Speaker Database / 1,371 Speakers
The Personal Democracy Forum was a conference that ran for over 15 years and took place in NYC, Europe and Central America.
Ann Lewis is the CTO of MoveOn.org. She is a technical leader, architect, and active coder with 15 years of experience in software engineering and software management, with a focus on distributed systems and scalability. In her work at MoveOn, she has in-housed tech and hired a tech team, modernized and upgraded MoveOn’s software stack, created and scaled up new systems for MoveOn’s 2016 election tech program and 2017 Resistance programs, and recently co-ran and launched a rebranding effort across all MoveOn web properties. From her vantage point, the worlds of tech and politics aren’t connected enough. This creates opportunities for new collaborations, bringing in best practices from the world of tech to the world of politics and organizing. She’s also interested in bringing best practices from progressive organizing into the tech world, to ensure that the new economies and systems of power that the tech industry is creating are fair and equitable, and that people power can hold both governments and tech accountable.
Anna Galland is Executive Director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, the grassroots progressive organization whose millions of members organize together to make this country a place where everyone can thrive.
A native of Evanston, Illinois, she has led issue advocacy and electoral campaigns at MoveOn since 2007, including working to end the Iraq War, supporting Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, helping to pass the Affordable Care Act, defending Pres. Obama’s diplomatic agreement with Iran, boosting Bernie Sanders’ remarkable presidential run, and working to defeat Donald Trump. Under the Trump Administration, MoveOn has emerged as a pillar of the vibrant Resistance movement.
Working closely with MoveOn Political Action’s Executive Director, Ilya Sheyman, she has overseen MoveOn’s growth and development since 2013— tripling MoveOn’s budget, growing its grassroots membership and reach, and launching innovative new programs to harness technology and people-power, including an open petition platform that’s supported tens of thousands of grassroots-led campaigns and a VideoLab that’s driven more than 300 million views to original progressive content.
She has three young children and lives in the Chicago area.
Anna Mazgal is a Polish NGO professional that has worked with numerous Polish and international organizations on the issues of policy, advocacy, strategy and cross-sectoral synergies. Currently she holds a position of Program Director for Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia at Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, a major regional US-based private grantmaker. She is also a member of Civic Legislative Forum, a cross-sectoral expert group advocating for a greater, transparent inclusion of citizens into law-making processes and for improving the quality of law-making through introduction of evidence-based methodology and regulatory impact assessment. From 2005 until winter 2012 Anna has been cooperating with the National Federation of Polish NGOs OFOP, an umbrella organization representing civil sector organizations in Poland. In years 2009 – 2011, while holding the position of International Officer there, she served as the president of European Network of National Associations ENNA and was a member of Steering Committee for Affinity Group of National Associations at CIVICUS Global Alliance for Citizen Participation.
Anna is responsible for the strategic direction of TechSoup in Europe. Prior to that Anna worked in the the Foundation for Social and Economic Initiatives. She has also held a position of the head of the legal group of the Council for Public Benefit Work and was a member on the Polish Prime Minister’s Social Economy Task Force.
Annafi Wahed, CFA, spent 4 years in finance before leaving her job in NYC to campaign for Democratic party candidates in NH. Walking door to door, she saw firsthand how even next-door neighbors could be completely isolated from one another by the news they consume. In the months following the election, as talk of “fake news” and media bias became commonplace, Annafi set out to burst her own media bubble and the bubbles of those around her. She founded TheFlipSide.io in early 2017.
Annie Levene manages and executes digital fundraising and advertising programs for national non-profits, Democratic committees, and top-tier candidates. In 2014, she served as chief digital strategist on the DGA’s winning Independent Expenditure in Connecticut on behalf of Governor Dan Malloy and was the lead digital strategist behind the highest earning digital program by a non-incumbent Democratic challenger. During her time at Rising Tide Interactive, Annie has provided strategic direction and generated unprecedented return on investment for clients such as the Democratic Governors Association, Senator Chris Coons, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Senator Tim Kaine. Annie also executed all fundraising and persuasion advertising for Heidi Heitkamp’s winning U.S. Senate race. Annie holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan.
Annie works with the nation’s top employers to develop high quality paid family leave policies to meet the needs of working families. Annie has over 15 years of experience in public advocacy campaigns for social and environmental justice, and is passionate about applying this experience to ensure that everyone working in the United States is able to be there for their families when they are needed most.
Annmarie Levins is the General Manager for Microsoft’s Technology & Civic Engagement Group. Her team works with the civic tech community, government leaders, and other community stakeholders to bring creative approaches and technology to address society’s most pressing challenges. She founded the Innovation & Policy Center at Microsoft’s New England Research & Development Center (NERD) in Cambridge, which focuses on technology, law, and policy, and serves on the boards of numerous tech-related organizations. Her teams are based in Boston, Chicago, New York, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Annmarie received a BA from Brown University and a PhD in politics from Princeton University.
