work

I’ve tried to be on the right side of history. I’ve also tried to have fun and do things that make me feel alive. Here’s a selection of my money-making endeavours I’m most proud of.

My current day job is professional progressive cat herder and Olympic-level hater of regressive municipal politicians. Some delicious nuggets for your amusement:

Scouting a way cooler Mayor

Winning a by-election

Bitcoin will end all wars, just trust me bro

Campaign signs no one asked for

Christine Boyle for Vancouver-Little Mountain

What’s better than helping elect your friend as your very own MLA? And hey, now she’s a minister! Fancy! Beating the dorky Conservative opponent two to one was the cherry on top.

Union Gal Era

I love labour organizing. I love helping workers realize their power. I’ve worked as political organizer, new-member organizer, business representative, and lobbyist (sometimes all at once) for locals and district councils of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and Service Employees International Union.

Did you know that to submit union cards to the NLRB Region 19 office you must visit the heavily armed federal building, knock three times on a shabby door, and slide them under the gap to an elderly man with a thick Boston accent? Or, to securely transport election ballots from Anchorage to Seattle you can get a flat rate with Alaska Airlines? And that former Disney child stars make amazing shop stewards? Well, now you know.

Some of my favourite wins:

Inside WA legislative workers’ union push as frustration builds with Democratic leadership

Seattle Art Museum Security Officers Unionization

Historic Sick-Out: Washington State Legislative Workers

Chartering America’s Newest Local Union in 2021

Passing Nation-leading Protections for Isolated Workers

American Politics Era

I’m a (recovering) Democrat. I’ve recruited and trained gobs of progressive city councillors, school board members, state senators, state representatives, and consulted on campaigns from dog catcher to statewide office. Far too many to list and some I’d like to forget.

A few victories I hold close to my heart:

Sharon Shewmake for State Representative in 2018, my former economics professor who I convinced before the start of class to really, really, run. And boy howdy, did she ever. Sharon flipped the district from red to blue. She then went on to the State Senate and beat perhaps the freakiest Republican Washington State has produced in recent history. Seriously, click the link. He was so strange.

Kirsten Harris-Talley for State Representative in 2020, who ran for office with unparalleled moral clarity and provided desperate leadership for so many communities in the Year of Uprisings. We worked together on that campaign for more than a year as best friends, colleagues, and neighbours. It was also delightful organizing her appointment to Seattle City Council in 2017 and changing the city charter to forever enshrine an open, transparent process around council vacancy appointments.

Pramila Jayapal for Congress in 2016. This was my first big-girl campaign and it was deeply formative. Every so often I brush the dust off of messaging guides, spreadsheet templates, door knocking scripts, and volunteer trainings from this campaign because they’re that damn good. I’ll never forget when my field director tricked me into leading the volunteer training for the president of Emily’s List. My ignorance saved me from a classic “baby organizer” freakout. I also met some delightful Canadians who came down to volunteer. One of whom I worked with on the 2024 British Columbia provincial election. Kismet.

No matter how many races I win, the one I’ll never forget was losing a State Representative race in 2018 by 81 votes. My friend Justin, a Navy veteran and principled progressive, ran in a largely rural district and came within a whisper of unseating the unsavoury incumbent Republican. The district has since flipped comfortably to blue.