New Chapter Leadership to be Elected at Zurich Annual General Meeting April 14
The Democrats Abroad Zurich Chapter 2021 Nominations and Elections Committee is pleased to announce that the election of the 2021-2023 Zurich Chapter Leadership will take place during the 2021 Zurich Annual General Meeting, on Wednesday April 14th, online. (See separate AGM announcement for details). We hope you will attend to hear our annual report, to show support for the nominees, and, most importantly, to vote for the candidates of your choice. The offices to be elected are:
- Chair
- Vice Chair
- Secretary
- Treasurer
We thank all those who came forward to present themselves as candidates. See their names and statements below.
Voting Method
Meeting attendees who are DA members as of Monday April 12th may vote.
If you cannot participate in person, it is possible to vote by proxy: Request a proxy form from [email protected], identify a member you know who will attend, send a copy of your completed and signed proxy form to us by April 12th, and give the form to the attending member before the AGM. Any voter at the meeting may hold at most two proxies.
Voting by advance ballot will not be available.
Election Process
At the meeting, the four offices will be elected one by one, in the order shown above. For offices with zero nominees (only), nominations for office may be made from the floor, as write-in candidates. All candidates will be given five minutes to address the members.
List of Candidates
Office: Chair (1)
Zachary Bailey
My name is Zachary Bailey and I am nominating myself to be the chair of the Zürich chapter of Democrats Abroad Switzerland. I wish to help further our goals as a party and fight for the many issues that face both our country and the world. The recent election and the global pandemic have laid bare the fragility of our political, public health and social welfare institutions to this time of great upheaval. As chair of the Democrats Abroad in Zürich, I can help organize around those issues that are both close to me, and the issues that are close to other members of our chapter.
Office: Vice Chair (1)
Karen Herzog
I am interested in the Vice Chair role. I have been in Switzerland for 25 years. My husband is Swiss and we live outside of Winterthur. I have two teenagers. I have worked for many years in the Pharma industry for large multi-national companies and smaller ones in the compliance area ( financial and anti-bribery). I have lived in many places in the US, but am registered in Wisconsin as this is where I grew up. I am as well a Swiss citizen and speak fluent German at a C1-2 level. I have been in contact with the Dems Abroad last year because I was facing some issues with obtaining my absentee ballot. The group was extremely helpful and I did assist with some last minute mailings. I would like to be involved as I see now that this dedicated group can make a difference. I am also very impressed that Dems Abroad also has a voting bloc represented in the electoral process.
Office: Secretary (1)
Jenifer Kechulius
My name is Jenifer Kechulius and I am interested in the open secretary position with Democrats Abroad Zurich. While in college and grad school I held the positions of secretary, president, and treasurer of various student groups (this gave me my first experiences taking minutes for meetings). More recently I have held positions as the program director of a private music school, the executive director of a chamber orchestra (ran monthly board meetings), and I am currently the administrative assistant for a music festival in Austria. I have a lot of experience with organizational and secretarial tasks from these positions.
Office: Treasurer (1)
Chi Tran Brändli
I’m a Vietnamese American, who was born in Vietnam but grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area since I was 8 years old. I graduated UC Berkeley with a major in immunology. I got a Masters in Economics from the University of St. Gallen after moving here with my Swiss husband. I’m a portfolio manager/equity analyst at a private bank. I’ve been living in Zurich since 26 years and have two teenage daughters.
We will be electing our leaders for 2021 - 2023; they will guide us through our local chapter events leading up to the 2022 Midterm Elections. This will be a crucial period of creating and executing policy during the first half of President Biden's first term in office and we want your input!
The online meeting will start at 18:30 PM and will last a maximum of 2.5 hours.
RSVP on this page for the meeting details.
Not a member yet but want to participate in the elections? Join here.
Want to cast a ballot but not able to attend? Complete a proxy form and email it to [email protected].