DAGR has vacancies for the Athens Chapter Chair and Athens Chapter Representative.
The special election will be carried out by electronic ballot from Thursday June 8 to Monday June 12 at noon.
Ballots will be tallied; results will be announced on Monday, June 12, at 8 pm, online, just before the June Executive Committee meeting for DAGR.
Athens Chapter candidates are running for the position of Chair and Representative. You can read about the candidates below.
Athens Chapter Chair:
Tyler Boersen
I live in Athens where I work as a press officer supporting the city's international strategy. I have a PhD in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York City, and I spent several years in Athens for field research between 2011 and 2016. My dissertation - in the process of becoming a book - was about the global spread of consumer bankruptcy law and the Greek regulations that protected people from mortgage foreclosures and home evictions for nearly a decade. Before moving permanently to Athens in 2019, I was teaching anthropology at Fordham University and New York University.
I got my start in politics during high school when I was a campaign volunteer and legislative assistant for a member of the Michigan Legislature. After winning the JFK Library's Profile in Courage Essay Contest in 2001, I had an internship in Ted Kennedy's press office in Washington DC where I learned some of the old-school techniques that continue to be part of my work. In 2012, I took time off from graduate school to work for the Obama campaign as a volunteer field organizer leading the groundwork in Livingston County, Michigan.
I am interested in serving DAGR because I think the Democratic Party is ultimately about building a community and sharing a purpose. I want to be part of that community wherever I go, and I also want to keep it moving forward. I want to help create a sense of belonging among Democrats in Athens, especially because that will play a critical role in GOTV in 2024.
Athens Chapter Representative:
Cathryn Drake
A native of Michigan, I am a freelance writer and editor who moved to Athens from Rome in 2011. After graduating from Western Michigan University, I worked in politics for several years on Capitol Hill, first as an intern for U.S. Congressman Howard Wolpe (D-Michigan) and then as legislative aid to Timothy Wirth (D-Colorado). It was a fascinating—and eye-opening—experience, but I decided that publishing was more suitable to an idealist and headed off to London to work for book publisher Routledge & Kegan Paul. Returning to the States after travels in Italy and Turkey, I attended creative writing workshops at the University of Michigan while working for the Center for Political Studies, at the venerable Institute for Social Research, on the publication of monographs for a State Department study on political culture in 18 critical countries. Later I relocated to New York and worked as an editor for various book and magazine publishers, as well as Economist Intelligence Unit, Yale University Architecture School, and the Museum of Modern Art. In 2003 I started telecommuting from Rome as copy chief for the design magazine Metropolis and a roving art critic for Artforum. Since then I have written on art, culture, and places for Kathimerini, BBC Travel, Time, Men’s Vogue, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Washington Post, among other publications. The way to Greece has been a long road full of adventure, starting with an epic, unplanned holiday in Ithaca in the 1980s, and the discovery never stops. I love bringing inspiration to others, and I believe Democrats Abroad has the potential to become a network that enriches even more people’s lives through comradery, as well as influencing the world for the better, in some way.