Democrats Abroad new Environment and Climate Crisis Council (ECCC) cordially invites you to our inaugural event on Sunday, January 23, 2022, at 9:00 AM US Eastern Time / 3:00 PM Central European Time.

Climate change, environmental degradation, and diversity loss are currently existential problems facing the US and every nation on this fragile planet. The Democratic Party and Democrats Abroad are harnessing efforts to shape and advocate for policies and solutions to meet these challenges, with a focus on environmental justice. 

We are honored to have the Chair and founder of the Democratic National Committee’s Environment and Climate Crisis Council, Michelle Delgado Deatrick, to speak at this first event and help shepherd us on our journey.

Additionally, we will discuss the structure of the organization and how we are moving forward. Everyone will have the opportunity to go into breakout rooms for a discussion. The ECCC advocates for bold climate and environmental policies and solutions within the global Democratic community. We would like to engage each of you in volunteering to augment our collective power.

RSVP today for the official launch of our council and the opportunity to learn more about what we do and how YOU can help!

To submit questions in advance, please email: [email protected] 

Please support our fledgling council and efforts to get out a green Democratic vote by donating.

About Our Guest Speaker:

Michelle Deatrick is a progressive activist, policy analyst, organizer, and writer, with a strong background in electoral campaigns, community organizing, coalition building, and volunteer recruitment and capacity building. She is an outspoken advocate for the environment and economic, racial, and gender justice--and their intersection. 

Ms. Deatrick has taught at the middle through college levels and is an elected leader, who flipped a 3-term rural red seat to blue (Vice-Chair of the Washtenaw County Commission). She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya and a delegate to the regional labor federation. While serving as County Commissioner, Deatrick led measures resulting in the County being the first in the Midwest to sign on to the County Climate Coalition. She also wrote and succeeded in passing a resolution founding the County's first environmental council, with the mission of achieving net carbon neutrality for the county. Michelle is also an internationally honored and published poet and fiction writer. She was Chair of the Ann Arbor Women's March and is a farmer.

We were extremely proud to be the chapter hosting the DAFrance 2021 National Leadership Summit in September.

We had a busy weekend and spent alot of time together in person meeting our other local chapters.. Montpellier, Paris, Brittany, Nice, Grenoble,Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lyon as well as Caucus Chairs were present  !

Here is our lovely souvenir photo taken during the Workshop meeting 

Meet the new Executive Committee Members representing Aix Marseille for the new term (2021/2022)

thanks to Peter Gillepsie for the photographics!

Click below to receive periodic updates from the Taxation Task Force on our tax advocacy work.  We will message you when there are important updates and developments to report.

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/bouches-du-rhone/aix-en-provence/aix-provence-americains-votent-primaires-democrates-1796199.html

https://www.laprovence.com/article/papier/5920265/les-democrates-americains-de-marseille-ont-vote-hier.html

We had a fabulous afternoon with lots of new and familiar faces coming and going to our Potluck Party last Sunday July 7th.

Thanks to Pamela King for hosting the event in her beautiful house and garden

And thanks to all who came and brought such fabulous food to share the spirit of Democracy !

Congratulations to our DAF Aix Marseille Leadership Team 2019/2020 !

Susan Fitoussi - Chair

Joel Luboff - Vice Chair

Pamela King - Secretary

Karen Wildau - Treasurer

Judy Godfrey - Member at Large

Philip Breeden - Member at Large

Last Saturday march 30,2019 the Aix MARSEILLE DAF chapter held their Elections in Aix en Provence!

The voting event was aligned with the screening of a Broadway play titled “ANN” at 5pm

Thanks to our members Jim Lovell and Karen Wildau we were able to all watch the brilliant actress HOLLAND TAYLOR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Taylor performing her incredible one woman show and tribute to the late and great ANN RICHARDS ex governor of Texas !

With Jim’s lovely opening speech remembering when he worked for her campaign, we all felt very connected to this performance !

All included we recolted 20 ballots online and 10 ballots in person !

Some people came just to vote and we are very touched by this gesture of appreciation !

PS Jim also sent a twitter tweet to Holland Taylor herself to tell her about our event ! 

The period for DAF Marseille Chapter Executive Committee nominations has now closed.

The DAF Marseille Elections Board is pleased to announce that the Marseille Chapter ExCom Candidates of 2019 are as follows:

Marseille Chapter Chair

Susan Fitoussi

What I bring to the table –

Organizational skills, punctuality, bilingual and enthusiasm

About me!

Born in Los Angeles California 1962

I am the third child born of first-generation parents with European origins.

I left the USA when I was 24 and have lived abroad since.

I have been living in Marseille for 26 years.

I work in a huge multi-mega international shipping company. The nice part of this is that I work in a multi-cultural environment.

I am a single Mom with 2 children that are now independent and married.

Why I am a Democrat –

I believe in Universal Health Care – Equal Rights and Environmental Consciousness.

The Democratic Party represents the values I believe in.

Why I’m running for this position –

I have been a member of our chapter since it was created.

Meeting local Americans and helping them register to vote is certainly one of the most important roles I can play as an American living abroad today!

We have a great team and I hope to continue working together to organize wonderful events that will bring our community together and most importantly ‘Get out the Vote”!

What I hope to contribute?

I would like to bring more members to the chapter and do what it takes to get them more involved.

Marseille Chapter Vice-Chair

Joel Luboff

I’m Joel Luboff, and I wish to run Vice Chair of Democrats Abroad France – Marseille. I have been a member of Democrats Abroad for over 25 years and have served on the Executive Committee as a member at large for the past two years. I would like to increase my efforts to support local actions to maintain interest and enthusiasm for getting out the vote among expats in the Marseille and Aix area, and the Vice Chair position would provide an excellent opportunity for me to do so. I am particularly interested in supporting actions of Democrats Abroad in the areas of income and wealth concentration, immigration, and more equitable tax treatment for ex-pats.

Marseille Chapter Secretary

Pamela King

More than ever, we need to support the Democratic Party today. It is our best defense against a disappointing and dangerous administration in Washington D.C. Democrats Abroad is particularly well-organized and on the frontlines of the party’s efforts to uphold the civic values of fairness, equality and democracy. Action is needed now, especially when it comes to Getting Out The Vote and getting more Democrats in office. I would therefore be honored to be able to continue serving on the Executive Committee of the Chapter that I co-founded in 2008.

Marseille Chapter Treasurer

Karen Wildau

I offer myself as a candidate for treasurer of our chapter. I have served in that post for the past two years. Before that, I served on the Executive Committee for a number of years. I have lived in Aix for nine years but have never lost my interest in American politics and in doing what I can to push the Democratic policy agenda. I believe it is important to let American politicians know that even though we live abroad, we care deeply about our country, its leadership and its policies and WE VOTE. Before I retired to France, I was a lawyer for over 37 years. Before that, I was a congressional assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, from California, a leader on the House Judiciary Committee. I have always been interested in politics and government and was active in those pursuits while I was a lawyer in Atlanta. I would like to see more people from our chapter get involved and will work to try to accomplish that goal.

Marseille Chapter Member at Large

Philip J. Breeden

After serving my country as a U.S. diplomat for almost 30 years, I moved to Aix en Provence in 2014 where I teach and help administer an American school – The Institute for American Universities. This experience, and my previous post as Consul General in Marseille, has brought me into regular contact with many members of Democrats Abroad in the region. It would be a privilege and honor to join them in promoting one of the central pillars of any democracy – voting by as many citizens as possible. This is all the more important given the current troubled, chaotic and misguided leadership of the United States. It is vital we all contribute to making sure it ends in 2020, so that we can return the United States to a more responsible role in the world. It is in this spirit that I offer my candidacy as Member at Large. 

Marseille Chapter Member at Large

Judy Godfrey

I offer myself as a candidate for member at large of our chapter. I have lived in Aix for 40 years but have never lost my interest in American politics. I believe it is important to let American politicians know that even though we live abroad, we care deeply about our country, its leadership and its policies.