In December 2020, the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) of the Vancouver chapter of Democrats Abroad called for nominations to fill the seven board positions for the 2021-23 term.

The following people have been nominated (or self-nominated), are qualified per our bylaws, and have agreed to stand for election.

As there are no contested positions, there will be no need for written ballots this year.

We believe that this slate of candidates with their experience both within DA and beyond will provide great leadership to the chapter for the upcoming two year term.

Click the link below to meet the candidate slate ...

Jennifer Phillips

Chair

 

I am a strategic professional that thrives in leadership positions. I have a passion for politics, creating meaningful change, and building up teams to meet their highest potential. I am always up for a challenge and I would like my next challenge to be as Chair of the DAV chapter.

I am highly skilled at marketing and communications, team engagement, volunteer and event management, meeting management, and influencing positive change – both organizational and through activism.

I currently serve on the Vancouver Board of Directors as Communications Director and manage all Facebook advertising Canada-wide. In my time with Democrats Abroad, I have organized and hosted events, managed social and email communications, acted as a DAV spokesperson for news outlets, and worked globally with other communication secretaries to help bring efficiency to our roles. I believe the largest opportunity for Democrats Abroad is working to streamline and implement best practices across chapters. This will allow us to fully capitalize on our strength, build our membership, and scale our operations.

I want the Vancouver chapter to be the example and set national and international standards. We can do that through leadership, teamwork, clearly defined goals, and drive.

Prior to moving to Vancouver in May 2019, I served on the American Marketing Association Houston Board of Directors as Director of Professional Development and Co-Chair, Membership Experience.

Among many achievements, I launched and nurtured the chapter’s first Mentorship Program and managed it for the three fiscal years. In the program’s second year, I adjusted the pricing model which resulted in a 416% net income growth. Along with the mentor program, I put on two professional development events each year while engaging sponsors to support event initiatives and chapter revenue.

I have over 10 years of professional marketing and team management experience and about the same amount of experience in skills-based volunteering with non-profits – ranging from animal welfare, industry, human rights, and political organizations. 2020 has been a life-changing year, and I’m proud to know the work I did had a significant impact on the abroad vote and the election results overall. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such a fantastic group of driven individuals working toward a better tomorrow (and from abroad!). It would be my honor to serve on the DAV board as Chair and help set us up for an even bigger win in 2024. All additional and relevant experience can be viewed on my LinkedIn:

 

Darius Pruss

Vice Chair

 

I have served as the Policy Secretary for Democrats Abroad Vancouver since October 2017. In this role I have helped plan, organize, and host the wide variety of grassroots activities our chapter has engaged in over this period. These included our voter registration and Get Out The Vote campaigns for the 2018 and 2020 elections, our “Pints and Politics” series of meetings to engage with our community, and political activism and advocacy events like the Women's March and March For Our Lives. As a chapter committee, we set ambitious goals for our work in 2018 and 2020 knowing how difficult our task was, and I am deeply proud of what we accomplished.

I am running for Vice Chair in tandem with Jennifer Phillips and her candidacy for Chair. I have personally witnessed Jennifer’s enormous contributions to our chapter’s activities, and I am confident that she will bring unrivaled passion, motivation, and commitment to the role. She has proven her willingness to not only take on big ideas, but to do the work necessary to realize them.

As our Chapter’s Vice Chair, I will work to maintain and grow our chapter and strengthen our committee’s relationship with our members. I believe we should also prioritize building connections with other activist groups and state-level organizers within the Democratic Party. These connections will be crucial over the next two years as we focus our efforts on doing what we can to bring about the change we all campaigned for in the election.

I came to Canada in 2011 to study, earning my Master of Public Policy from SFU in 2013. I have worked on policy research and knowledge translation in areas such as Indigenous health and affordable housing, and I currently work as a policy research consultant. I joined Democrats Abroad because I realized that achieving public policy goals is only ever possible if we first win political victories. Four years of Republican-controlled government under Trump have only made that more apparent.

Looking toward the future, it is clear that we need to fight for policies that protect democracy and human dignity. I believe Democrats Abroad Vancouver can and should go even further in building and organizing our membership, and in using whatever leverage we have to affect the direction of politics in America. As Americans and dual citizens in Vancouver. we still have a voice in America’s political discourse, one that can be loud and powerful when we work in unison.

Thank you for considering my candidacy. It has been my pleasure to serve this community.

 

Sue Ann MacBride

General Secretary

 

I would like to nominate myself for the position of Secretary for the upcoming term of the Executive Committee. I fully support DA-Vancouver’s mission, and I have enjoyed the events and meeting other members since 2014. In the past year, I have given my time to the organization by:

 

• Helping confirm registered voters for DA's 2020 Global Presidential Primary

• Promoting ex-pat voter registration and DA membership at the Black Lives Matter booth, and

• Attending DA’s weekly Pajama Jams.

 

Reed Garvin

Treasurer

 

I am nominating myself for treasurer for the 2021 year. My work experience includes working as Associate Vice President of Finance at the Alma Mater Society where I managed a 10 million budget, over 400 subsidiaries, as well as our Funds, Grants and Loan program. Further, I have been treasurer of other groups including UBC A cappella where I managed our finances, ran our concert ticket program and allowed for credit card payment donation and dues, a first for the club. My finance experience continues in my work today in my job as a finance broker and IT technician at a Finance Technology startup here in Vancouver.

As for my commitment to DA Vancouver, I have been volunteering with DA since last August and have been in charge of ensuring that a student network across Canada forms in conjunction with DA to allow for more young people to be involved in DA. I have a passion for politics and years of experience in treasurer work. I look forward to your support in my nomination as Treasurer.

 

Susan Borax

Community Outreach Secretary

 

I have been a Member-at-Large on the board of Democrats Abroad Vancouver since May of 2019 and am submitting my nomination for the position of Community Outreach Secretary.

I have been a life-long Democrat. After retiring from my business, I decided to renew my commitment to political activism. When I was invited to join the DA Board, I realized that I could be most effective in devoting my efforts to get out the overseas vote in a region that had more Americans living abroad than anywhere else in the world.

Beginning in June of 2019, I hosted nearly all the Candidates Debate Watching parties through 2020. This included finding new venues that could accommodate our group’s requirements. I worked with other team members to organize the 4th of July picnic and the DA Thanksgiving in

2019. I assisted Camille Mitchell, a fellow Board Member with setting up a voter information drives in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and at UBC. In March of 2020, I volunteered my services at the DA Global Presidential Primary, assisting members with voting for their choices.

Once the pandemic forced our activities to go virtual, I undertook responsibility for organizing phone banking for our chapter. Starting in June we needed to identify and train members willing to volunteer to call DA members across Canada first to register and later to obtain return absentee ballots. But those efforts did not end with the election as there were many issues where voters still needed assistance to ensure their votes would be counted. In tandem with the call campaigns, I volunteered to work with team members across the country on the Global Help Desk. This required providing one-to-one assistance with voters who had requested additional help. The last phone banking campaigns were to get the word out to potential voters in the Georgia run-off elections regarding registration and submission.

I believe the range of experience I have had in the last 19 months demonstrate my dedication to growing this organization. The key is to getting people engaged in meaningful activities that make them feel part of community. We were highly effective in the recent elections. My goal is to keep the momentum going to meet the challenges that await us in the coming years. By continuing to create relationships through outreach and projects, I hope to develop a team of committed volunteers for the future. I look forward being part of the leadership team.

 

Terry Fuller

Communications Secretary

 

For the past four years, I have been an active member of Democrats Abroad Vancouver, and the last two years a member at large to the Board. I have worked closed with other Board members in  GOTV, call hub phonebanking, volunteering at the help desk, as well as hosting debate nights at the various locations (pre-pandemic) throughout Vancouver. I have developed close relationships with the members, and we have often gotten together to plan strategies for getting people involved.

I am a avid user of Facebook and Twitter, and in fact have worked in unison with Jennifer Phillips for the DA Vancouver Twitter feed. 

I am qualified to fill the position and am an enthusiastic Democrat, born and raised in California. I have lived in Vancouver since 1982, and am now retired. I love to travel and am a pretty good photographer.

 

Amanda Macpherson

Policy Secretary

 

My name is Amanda Macpherson, and I am an American citizen who has been living in BC since 2003. I would like to put myself forward for consideration for the Policy Secretary position.

For the last three years, I've been an Executive Director of a restorative justice charity. I work with governmental groups, and also ensure that we abide by all laws and policies set out by the provincial and federal governments. My degree is in Public Administration, where policy formation and interpretation were a major component of the learning.

I currently serve on the Abbotsford Police Board, a provincial appointment, that oversees the operation of a municipal policing department. In the New Year, I will receive word of my acceptance into University of Victoria's MPA program and a board position with Restorative Justice Association of British Columbia.

The 2020 election's massive upswing of overseas voters shows that just because we're not living in the States doesn't mean we don't care deeply about our homeland. Removal does not mean removal; not only do most of us still have family there, but it is a Democratic value to care about others to whom we have no relation.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Sadie Lye and Susan Brennan

Nominations and Elections Committee