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Candice Kerestan, DA International Chair & DNC Youth Council Vice Chair (Munich, Germany)
A Central Pennsylvania native, Candice Kerestan has lived in Germany for the past eight years and currently serves as International Chair of Democrats Abroad (DA), the official arm of the Democratic Party responsible for engaging and mobilizing the more than nine million U.S. citizens living overseas. She is the youngest currently serving Democratic state party chair, and the second youngest in Democratic Party history. In her role, Ms. Kerestan works with on-the-ground organizers in nearly every country to find new voters and activate existing voters abroad – with the overarching goal of delivering even more votes for Democrats across the United States in 2022.
Ms. Kerestan previously served as Chair of DA Germany and as the Regional Leader for the Cologne-Bonn area in Germany. She holds degrees in Political Science and German and is currently pursuing her PhD in Political Science at the University of Bonn where she also works as a translator in the areas of sociology, law, and political science.
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Art Schankler, DA International Vice Chair (Belgrade, Serbia)
Art Schankler currently serves as International Vice Chair of Democrats Abroad. He has been a member of Democrats Abroad for almost 20 years and was previously Chair of DA Czech Republic, International Treasurer and International Fundraising Chair. He has also worked in a presidential campaign and as a volunteer in many political campaigns in the US. Professionally, he has worked in developing and financing infrastructure projects for the last 30 years in the US and Eastern Europe.
Art was born in Akron, Ohio and now lives in Serbia and votes from abroad in New York City.
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Erin Kotecki Vest, DA Canada Chair (Montréal, Canada)
Erin Kotecki Vest is Democrats Abroad Canada’s newly elected chair. Erin has spent her career as an award winning journalist, social media strategist, political pundit & activist.
You may recognize Erin from frequent appearances on CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera & the Katie Couric Show or her speaking engagements at venues such as SXSW, Politics Online.
Born & raised in metro-Detroit, Erin & husband Aaron (really!) moved to Los Angeles in 1999. Along with their California-native teens they relocated to Montréal in 2019.
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Jennifer Phillips, DA Vancouver Chapter Chair
Jennifer has a passion for creating meaningful change — whether that’s building up teams to meet their highest potential, advocating for communities, or developing foundational structures and processes to encourage success. With experience in marketing, operations, and organizing, she works with teams to identify and solve challenges and seamlessly executes on strategy.
After moving to Canada from Texas in 2019, she turned her professional skills and passion for advocacy to Democrats Abroad – helping inform US citizens of their right to vote. Most notably, she serves on the Vancouver Board of Directors as Chair, previously Communications Director, and manages digital paid advertising Canada-wide.
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