Home » Redding Campaign Academy Agenda

DFA Campaign Academy Agenda

Redding, CA – June 27 - 28, 2009

(subject to change)

Saturday

Sunday    

Training Presenters

Matt Blizek - Training Director
Training Director, Democracy for America. A veteran of training in the political and corporate worlds, Matt Blizek began organizing in student and local politics and was elected vice president of the University of Iowa Student Body. Since then he has has done field and fundraising work for numerous campaigns including the DNC, MoveOn.org, Russ Feingold, Jon Tester and Annette Taddeo. Matt joined Democracy for America in 2007.

Jennifer S. Coken- Field
Executive Director, Main Street Colorado (an Education Fund in Colorado); prior to that she served as the Political Director for Congresswoman Diana DeGette leading her re-election campaign with an historic win of 73%. Before moving to the state of Colorado in 2004, Coken was a field associate with FieldWorks, coordinating 28 state house and senate canvass operations for the democratic caucuses in the state of Virginia. Jennifer also served as the National Campaign Director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), leading a coalition of nearly 400 organizations to influence Congress to recommend the largest budget increase in National Park Service history. Jennifer founded Coken Consulting Company in 1997, a Washington, DC firm providing campaign management services and strategic guidance for national and community-based organizations. Jennifer grew up in Cleveland and received her MA in Political Campaign Management from Kent State University.

Selene Hofer-Shall- Finance
A former crisis counselor, Selene joined the Dean for America Operations Team in 2003, helping to compile the largest FEC reports in Presidential Campaign History. She was one of the 12 original staffers of Democracy for America, working as Operations Director and assistant to the Finance Director.  Since leaving DFA, Selene has worked on numerous successful campaigns from city councils to United States Congress.  As the Finance Director for Peter Welch (VT-AL) in his successful 2006 race for Congress, she broke all previous fundraising records for the district.  Following the 2006 election, she worked in San Antonio, TX as the Finance Director for Ciro Rodriguez in the TX-23 run-off election, raising over $600,000 in less than three weeks to successfully oust a 7-term Republican incumbent. Selene returned to work for Congressman Welch as the Political and Finance Director on his first re-election campaign, as part of a team that successfully warded off all Republican opposition and secured not only the Democratic but also the Republican nomination.  Selene is a managing partner of Theseus Advisors, LLC, a political consulting firm based in Burlington, VT. She specializes in political outreach, candidate messaging, fundraising and event planning.

Don Weigel- Communications, Finance
Don Weigel began organizing in college, running a non-partisan voter registration drive and founding the College Democrats.  After college, he helped coordinate the first-ever full-ticket campaign for city council, efforts which elected only the second Democrat in over twenty-five years.  In 2006 Don served as deputy executive director and then in 2007 and 2008 as the executive director for the Democratic house caucus in Colorado helping expand their majority by four seats and organizing their incumbency protection program. Don has served as a press secretary, communications director, and campaign manager to a handful of congressional candidates in New York and Alabama.

Dotty LeMieux
Dotty LeMieux is the principal at Green Dog Campaigns and Communications.  Green Dog offers full service campaign consultation and communication services for your candidate or issue campaign, non-profit or community based organization and public relations needs.

Dotty has worked on political campaigns since the early 1980's when she was elected to serve on her local Community Public Utility District. She has been active in Democratic politics on the local and State level since the early 1990's and serves as Officer at Large on the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus.
She is a past chair of the Marin Sierra Club and serves on the Marin National Women's Political Caucus Board.  She lives with her husband and dog Bailey (the original "Green Dog") in Northern California, where she is also an environmental attorney specializing in public interest law and tree and boundary disputes.