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Name: Alex Montgomery Gender: Male Candidate: International Vice-Chair Member since: 2006 Country/Countries: Hong Kong Biography: I grew up in NC but moved to Asia in 1999. I’ve lived in Hong Kong since 2001.
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Link to MYC video -- click here Note on video quality: We apologize for the poor quality of the image in the middle of the screen. Please view the better image in the upper right-hand corner. |
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Describe your volunteer work with DA and cite your greatest DA accomplishment.
I've served Democrats Abroad at the local, regional and global level as International Vice Chair, co-chair of the Communications Committee, Regional Vice Chair Asia Pacific, Hong Kong Chair and Hong Kong Treasurer.
During that time, I initiated and helped build:
- the revamp of democratsabroad.org
- our Callhub phone-banking system
- The DA travel fund
- our open platform tools (allowing constituents to contribute directly to the platform)
- our voter help desk
- and many other projects
Most recently, serving as Vice Chair together with Julia Bryan, we designed and implemented the strategy that helped facilitate an 800% increase in voter engagement over the last midterms. I:
- designed, developed and rolled out the new votefromabroad.org website, Spanish language votefromabroad.org and students.votefromabroad.org
- designed and supported our data project, targeting more than 100k voters from 30+ states
- supported our 2018 digital ads program
Why are you running for this office?
I've served Democrats Abroad at the local, regional and global level as International Vice Chair, co-chair of the Communications Committee, Regional Vice Chair Asia Pacific, Hong Kong Chair and Hong Kong Treasurer.
During that time, I initiated and helped build:
- the revamp of democratsabroad.org
- our Callhub phone-banking system
- The DA travel fund
- our open platform tools (allowing constituents to contribute directly to the platform)
- our voter help desk
- and many other projects
Most recently, serving as Vice Chair together with Julia Bryan, we designed and implemented the strategy that helped facilitate an 800% increase in voter engagement over the last midterms. I:
- designed, developed and rolled out the new votefromabroad.org website, Spanish language votefromabroad.org and students.votefromabroad.org
- designed and supported our data project, targeting more than 100k voters from 30+ states
- supported our 2018 digital ads program
How will your skill sets and experiences contribute to DA's success?
I've served Democrats Abroad at the local, regional and global level as International Vice Chair, co-chair of the Communications Committee, Regional Vice Chair Asia Pacific, Hong Kong Chair and Hong Kong Treasurer.
During that time, I initiated and helped build:
- the revamp of democratsabroad.org
- our Callhub phone-banking system
- The DA travel fund
- our open platform tools (allowing constituents to contribute directly to the platform)
- our voter help desk
- and many other projects
Most recently, serving as Vice Chair together with Julia Bryan, we designed and implemented the strategy that helped facilitate an 800% increase in voter engagement over the last midterms. I:
- designed, developed and rolled out the new votefromabroad.org website, Spanish language votefromabroad.org and students.votefromabroad.org
- designed and supported our data project, targeting more than 100k voters from 30+ states
- supported our 2018 digital ads program
Are there any DA organizational or practical issues (not political goals) that you would like to address, should you be elected?
First, I'd like to streamline our volunteer process. I'd like to make it easy for CCs and global teams to find and onboard terrific volunteers.
I'd also like to ensure that Country Committees and chapters can focus on building community and turning out voters by simplifying administrative burdens.
I will also continue to build the digital tools that help our teams and committees succeed. (website, callhub, votefromabroad, etc)
I'd also like to support the exchange of information between country committees and groups.
What are the three pressing political issues that you would work to include in the DA 2020 Platform and why?
As Vice Chair, my primary responsibility is to ensure that our platform represents our constituents well. I pledge to make our platform drafting process open and inclusive, allowing every Democrats Abroad member to participate.
How can Democrats Abroad best raise our profile among American voters abroad and better work to elect Democrats?
- Continue on the ground support to Country Committees and activists (events and phone banking)
- Increase our advertising reach
- Coordination with outside groups and other state parties
- Engaging presidential candidates and facilitating broader outreach to Americans abroad
Endorsement from John Eastwood
I've known Alex since 2012, and in his roles as RVC Asia-Pacific through to the present, I've seen Alex bring an extraordinary personal and practical touch to his work with Democrats Abroad and within the Association of State Democratic Chairs and the Democratic National Committee. Alex also brings a strong fundamental respect and sense of fairness to his dealings with other people -- his working and communications style is well-suited to a party that has come to understand the importance of respect and fairness. I enjoy seeing how well he works across divides --Alex helps to bring people together and he has a great focus on how to get things done. I give an unreserved endorsement to Alex Montgomery to be re-elected.
John Eastwood - DNC Member
Endorsement from Jody Quinnell
My name is Jody Quinnell, Regional Vice Chair for the Americas and it is an honor to endorse the candidacy of Alex Montgomery for reelection as Democrats Abroad International Vice Chair.
I first met Alex six years ago and have worked closely with him as a member of the International Executive Committee for the last four. Alex is the ultimate professional and his integrity is a model for leadership practice.
Under Alex's leadership as Vice Chair, DA has expanded its ability to enfranchise our membership and address issues that in the past have prohibited them from voting and engagement with the party. Alex was the driving force in the creation of the Spanish language landing page at via.org and thereby giving thousands of Spanish speakers a pathway to register and vote. In addition, he has worked tirelessly on efforts to identify voters by the state in which they vote. As result, DA has increased communication with them on specific candidates, special elections and issues. This targeted approach has and will continue to increase voter participation.
Moving toward 2020, Alex will continue efforts to develop strategies that increase voter participation by continuing to develop new tools for GOTV. As DA works on the 2020 Platform, Alex is pledged to develop a process that encompasses a wide variety of views and is inclusive to all. Alex is always thinking ahead and outside the box. DA Neds this kind of progressive leadership, working side by side with Julia Bryan for the next two years.
Jody Quinnell - RVC Americas
Endorsement from Will Hailer - Former Special Assistant to Chairman Perez
I am writing to endorse the re-election of Alex Montgomery as Vice Chair of Democrats Abroad. In 2018, I served as special assistant and DA's point of contact with the DNC. I worked closely with Alex and Julia Bryan as we developed and implemented a strategy to help overseas US voters deliver the margin of victory in competitive races across the country.
Alex was an effective advocate for Democrats Abroad in the DNC and with the states. He drilled home a simple message that made it easy for states to understand the value that DA brings to them. Because of Alex and Julia's message and strategy, the DNC was able to make an unprecedented investment in overseas voters.
Their efforts paid off. Democrats Abroad's significant increase in turnout made the difference in close races in Utah, New Jersey, Florida, and North Carolina.
2020 will shape our nation for decades, and it is critical that Democrats Abroad does its part to build our majority in the House, take back the Senate and remove Trump from the White House. Alex has proven that he is up to the job. With Julia and Alex at the helm, Democrats Abroad is poised to continue winning elections for Democrats across the country.
Will Hailer - Former Special Assistant to Chairman Perez