Steering Committee

Before being elected, Simon served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for ten years representing the communities of St. Louis Park and Hopkins. Simon also served as Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota and worked as a lawyer in private practice for several years.

Adams is Kentucky’s 86th Secretary of State. Elected in 2019, he has designed and implemented the most significant reforms to Kentucky’s election process since the 19^th century, expanding voting access while ensuring ballot integrity. He is an experienced election law attorney who built a national practice in the field prior to his election.

Donald Palmer was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on January 2, 2019, to serve as a United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Commissioner. Mr. Palmer currently serves as Chairman of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC).

Benjamin Hovland was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on January 2, 2019 to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Mr. Hovland currently serves as Chairman of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC).  

As both the founding executive director and current Executive Director, Chen has strengthened and expanded APIAVote’s partners into 22 states. APIAVote’s research and polling of Asian American voters and their regional trainings and field programs have strengthened the local grassroots programs in reaching and mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.

Tim Riordan is President & CEO of BIPAC, a non-profit corporation formed in 1963 under the laws of the District of Columbia by citizens who were interested in preserving and strengthening the principles of government embodied in the Constitution of the United States, in protecting individual freedom under law, and in promoting our free, private and competitive enterprise system. He lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and two sons and is a graduate of the University of Scranton with a B.S. in International Business and a Minor in German.

Arturo Vargas is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, a national non-profit, non-partisan organization working to strengthen American democracy by promoting the full participation of Latinos in civic life.

Emily Luepker has spent the last seven years at Google working at the intersection of technology and access to information. She leads global product and policy marketing for news, emerging policy, and civics helping people engage with elections around the world through Google products.

Eva Guidarini is the Elections lead for U.S. Public Policy at Meta. She’s been at the company since the 2016 election cycle, working closely with candidates, elected officials, and election authorities across the country; and came to Meta after half a decade working on state and federal campaigns.

Dave Leichtman is the Director of Corporate Civic Responsibility at Microsoft. As part of the company’s Democracy Forward program, he leads nonpartisan civic engagement efforts and works with election officials and those upholding democracy worldwide to address tech, security, and AI needs. Dave also leads the company’s internal US and international election strategy. Dave has held this and similar roles for 10 years at Microsoft. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at several US political technology firms. He also served as state leadership for a major US political party for over a decade. Dave holds a B.S. in Physics and Computer Science from William & Mary and an M.S. in Particle Physics from University of Washington. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Sanobar Wilkins is the Democracy Projects Coordinator for the EveryLibrary Institute, where she runs the VoteLibraries initiative to encourage libraries to participate in election administration and prevent violence in civic spaces. She also helps inform voters about issues on the ballot, from funding to censorship, that impact public libraries and local communities.

Brandon Graham serves as Director, Advocacy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. Brandon oversees NAMI’s advocate development and mobilization to advance policies that build better lives for all people affected by mental health conditions. Brandon is responsible for its strategic advocacy campaigns—including the nonpartisan #Vote4MentalHealth campaign to help people understand the impact of their vote on mental health care in the U.S.

Jordan McKinney is an Associate for Public Policy for United Way Worldwide (UWW). In his position he represents UWW for their Executive Branch partnership and engagement. Prior to joining UWW, he spent five years with Accenture Federal Services as a Human Capital strategist. He has led voter registration efforts spanning from the Hampton Roads community to Baltimore City.

Beth Lynk is the Executive Director of When We All Vote, bringing deep experience in strategic communications, campaign leadership, and public affairs across the civil rights, health care, housing, and nonprofit sectors. She has held senior roles at HUD, HHS, and CMS, where she led nationally recognized enrollment and equity initiatives. A DC native and Northwestern graduate, Beth is known for building cross-sector coalitions and advancing impactful, equity-driven civic campaigns.

Bishop joined the NDRN in 2013, where she provides training and technical assistance to the P&A network regarding voting rights and access for voters with disabilities, coordinates the Voting Working Group, and manages the voting lists. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Public Policy & Advocacy at Paraquad Center for Independent Living in St. Louis.

Judd Choate has been the Director of the Division of Elections at the Colorado Department of State since 2009, and previously served as president of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED). He has also practiced law privately and has clerked at the Colorado Supreme Court. He holds a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Amanda Centers has over 10 years of association management experience centered on fundraising and professional development services for service members, veterans, and military spouses.

Jerika L. Richardson is Senior Vice President for Equitable Justice & Strategic Initiatives at the National Urban League. She leads the organization’s advocacy, public education, and strategic work on civic engagement, census, voting rights and ballot access, criminal justice and policing reform, expungement, ending gun violence, combating extremism, and other justice and equity related areas.

Charlotte Castillo, is a seasoned and dynamic brand builder, strategist and hands-on collaborative leader with over 20 years’ experience in media, advocating for and marketing to the Latinx community and building fearless, innovative, and inclusive global teams. Before Poderistas, Charlotte was an award-winning senior executive at ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) for 14+ years and prior to that the founding Head of Marketing of Latina Magazine, the breakthrough first print publication for the bicultural Latina. Charlotte is a radical optimist, daughter of Dominican immigrants, first-generation college graduate, born and raised in NYC who currently resides in The Bronx with her 15-year-old son.

In her role in Community Affairs at Levi Strauss and Company (LS&Co.), Alexis leads corporate grantmaking and manages a broad portfolio of initiatives to drive LS&Co’s leadership in corporate social responsibility. Included in this portfolio are voting engagement and voting rights, gun violence prevention, equality and sustainability.

Jillian Corozzo cultivates relationships with Snap’s political, government and non-profit partners worldwide. Through these partnerships, she spearheads collaborative efforts that raise awareness of critical issues impacting Snapchatters, including civic engagement, youth mental health, the fentanyl crisis, and platform safety.

Salud is a dynamic and accomplished leader in election administration and civic engagement. As Deputy of Elections in Yolo County, Armando has a proven track record of successfully managing all aspects of elections management. He is a Certified Elections/Registration Administrator, a California Registered Election Official, and a Credentialed California County Senior Executive. Salud’s commitment to excellence extends beyond his work in Yolo County.

Miller has served as executive director of Nonprofit VOTE since 2014 and has provided oversight of the National Voter Registration Day work since Nonprofit VOTE assumed management of the holiday in 2017. Miller has over two decades of nonprofit executive director experience and a strong background and track record in program management, organizational leadership, and civic engagement.

Matt founded National Voter Registration Day in 2012 and previously served as the Executive Director of the Bus Federation Civic Fund (now the Alliance for Youth Organizing). He is an organizer, a writer, a small business owner, and a three-time college dropout. His writing and/or exploits have made their way into the pages of The New Republic, In These Times, and The Washington Post. He helped found Forward Montana Foundation, a local Bus affiliate. He believes in 1) Democracy, 2) Fun, and 3) Winning. Not always in that order.