2022

Kareem Jones is a political and movement-building strategist who gives people the data they need to speak up for themselves. Currently, he serves as a data manager at the Murmuration Research Institute. In his last job as Director of Data and Technology for Community Outreach Group, he led a team that did an in-depth analysis of COVID-19 vaccine outreach and misinformation tracking, helped to train organizers, and did reporting and analysis on campaign outreach efforts. He is on the board and a senior instructor for Generation Data, a non-profit organization whose goal is to train the next generation of progressive data management community leaders. Kareem likes to spend his free time playing in a stonewall kickball league and going to summer barbecues.

Laura Long is passionate about using data and technology to sustainably support grassroots organizing. She uses her experiences organizing Asian American Pacific Islander communities in the Chicago area to inform her data interests within the progressive movement. Much of Laura’s background in data comes from participating in data-driven campaigns using a Reproductive Justice framework and from her bachelor’s degree in Applied Statistics and Psychology from Purdue University. Most recently, she is using her experience to teach a diverse audience how to navigate technology and informing nonprofits on how to mindfully manage data as the Database and Technology Manager at IGNITE.

Khanya Msibi (she/her) is based in Portland, Oregon. She identifies as a queer woman of color of biracial Swazi and white descent. She is the Data Manager at the Coalition of Communities of Color. In this position, Khanya is responsible for organizing, developing, and maintaining BIPOC and other internal CCC databases. In addition, Khanya and her colleagues work to build research and data justice efforts among BIPOC community-facing organizations and coalition members and collaborate with dominant institutions to support their research and data equity goals. Khanya is trained in Prevention Science, which focuses on understanding and uplifting the strengths of individuals, families, and communities by utilizing multiple social sciences and public health disciplines.

Hoai An Pham is an organizer from Ann Arbor, MI, where she was born and raised as a first generation Vietnamese American. As a disabled abolitionist, she has worked in movements like Free Ashley Now and Tashiena’s Freedom Team—around immigration, labor, climate, prisons, and racial justice, with the goal of building long-term, welcoming community. Hoai An joined this project as a Digital Organizer for We the People Action Fund, an organization that works to build multiracial working class alliances throughout Michigan in order to fight for our power and create the world we need & deserve. Longterm, Hoai An is interested in implementation science and using public-health research in order to create abolitionist, community-led programs for care-based safety and violence prevention.

Hoai An received her Bachelors of Arts at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in Social Theory and Practice with minors in Community Action Social Change (Social Work) and Music. Currently, she is based in Boston, where she is receiving her Masters in Health and Social Behavior at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and holds a full time position as the manager of her twenty-six Sims.

Christopher Luis Robles is a Data Coordinator at the Workers Defense Project and Workers Defense Action Fund. Having worked in multiple political campaigns over the past few years, and now serving in his role within a civic engagement framework, Chris has zeroed in on a focus on utilizing data to inform decision making in electoral politics, grassroots mobilization, and community engagement.

Gina Cruz has been organizing for numerous progressive campaigns, non-profits, and PACs for over 10 years. She truly believes that relational-focused data-driven campaign strategy coupled with strong knowledge-sharing practices is how meaningful change will be achieved. Gina currently works for The Movement Cooperative, where she helps progressive organizations choose and maximize their use of data and technology tools. In her free time, you’ll most likely find Gina baking, playing Animal Crossing, or binge-watching Netflix with her cat, Earl Grey.

Amity Foster is the Data Manager at ISAIAH, a multi-faith, multi-racial statewide coalition of leaders fighting for racial, economic and social justice, and for Faith in Minnesota; our sister c4 and a political home for people who want to create people-centered politics, grounded in abundance and not scarcity. She started out as an executive assistant at ISAIAH, then a leader in criminal justice organizing, and started to get clear that the institutions we all move in can either bring more people into democracy, or continue to keep people out and that to win, we build power. She believes that we build power and make systemic change when people claim their own agency and voice, and move together, with shared values and agendas. Grassroots data helps us tell the story of that power, through leadership development and basebuilding, and she is interested in tracking that growth, in a systemic way-of leaders in their own networks and bases and how that connects back to grassroots organizations and builds power for the organization AND individual.

Natasha Ladhani is currently a Data Manager at Faith in Action for the Northeast Mid-Atlantic Region. Having spent time in multiple states in the Northeast throughout her life, Natasha loves bringing her passion for the people of this region to the role and honing her data skills with the many amazing community orgs she works with. While Natasha is only a few years into her professional career, she’s enjoying the unique experience of integrating data with organizing and hopes to continue doing so going forward. Natasha graduated from New York University with a degree in Social and Cultural Analysis. She completed an honors thesis in Muslim American Experiences during her time in undergrad. Outside of work, Natasha enjoys journaling, people watching, and eating good food.

Leslie Potts (she/they) is currently based in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan (Anashinabee land). She currently works as the Evaluation & Research Manager at the Youth Engagement Fund. Like many of us, Leslie has recently been focusing a lot on how to stay connected to community and loved ones amid a highly virtual, COVID-conscious daily reality. Reach Leslie here.

Usha Yeruva is based in Brooklyn, New York and is currently working as an Analytics Engineer in the electoral space. She’s also worked in nonprofit and community organizing spaces, and is passionate about building sustainable data infrastructure for the progressive movement. In her free time, Usha enjoys taking train trips and long walks in Prospect Park.

Tatiana Nobels Lee (she/her) returned to VOCAL-NY in February 2021 as the Data Manager where her primary responsibilities involve database management, training, and working with the organizing team to improve & develop data systems. She previously held several administrative and operations roles at the organization from 2012-2016. Tatiana is a native of The Bronx, NY and now lives near Seattle, WA with her husband and recently adopted dog.

Tim Phan is a data analyst from Los Angeles who works in political campaigns. He most recently managed a city council race in Los Angeles in 2022, and has also worked in Democratic / advocacy organizations in previous cycles. He’s quite passionate about house music and activist photography.