The Candidates
Farid ben Amor (Geneva)
STATEMENT: Perhaps like some of you, I withdrew from activism after the last presidential election - for me the only thing it motivated was my flight to the stability of Switzerland. But after starting to volunteer with Democrats Abroad, I learned that even from over here, we can help make things safe at home again. We may have already been the margin of victory for some elections, and with millions of us abroad, we certainly have the potential to tip more elections.
As a former DNC delegate for Bernie, staffer for Barack, staffer for ACORN, and platform editor for the California Democratic Party, I'm proud to have been part of the broader effort to push our political system to vigorously defend our fundamental principles of protecting the dignity of all people, no matter their backgrounds. I would be honored to advocate for this unabashed progressive fundamentalism on behalf of Democrats living in Switzerland as we ramp up for impeachment and 2020 - especially by motivating those who didn't vote in the last presidential election to vote. Thanks for all your ongoing work to restore our American values from here!
Vance A. White (Buus - Basel region)
BIO: I grew up in a suburb of Denver. I recently celebrated my 62nd birthday (and the memory of my mother working on the JFK election in 1960!). I have had the honor of being married to my French husband since September, 2015.
I have a B.S.in Accounting, I worked from 2006-2017 as the Site Director/General Manager of a pharmaceutical firm near Basel. As a result of this experience, I have the ability to have a complete overview of all functions of a business (Production, Quality, Engineering, Health & Safety, HR, Finance, IT, Logistics & Distribution, Sales & Customer Service). This has allowed me to focus on the needs of both the clients and the employees. Previously, I worked in Auditing/Financial Management for oil companies (Colorado and California) and Financial/IT management in pharmaceutical companies (Puerto Rico for 15 years).
I am fluent in Spanish, decent in Deutsch, and I am a good listener for French speakers.
I love the exposure to new cultures which travel provides. My extensive international travel and 28 years of living outside of the continental USA has heightened my sensitivity to making sure that I properly represent the USA as a mix of many cultures and nationalities and I focus on making sure to not expect that other countries adapt to the “American way”.
My passion is food. I experience creative joy in the kitchen by cooking for others and I gain new gastronomic insights by sampling the cuisine offered by talented professionals.
STATEMENT: I am interested in the position of Vice-Chair for Democrats Abroad Switzerland. I have been in Switzerland since 2006 and I greatly admire the work that Democrats Abroad has been doing to help people to register for voting and to publish different deadlines for each state so that people can properly exercise the power of their voting rights.
I am committed to helping to make voting easier for Expats and to expand the overall voting percentage of Americans.
As an expat in Switzerland I am particularly interested in tax reform for Americans living abroad and I believe that helping fellow expats to know how to contact their Representatives and Senators is essential to having our voice and concerns heard at the federal level.
I believe that volunteer work is the bedrock of creating positive change in the world and that Democrats Abroad is a strong grass roots organization to help promote Democratic principles.
(See Vance's full statement with photo)