Carolyn DeWitt

Carolyn DeWitt is the President and Executive Director of Rock the Vote, the largest national organization focused on building long-term political power for this country’s most diverse youth generation. During her tenure, she has overseen Rock the Vote’s resurgence, developing new partnerships with authentic brands, such as VEVO and HBO, deepening its leadership in civic technology with new cutting-edge tools, such as ElectionFM and the Pennsylvania Canvasser app, intensifying its fight for voting rights, and moving the organization toward an issue-first approach with a targeted outreach to diverse and marginalized communities.

Carolyn is a nationally recognized advocate for young people, featured in publications and media outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Teen Vogue, and Billboard. Today, Rock the Vote is a powerhouse for mobilizing youth through effective and timely civic education resources, innovative programs that meet young people wherever they are, and authentic messaging through trusted partners to ensure young voters understand and use their political power.

Prior to leading Rock the Vote, Carolyn was the chief of staff for the political communications firm, Pivot. She also served as deputy director coordinating satellite media booking and training teams at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. On the local level, Carolyn worked as the chief of staff for the 25th Ward Public Service Office in Chicago, and as the deputy campaign manager and finance director for Chicago’s 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization. In her work abroad, Carolyn researched the end of apartheid and subsequent building of a democratic state in South Africa, served as a senior international advisor collaborating with a youth political movement in Madagascar, and participated in the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission.

Carolyn brings a cross-disciplinary and impact-oriented approach, with experience and background in consulting imperiled companies and leveraging technology to provide therapy to children with special needs in less developed countries. She is a strong believer in the blending of new and old tactics and the power of technology to break down barriers and accelerate widespread change.

Carolyn is a Michigander where she earned her BA in International and African Studies and Political Science from Kalamazoo College. She is also a triathlete, marathoner, and fierce advocate for her staff and young people across the globe. She also sits on the board of Coworker.org.

Lauren Briskin

Lauren Briskin is Rock the Vote’s Product Manager, working to make RTV’s civic technology tools even more impactful, accessible and lovable. Since receiving a library degree in 2014 and learning the importance of asking the right questions, Lauren has been doing product-adjacent work and honing the fine art of balancing user needs with the practical realities of engineering.   She has worked directly with voters in a variety of capacities and has been in digital organizing since 2017.

Lauren is passionate about justice and is excited to bring a framework of accessibility, voter enfranchisement and anti-racism to Rock the Vote. Starting from an acknowledgement that technology is not neutral, she believes that civic tech has an enormous responsibility and opportunity to be a tool for change. Lauren is born and raised in Oakland. In her free time, Lauren works with mutual aid, documents local murals and hangs out with her nieces.

Teja Foster

Teja Foster is Rock the Vote’s Social Media Director. Social Justice and advocating for black and brown people has been at the forefront of Teja’s life growing up in Oakland, CA.

Since moving to Los Angeles she has branded hashtags like #SchoolsNotPrisons, #RockTheVote, #RiseUpAsOne, #PeoplePower, #Vota and #Athletes4Impact, the relevance for voting rights and black lives mattering is more relevant than ever.

In lieu of social media advocacy, her career as a social justice activist is not limited to just that. Working with a number of media companies, artists, athletes, and festivals and many other umbrellas. Her skills include, but are not limited to social media, strategy planning, content development, brand strategy, and execution.

She has a deep love for pop culture, hip–hop music, traveling the world and laughing that she intertwines in Rock The Vote’s social media postings to reach young people, encouraging that voting is more than important, it’s our duty!

Olivia Guerrieri

Olivia Guerrieri is Rock the Vote’s Digital Engagement Manager, where she supports Rock the Vote’s efforts to engage young voters through cutting-edge technology, digital voter registration and mobilization, and voting rights content via web, email, and SMS. Olivia grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland and graduated from Elon University in North Carolina with a B.A. in Political Science. When she isn’t nerding out about civic engagement, Olivia is a passionate feminist, cat lover, and vegan baker.

Yint Hmu

Yint Hmu is Rock the Vote’s Digital Coordinator, where he supports all things digital. Yint comes from an organizing background, and has worked on the ground and online across the country on all levels of campaigns. Immediately prior to joining the Rock the Vote team, he was a Mobilization Director with the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Yint was born in Yangon, Myanmar, and grew up in Queens. He holds an M.A. in Security Policy Studies from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs concentrating on climate change and national security, and a B.A. in Political Science and Classical Civilizations from Fordham University.

David Pruter

For over a decade, David has been Rock the Vote’s full-stack developer. He manages our website infrastructure, builds many of our web tools and loves learning new tech. During his tenure he has taken the digital technology and design experience to a new level. As technology evolves, David evolves the tools we use to engage young people in politics. He has spearheaded the development of our powerful voter registration tools, while serving as our database administrator and webmaster. He even gets to break out his Photoshop skills to help design graphics and marketing materials. Prior to Rock the Vote, David was a senior designer and front-end developer at Pro Sound, a web UI and print designer at iNetnow, and a technology instructor at a private school. He even spun a few records as a DJ in high school and college.

Katie Grover

Katie Grover is Rock the Vote’s Senior Manager of Sports Partnerships.

Katie leads the organization’s efforts to empower athletes, leagues, teams, coaches, and fans to register, mobilize, and vote in every election.

Prior to joining Rock the Vote, Katie earned her MPP from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs. She received her BA from UCLA, where she was school record-holder and captain of the Bruins Varsity Swim team. She is a proud “swammer” and all-around sports fanatic.

Portia Wenze-Danley

Portia Wenze-Danley is Rock the Vote’s (RTV) Vice President of Finance and Operations with primary responsibility for financial, administrative, and operational functions of the organization.  She has over 25 years of diverse senior management experience and plays a critical role as a member of RTV’s executive team in strategic decision-making and operations.

Prior to RTV, Portia provided non-profit consulting services under her moniker, SeekWenze LLC.  Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, she served on an interim contract basis as the Interim IETF LLC Executive Director of the IETF Administration LLC.  She was instrumental in updating and professionalizing IETF’s administrative operations as plans were developed and finalized for the complete reorganization of the non-profit.  She successfully provided interim visionary leadership for a $9.5 million intricate, multi-disciplinary organization and managed a diverse number of groups who were geographically (remote teams) distributed throughout the world.

She was the Chief Operating Officer for the Center for Democracy and Technology for over eight and half years and was responsible for CDT’s general office administration, human resources, facilities management, and systems administration. Prior to CDT, Portia was the lead staff person directing the multimillion-dollar rebuilding to ADA and green specifications of the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC as its Associate Executive Secretary (VP) for Administration.

Portia is a proud graduate of Howard University in Washington, DC and has a Masters in Public Administration.  She is married to Wm. Terrell Danley, Jr, has one daughter, Nina, and a Chocolate Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Jaxx Danley.

Melissa Wyatt

Melissa Wyatt is Rock the Vote’s Director of Civic Technology and Policy.

Melissa leads the organization’s efforts to register and mobilize young voters through cutting-edge civic technology, including its online voter registration platform that is utilized by hundreds of national, state, and local partners across the country. She directs Rock the Vote’s election policy work, spearheading efforts to protect and expand voting access for young people through digital advocacy campaigns, legislation, and participation in litigation efforts.

Melissa has roots in both Cleveland, Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida, and she received her B.A. in Political Science and Art History from the University of Miami.

Jeff Ayeroff

Mr. Ayeroff founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign crusading against artists’ use of explicit language. Mr. Ayeroff’s 35-year career in the music industry provided a strong foundation for Rock the Vote’s signature fusion of politics and pop culture. As Senior VP of Marketing and Creative Services at A&M, he spearheaded campaigns for The Police, Quincy Jones, Janet Jackson, Supertramp, the Carpenters , Peter Frampton and many others. As Senior VP of Warner Bros in the 80s, Jeff oversaw marketing, design and videos for such iconic artists as Madonna, Don Henley, Dire Straits, Talking Heads, ZZ Top, Prince, Eric Clapton, The Cult, Echo & the Bunnymen and Steve Winwood, to name a few. After leaving Warner Bros., Ayeroff and his friend and partner, Jordan Harris, built Richard Branson’s Virgin US label from the ground up, signing and marketing many high profile artists. Then, Ayeroff and Harris founded The Work Group, a west coast boutique, Sony Music Label, signing and developing more artists before he went to work for Apple, overseeing the marketing of the Beatles 1, which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. He and Jon Rubin also began ArtistsFirst, a creative and marketing consulting agency, which has launched international humanitarian activism with its music.

Amanda Brown Lierman

Amanda Brown Lierman is the Campaign Director for For Our Future Action Fund and For Our Future, an allied c4 and super pac focused on progressive issues and winning elections. Amanda previously served as the Executive Director of the National Women’s Business Council, a federal advisory council with a mission to improve the business climate for women. From 2011 to 2014, Amanda rocked the vote! As the Political Director for Rock the Vote, Amanda developed young voter registration programming in the field and online, worked to advance the OVR technology and tools, and managed many of the partnerships. In many ways, she was paying her own experience forward and wanted to open the doors to politics for other young people across the country. Amanda first started as an organizer in Nevada for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in the summer of 2007. The 2008 campaign victory brought her to DC, where she then worked on the President’s transition team, at the Inaugural Committee, in the White House Office of Political Affairs and at the U.S. Department of Energy. Amanda is a 2014 Forbes 30–under–30 recipient in the Law and Public Policy field. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2007 with degrees in Government and Sociology. Amanda currently lives in Silver Spring, MD with her husband and rescue pup.

Frank Smith

Mr. Smith currently serves on the Rock the Vote Board of Directors as Co–chair, an extension of a myriad of political and public policy issues he has worked on throughout his career.

He is President of a Cambridge, Massachusetts consulting firm specializing in election and non–profit law and policy work. He has served as an Assistant District Attorney in Boston and worked on a number of political campaigns, including two Presidential elections. He is co–author of a recent book on the American healthcare system and writes a monthly newsletter on American politics. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Boston College Law School, and a member of the Massachusetts Bar.

Lara Bergthold

Ms. Bergthold currently serves on the Board of Directors of Rock the Vote, as well as the Campaign for America’s Future and People for the American Way. She works as a Principal Partner at RALLY, offering valuable political campaign, pop culture, and communications experience for companies like GAP, Inc., Sandy Hook Promise, and the Lear Family Foundation, the latter of which she has been the Executive Director of since 1997. In this capacity, she works to provide grants to progressive organizations that push civil rights, the arts, and the like.

She also served as National Deputy Political Director for current Secretary of State John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid, as well as General Wesley Clark’s presidential campaign.

Chris Melody Fields Figueredo

Manager, Legal Mobilization & Strategic Campaigns Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Chris Melody leads the Lawyers’ Committee organizing team, focusing on alternative strategies to litigation such as advocacy, large-scale programs and other solutions to address critical civil rights issues. She joined the Lawyers’ Committee in December 2011, serving as the Election Protection campaign manager to ensure the successful execution of the 2012 program. She continues to work with the Voting Rights Project to combat efforts to curb access to the ballot box, expand and protect voting rights and create tools to educate and empower voters. Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, she worked with federal agencies to develop global health and bio-security standards. Chris spent two years as the Outreach Director for Common Cause working to advance their democracy reform agenda and pass federal legislation that would create publicly financed campaigns for members of Congress. She got her start in community organizing and issue advocacy as a Program Specialist for DC ParentSmart, a nonprofit working to help DC parents navigate the education system. A seasoned campaign organizer, she has served in numerous roles for different political campaigns across the country including as the Iowa Deputy Political Director for a 2008 presidential campaign, campaign manager for an Iowa State Senate race in 2006, and a field organizer for a 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in South Carolina. Born in Venezuela and raised in Texas, she graduated from Austin College with a B.A. in English Literature and Anthropology. Follow Chris Melody on Twitter @Fieldsy.

Russell Glass

Russell Glass is a serial technology entrepreneur, having founded or held senior positions at four venture-backed technology companies and sitting on the boards of numerous others. Russ founded and led Bizo from 2008 to $50mm+ in revenues and over 160 employees before being acquired by LinkedIn for $175mm in 2014. He then led products for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, more than doubling growth to $800mm+ in revenues. Since leaving LinkedIn in June 2017, Russ has been focused on using his experience with technology, data science, and narrative/branding tactics to developing novel strategies increase engagement and turnout among young voters.

Wayne Jordan

Mr. Jordan is a real estate investor and developer, working primarily in Northern California. He is very active in local, state and national politics. He has been involved in many high-profile campaigns and is an active volunteer in the community, serving on the Board of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, on the Investment Committee of the ACLU, Akonadi Foundation, and in the past on the Board of the Bentley School.

DeRay Mckesson

DeRay Mckesson is an activist, organizer, and educator who has dedicated his life to fighting against injustice and building political power for young people —two goals central to Rock the Vote’s mission.. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Bowdoin College and holds an honorarydoctorate from The New School. DeRay has advocated for issues related to children, youth, and families since he was a teen. As a national leader in the Black Lives Matter Movement and the co-founder of Campaign Zero and OurStates.org, DeRay has worked to connect individuals with knowledge and tools, and provide citizens and policy makers with commonsense policies to ensure equity. Spurred by the death of Mike Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, DeRay has become a key voice in the effort to confront the systems and structures that have led to the mass incarceration and police killings of black and other minority populations. He is also the host of Pod Save The People, a weekly podcast focused on activism and social justice. DeRay was named as one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine in 2015 and as one of the 30 Most Important People On The Internet by Time Magazine in 2016.

He previously taught 6th grade math in New York City as a Teach For America Corps Member, worked for the Harlem Children’s Zone and TNTP and opened an academic enrichment center in West Baltimore. He has also worked with Baltimore City Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools leading systemic human capital change.

Photo Credit: Andre Chung for The Washington Post/Getty Images

Jesse Moore

Jesse is the founder and principal consultant at Common Thread Strategies –providing strategic, messaging and creative support to clients looking to advance their brands as agents of social change.

Moore has served as Vice President for Civic Engagement at Rock the Vote, White House Speechwriter, and Associate Director of Public Engagement at the White House –wherehe managed President Obama’s strategic partnerships with artists, celebrities and entertainment leaders working to advance policy priorities. He championed stakeholder engagement for the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and led the brandingeffort around the President’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ (MBK) initiative in support of young men of color, launching the ‘MBK Community Challenge,’ curating the program’s websites, logos, and national celebrity PSAs. Moore also led a celebrity engagement effort around criminal justice reform including a private strategy session between the President and leading hip hop artists.

Moore held state and regional management positions on President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, focusing on political and field organizing in battleground states. He served Communications Director for Human Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and a public affairs official at the Administration for Children and Families.

Prior to entering public service, Moorewas a communications and outreach counselor at Western Washington University, working with low-income families and students of color. He is a native of Lynnwood, Washington, and a graduate of Western Washington University with a degree in Political Science.

Michael Skolnik

Michael is a movement-builder, activist, storyteller and proud father. He is co-founder of The Soze Agency, a creative company focused on social impact campaigns and triple bottom line companies.

He is a respected leader in the new social justice movement who, among other topics, helped ignite conversations around America’s relationship with race, the death of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and Eric Garner, and the Obama presidency.

He was recently profiled in the NY Times for his civil rights activism, and identified as “the man you go to if you…want to leverage the power of celebrity and the reach of digital media to soften the ground for social change.”

He is a prolific voice on social media, with more than 250,000 followers, and a regular commentator on outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR and HLN. From 2009-2015, Michael served as the President of GlobalGrind.com, a millennial driven news website founded by hip-hop impresario, Russell Simmons.

Michael serves on the Board of Directors for The Trayvon Martin Foundation, Policy Link, The GatheringFor Justice and The Young Partners Board of The Public Theater.

Earlier in his career, Michael spent over a decade as an award winning film director and producer. He is the proud father of Mateo Ali.