunteered at many elections in Philadelphia, in partisan and non-partisan roles: signature gatherer, poll worker, election observer/protection, data gathering, policy research on judicial elections, and litigation support in ballot access legal challenges.
She welcomes the opportunity to build Atlantic membership and keep Democrats effectively engaged with electoral politics in the U.S.
Luke Roman*
I am currently Vice Chair of the Atlantic Chapter of Democrats Abroad, Canada. I would be very happy to continue carrying out this duty. My experience as Vice Chair over the last few months provided a basis for my future work in the role, and I hope to gain yet more experience if elected. As a professor at Memorial University and Head of the Department of Classics, I have acquired communication and organizational skills appropriate to the position of Vice Chair. Thank you for considering my candidacy.
Secretary Candidate Statement
Rachel Brickner (Wolfville, Nova Scotia)
I am running for the position of Secretary of the Atlantic Provinces chapter. I am originally from Detroit, Michigan (go Tigers!). I moved to Canada in 1999 to attend McGill University’s PhD program in Political Science. Despite being open to “any academic position, as long as it was in a cool urban area,” I ended up accepting a position at Acadia University in rural Nova Scotia. I’ve been here since 2006.
I have been involved in the DA-Atlantic Provinces chapter since it rebooted in 2019, initially in the position of Vice-Chair and before serving temporarily as Chair. In these roles I spoke to the media on behalf of the chapter on multiple occasions and gained extensive experience with the DA database. Although my work commitments do not afford me the time necessary to serve in the role of Chair, I have gained substantial knowledge about our chapter and have developed ideas for how to build momentum going into the future. I am looking forward to using these ideas in a role that allows our chapter to be up and running for 2022 and 2024.
Social Media Coordinator Statement
Devbani Raha
I am an Epidemiologist working in Cancer Care, Nova Scotia Health. I have lived in Canada and the United States, and am a dual citizen of both countries. I lived in Denver, CO and continue to vote in Denver County.
For the past year, I've volunteered with Democrats Abroad Atlantic Chapter in an unofficial media outreach role. I have been the watch party host on Facebook for the presidential debates (2020 elections); I really enjoyed keeping my fellow attendees engaged and commenting throughout the events. I've chaired a meeting on behalf of our Chapter Chair, Dr Rachel Brickner. I've posted in the DA- Atlantic Facebook pages to remind people to vote, send links to reliable information and posted information about upcoming events like the watch parties or DA-Atlantic meetings.
I self identify as a woman and person-of-color.
*Please note that email notification sent March 28th had an error and stated Luke Roman self nominated as Treasurer. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
*With apologies,
*Julie Buchanan-Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee
