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See all posts2021 DA France National Election Results
read morePlease join us in congratulating our 2021-2023 National Officers and Voting Representatives for Democrats Abroad France! Thank you to all the amazing candidates who stepped up to #RunForSomething!
National Officers
National Chair – Jonathon Holler. Jonathon supports the Equal Rights Amendment, Medicare for All, and strengthened labor unions, and a DPCA charter providing for more equitable voting and more inclusive gender parity rules.
First Vice-Chair – Danielle Follett. Dani is committed to continuing the work DAF accomplished to broaden the organization by welcoming new voices, expanding membership and raising voter turnout.
Second Vice-Chair (Chapter Liaison) - Drew Lombardi. Based on his past organizing experience in New York and Boston, Drew plans to launch a “50 state strategy” across all 12 local chapters to boost active engagement, recruit new members and deliver decisive electoral victories to Democrats.
Secretary – Alejandra Roman. New to France, Alejandra was DA Mexico City chapter Membership Chair and aided GOTV efforts leading up to the 2020 elections.
Treasurer – Marjorie Bernstein. A past Treasurer and Secretary of DA France, Marj will apply her qualities of thoroughness, dedication, and enthusiasm (as well as her degree in Mathematics!) to her reprised role as Treasurer.
Counsel – Julia Grégoire. Julia is licensed to practice law in both France and the US and begins her second term as Counsel. She has assisted with two thorough revisions of the DA France Bylaws and ensured compliance with French law governing non-profit organizations.
Database/IT Manager – Max Dunitz. Max begins his second term as Database/IT Manager. He added many new tools to our digital organizing toolkit, from peer-to-peer texting to state voter file data to inform voters about ballot deadlines, rejected ballots, and voter assistance options.
GOTV Officer - Dori Schwartz-Laboune. During the 2020 election cycle Dori recruited and engaged volunteers, doing outreach and phone/text banking. She is committed to increasing our efforts to turn out voters for the midterm primaries and 2022 elections.
Communications Officer – Amy Porter. Amy’s objectives are to build out the Comms team; coordinate the use of our multiple channels—social media, website, email—for recruiting new members, increasing current member engagement levels and helping members to vote, and to work closely with the chapters and caucuses in support of their communications efforts.
Issues, Program and Events Coordinator – Gretchen Pascalis. A founding member of the DA France Rhone-Alps chapter (now Grenoble) and organizer of many memorable events in her region, Gretchen believes that events make organizations come alive, energize and inform members, and help recruit new members.
Membership Outreach / Volunteer Coordinator – Florent Marchais. Flo has a record of dynamic, energetic youth organizing in Texas and France. In his new role, he plans to engage alongside the GOTV and Events officers to mobilize volunteers to participate in phone-banking, social-media activism, and in-person volunteering and rallying in solidarity for international causes like climate action and Black Lives Matter.
DPCA Voting Representatives
Ada Shen
Max Dunitz
Camille Canter
Jerry Zellhoefer
Connie Borde
Jim Christiansen
Meredith Wheeler
Juan Cerda
Marjorie Bernstein
Alex Rehbinder (Alternate)
Susan Fitoussi (Alternate)
Ricky J. Marc (Alternate)
Gretchen Pascalis (Alternate)
Upcoming Events
Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 06:30 PM Paris Time · 18 rsvps
DA France Aix Marseille Chapter ZOOM in Marseille, FranceJoin Democrats Abroad Marseille and Democrats Abroad France for a May Day panel to discuss current U.S. labor movements
Join Democrats Abroad Marseille and Democrats Abroad France for a May Day panel to discuss current U.S. labor movements on May 13th at 6:30 pm Central European Summer Time. In 1889, May Day was chosen as International Worker’s Day by socialists and communists of the Second International to memorialize the Haymarket affair in Chicago, a peaceful demonstration in which workers, trade unionists, and leftists marched for the eight-hour workday and that was met with violent confrontation by the police and the political establishment. In the U.S., however, Labor Day is celebrated not in May but in September, a move by the political establishment to discourage U.S. workers from engaging in labor organizing at the international level.
As Democrats, progressives, leftists, and Democratic Socialists living abroad, we recognize the importance of commemorating the history of May Day, especially during a time of immense economic and social upheaval, rising inequality and political instability, intensifying global worker exploitation, turmoil in the health sector, rising financial and capitalist power, and increasing police violence. As we look forward to closing the Coronavirus pandemic chapter of our history and its ensuing devastation on our socio-political fabric, we echo the words of President Biden when he called on Congress to pass the PROAct, which would strengthen the rights of workers: “We need to summon a new wave of worker power to create an economy that works for everyone.”
Today, we can look to May Day, and the conflicts that have followed in its footsteps, as inspiration as workers stand up to large corporations, big business, and the billionaire class and collectivize to demand better working conditions. One of the most recent and publicized struggles has been the effort to unionize Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama. Another ongoing labor organizing movement has been unionization efforts across university campuses. We will cover these movements with a panel of experts.
We will be joined by Nick Rudikoff, Campaigns Director at UNI Global Union, Alex Press, labor journalist and staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, and Richard Boris, Professor Emeritus of political science at York College, City University of New York and the former executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. We will link the importance of May Day to contemporary struggles to build worker power and resist entrenched capitalist logics of exploitation. By learning about current struggles, which have far-reaching global implications, we hope to create solidarity and build understanding regarding how, in an interconnected planet, no society can thrive so long as workers are kept silent.
Biographies
Nick Rudikoff is Campaigns Director at UNI Global Union, a union federation representing 20 million workers around the world in the service sector. Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, NY, Nick has more than 20 years of experience in the US labor movement as a researcher and campaigner, mostly with SEIU.
Alex Press is a staff writer at Jacobin magazine. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic, and The Nation, among other places.Richard J. Boris is emeritus professor of political science at York College, City University of New York (CUNY) and former executive director (2001-2014) of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, CUNY.
Political Forum
Join Political Forum host Jean-Pierre LaRochelle and leaders of Democrats Abroad France in a free-wheeling discussion of current events and news of the week, and share your views with other attendees. Send your questions to [email protected]