We're building a grassroots organization of American Democrats all over Germany in order to prepare for the 2020 elections and sustain the momentum necessary to protect and improve our democracy. Democrats Abroad is an organization run entirely by volunteers, and the time you give, in any amount, contributes to meaningful progress. Below you'll find opportunities to join our volunteer community at the national and local level. Whether you have a specific skill set, an area of expertise, or are just looking for any way to get involved, your help is welcome and very much appreciated. 

Will you join us? 

Follow the links below to find opportunities to volunteer locally or from anywhere. 

Volunteer Anywhere

Volunteer Locally

DAG runs on 100% volunteer power, and we always need more people to keep our chapters and precincts going. Click on your chapter to view current volunteering opportunities in your area.

Berlin

Cologne - Bonn

Dusseldorf - Ruhr

Frankfurt

Goettingen

Hamburg

Heidelberg

Kaiserslautern

Muenster - Osnabruck

Munich

Stuttgart

Wiesbaden - Mainz

Still don't see anything that suits you? Let us know! We'd love to hear about how you'd like to get involved: click here for our volunteer survey.

Join us for our May Monthly Meeting, where we will cover important announcements and have a chance to chat among friends. We will also hear from our very own Lewis Erckenbrecht, who will be leading a discussion on the use and misuse of COVID-19 data and the challenges and opportunities of increasing quantification for political activism (see abstract below). All are welcome - even if you have never attended a meeting before! RSVP to receive the connection information.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative together with the Johns Hopkins University and Economist Intelligence Unit published the Global Health Security Index (GHSI) in October 2019. Releasing just two months before the first cases of Covid-19 became known in Wuhan, China, the index ranks 195 countries according to their capability of preventing and reacting to international public health threats and pandemics.

            The GHSI received major international attention when former President Trump used the number 1 ranking of the United States at a press conference on February 26^th, 2020, to justify his hesitant actions when the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the US.

However, the findings and the ranking of the index did not work as an indicator for the actual performance of countries in the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, statistical analysis shows that the GHSI worked opposite from the way it was intended. The higher a country ranks in the index, the worse it performed during the pandemic and vice versa. The talk will address the reasons behind this phenomenon.

The failure of the GHSI showcases the (over)reliance of policy making on statistical data and the problems that emerge from it. Defining social problems through numbers, indicators or an index and linking political action to numerical performance leads to a quantification of politics that leaves blank spots in our perception and changes the way a political debate is carried out. Whoever controls the numbers controls the politics. The talk will use the GHSI as an example to introduce the emerging debate among political scientists about this fundamental change.

Additionally, we will discuss the consequences of increasing quantification for political activism. Next to additional challenges, the prevalence of numerical data does also present new opportunities to better identify and solve social problems and provides new ways for activist groups to engage in the policymaking process.  

Wiesbaden/Mainz Chapter Monthly Check-In April 21, 2021

Come join us online on Thursday, April 21, 2021, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm for our monthly meeting where we will discuss our chapter plans - both short- and long-term!

Meet the newly elected Chapter Chair and team who will be there for you in the coming two years and doing our part to help our country make great progress at the national, state, and local levels. 

RSVP to receive the Zoom link.

Jesse Alama, Chair

DA Germany - Wiesbaden/Mainz

For Cinco de Mayo, Texans Abroad will be turning our focus to the work of Democrats Abroad Mexico.

Please join us for our next online global event as we welcome guest speaker Edgar Lopez-Vallejo, Vice Chair of DA Mexico and member of the DA Hispanic Caucus Steering Committee. We will be discussing the promise and potential of Texas voters living in Mexico. There are over a million U.S. citizens living in Mexico, and fewer than 3% of eligible voters returned a ballot in 2016. We can help turn the tide in Texas by reaching these critical voters. Come and see how you can get involved!

We will also be discussing the 87th Session of the Texas Legislature and giving you information about key bills to support or oppose and how you can best do that. Our voices matter!

See you on May 5th at 7:30 CET/1:30 Eastern on Zoom. Be sure to RSVP so we can send you the link!

If you have any questions, please write to us at: [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter: @TXabroad

Democrats Abroad Germany, Munich Chapter is happy to welcome Chapter member Michael Gebler to speak with us at our April Chapter meeting.  Michael is originally from the Boston, MA area, and has lived in Germany since 1964.  He is the Kreisgeschäftsführer at Bavarian Red Cross Augsburg-Stadt, where he has worked for 16 years, and is currently in charge of 150 employees within that organization.  Michael has a bachelor's degree in Social Work from Bamberg University, lives close to Augsburg, and is married with 2 sons.

Under the umbrella of our April topic “Public Health and the Pandemic,” Michael will provide us with a unique perspective of how the pandemic has influenced the Bavarian Red Cross’s work in and around Augsburg.  They are responsible for, among other things, ambulance services, social services (kindergartens, senior services), and other volunteer work (water rescue, mountain rescue, disaster relief).

We will start the meeting with Chapter networking, breaking into small groups to have a chance to catch up with each other directly (as we might at an in-person meeting!). We will also reserve time at the end of the meeting for questions for the Chapter Board if you have them.

The agenda is as follows:

7:00pm-7:10pm  Arrival and short welcome

7:10pm-7:25pm Chapter networking in breakout rooms

7:25pm-8:00pm Informal remarks by Michael Gebler, followed by Q&A

8:00pm-8:15pm Open Q&A to Chapter Leadership and meeting close

We look forward to seeing you virtually!  Please RSVP to the event if you'd like to attend. Once we've received your RSVP, we will send you the login link. 

For May's book club meeting, we will be discussing Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History by Matt Taibbi.

"The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn’t past but prologue. The grifter class—made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding—has been growing in power, and the crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they’ve hijacked America’s political and economic life.

Matt Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing account yet written of this ongoing American crisis. He offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals of the bailout; tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the “vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity”; and uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world.

This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of this country, and the profound consequences for us all." – description from Goodreads.com 

All are welcome – even if you don't get a chance to read the book!

Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link. 

Join Kenton Barnes, DA Germany Chair, and Emily Lines, DA Germany Vice Chair, for an online "Meet and Greet" on Saturday, April 24th from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. We'll discuss our organization's structure and goals, introduce ourselves as the newly elected leaders of DA Germany, and ways you can get involved as a volunteer and with your local chapter.

Whether you're a long-time member or completely new to DA Germany, we warmly welcome all members to join us for this afternoon event. We hope to answer any questions you may have about DA Germany, as well as foster a lively, productive discussion with each other. 

To actively participate in the event, you will need a computer with an internet connection as well as a working microphone. 

Please RSVP to the event if you'd like to attend. Once we've received your RSVP, we will send you the login link. We hope many of you can join us! 

We are piloting a group to review literature on misinformation and radicalization to help change the way we communicate in crucial swing districts.  The project is designed for the mutual benefit of overseas and homeland voters. 

For more information, please contact Jonathan Kooker [email protected]

Are you interested in advocating for your home state or a state you want to support? Do you want to help improve voting rights for citizens abroad and back home? Would you like to build strong connections to local organizers? Are you concerned about what's going on in state legislatures? 

Then come out and meet our State Outreach Teams and see how you can get involved! This is open to anyone interested, not just Germany members. We hope that the states will be able to build a global community or activists!

Several states already have teams forming - we will be introducing initiatives for voters abroad from Texas, Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and hope to find volunteers willing to start up groups for other states. We'll share strategies and information on how to help keep or turn these states blue and what you can do from abroad. There are many different ways to get involved!

Please RSVP for the Zoom link! We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, April 25th at 3pm!

If you have any questions or are interested in starting or contributing to a group from your voting state, get in touch with the DAG GOTV Coordinator, Teresa Ritterhoff at [email protected]

A year ago we decided to do our small part to save the planet on earth day by having members share their earth friendly Do-It-Yourself ideas. Last year we learned how to make earth friendly toilet bowl cleaner, deodorant and facial scrub. This year we will have a few new people presenting and perhaps a repeat performance (hope your face needs a good scrub!!). By RSVPing, you will get a list of ingredients well beforehand. Join us for this fun and earth friendly DIY session.