Canvassing Works

Randy Hayes, Rainforest Action Network

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

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Fund Alums in 400+ Organizations, Foundations, & Govt Offices

Fund alums can be found most everywhere in politics.  Our records show alumni presence in more than 400 progressive organizations, foundations, and government offices, listed below.

AARP      
ACLU of Northern California      
ACORN       
Advocacy Institute      
Advocates for Youth      
AFL-CIO      
Alaska Coalition      
Alaska Conservation Alliance      
Alzheimer's Association      
Amazon Watch      
American Cancer Society      
American Environics      
American Farmland Trust      
American Lands Alliance      
American Local Power Project      
American Medical Student Association      
American Rivers      
AmericaSpeaks      
AmeriCorps       
Amnesty International      
Amputee Coalition of America      
Anti Defamation League      
Apollo Alliance      
Appalachian Voices      
Appliance Standards Awareness Project      
Armenia Assembly of America      
Armenian Forests NGO      
Arthritis Foundation      
Atlantans Building Leadership through Empowerment      
Barbara Lee Foundation      
Basic Rights Oregon      
Beldon Fund      
Berkeley Food Systems Project      
Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board      
Best Buddies of Maryland      
Better World Books      
Better World Club      
Bloomington Monroe County Animal Control Shelter      
Boston Creative Action      
Boston Gay Community Center      
Boston Phoenix      
Boston University Community Service Center      
Braille Printing Company      
Bronx Museum of the Arts      
Center on Wisconsin Strategy       
CA State Senator Joe Simitian      
CA Wilderness Coalition      
California Wild Heritage Campaign      
Catholic Charities             
Center for Biological Diversity      
Center for Justice and Democracy      
Center for Native Ecosystems      
Center for Progressive Leadership      
Central NH Regional Planning Commission      
Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT)      
CERES      
Center for Health Environment and Justice       
Children's Hospital, Denver      
CIRCLE      
Citizens for a Better Environment      
Citizens Planning & Housing Assoc      
Citizens Project      
City Of Bainbridge Island      
City of Cambridge Planning Dept      
City of Eugene Public Works      
City of Montery Park      
City of Newton      
City of Portland      
City of Seattle      
City Year            
Clean Air Council      
Clean and Green      
Clean Water Action
Clean Money Hawaii      
Coalition for Smarter Growth      
Coastal Ocean Coalition      
Colorado Common Cause      
Colorado Conservation Voters      
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative      
Colorado Progressive Coalition      
Colorado Renewable Energy Society      
Colorado Rivers Alliance      
Commercial Alert      
Common Cause      
Commonwealth of MA      
Community Development Agency      
Community Energy      
Community Legal Services      
Congregational Beth Israel      
Congressman Earl Blumenauer      
Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez      
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi      
Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Service      
Conservation Trust of North Carolina      
Consumer Reports      
Consumers Union      
Cook County Commissioner      
Co-Op America      
Corporate Accountability International      
Corporation for National Service      
Corvallis Watershed Council      
CPPAX      
Critical Mass Energy Project      
Oregon Citizens Utility Board       
Defenders of Wildlife      
Democratic Courage      
Dennis Moore for Congress      
Design for Social Impact      
Developmental Studies Center      
Dogwood Alliance      
Earth First!      
Earth Share      
Earth Studio      
Earthjustice      
East Bay Community Law Center      
Ecology Center      
ECONorthwest      
Environmental Defense Center      
Endangered Species Coalition      
Energy CENTS Coalition      
Environmental Defense      
Environmental Defense Center      
Environmental Grantmakers Association      
Environmental Health Strategy Center      
Environmental Leadership Program      
Environmental Protection Agency      
Environmental Working Group      
Epilepsy Foundation      
Episcopal Church Foundation      
Equality California      
Equality Oregon      
Equality Virginia      
Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston      
Fenton Communications      
Fieldworks      
Florida Council Against Sexual Violence      
Food and Water Watch      
For Her Information      
Forest Ethics      
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights      
Freedom House      
Friends of Casco Bay      
Friends of Columbia Gorge      
Friends of the Earth      
Friends of the River      
Futurewise      
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network      
GeekUprising      
Gifford Pinchot Task Force      
Global Futures      
GMO-Free Kaua'i      
Gordon-Lovejoy Foundation      
Government Accountability Project, The      
Graduate School for Urban Planning, U.C. Berkeley      
Great Valley Center      
GREEN      
Green Mountain Recycling      
Greenbelt Alliance      
Greenpeace USA      
Grow Smart Maine      
Gulf Restoration Network      
Habitat for Humanity      
Harlem Health Promotion Center- Columbia University      
HEAL Utah      
Hewlett Foundation      
Highlands Coalition      
Homes for Families      
Housing Here and Now      
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe      
Humane Society      
Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers      
Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition      
Illinois Student Environmental Network      
Inland NW Sierra Club      
Institute for International Economics      
John's Hopkins      
Jones Falls Watershed Association      
Kanai Organic Farms      
Keystone Center      
King County Council      
LA Gay & Lesbian Center      
Lake Snell Perry Mermin & Associates      
Land & Water Conservation Fund of the Rockies      
Land Trust Alliance      
League of Conservation Voters      
League of Oregon Cities      
League of Women Voters      
Liberty House      
Life of the Land      
Louisiana Bucket Brigade      
M&R Strategic Services      
MA Audubon      
MA Public Health Association      
Maine People's Alliance      
Maine Rivers      
Maine Safe Energy      
Maryland State House      
Mass Audubon      
Mass League of Environmental Voters      
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts       
Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection      
Mass. Office for Refugees & Immigrants      
Mazoni Center      
MD House of Delegates      
MD LCV Education Fund      
MI House Democratic Policy Staff      
Michigan Environmental Council      
Mid Peninsula Open Space District      
Montana Environmental Information Center      
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust      
MoveOn.org      
MoveOnPAC      
Moxie Media      
Muscular Dystrophy Association      
Museum of Fine Arts      
N.Tahoe Parks & Recreation      
National Association of Counties      
National Democratic Institute      
National Education Center      
National Environmental Trust      
National Family Farm Coalition      
National Resources Defense Council      
National Training & Information Center      
National Wildlife Federation      
Nature Conservancy      
Nature's Classroom      
NCSL Child Care and Early Childhood Education Project      
Neighborhood Business Council      
Neighborhood Design Center      
Neighborhood Interfaith Movement      
New America Foundation      
New England Aquarium      
New Jersey office of Smart Growth      
New Mexico LCV      
New School for Social Research      
NH Democratic Party      
NJ Environmental Federation      
No on 933      
Non Profit Housing Association      
North Alaska Environmental Center      
North Carolina Conservation Network      
North Carolina Dept of Environment and Natural Resources      
NorthWest Initiative      
Not In Our Name      
NRDC      
National Renewable Energy Lab   
NY Lawyers for the Public Interest
Ocean Conservancy
Ocean County Board of Elections      
Oceana      
Office of European Union & Regional Affairs, State Dept      
Office of Rep. Kanjorski      
Office of Senator Richard Durbin      
Office of the Mayor of Portland      
Office of the Public Defender      
Ohio House of Representatives      
One Nation Enlightened      
OneAtlantic.net      
OR Department of Consumer and Business Services      
Oregon Citizens' Utility Board      
Oregon Department of Human Services      
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski      
Oregon Natural Resources Council      
Oregon Parks and Salmon Initiative      
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility      
Oregon Secretary of State      
Oregon Supreme Court      
Organic Events      
Organic Greenhouse      
Outspire      
PA Department of Aging      
PA Environmental Hearing Board      
PA Heath Care Cost Containment Council      
PA State Representative Josh Shapiro      
Pace Law School      
Pacific Coast Farmers Market      
Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center      
Pacific Pride Foundation      
Park Foundation      
Partnerships for Parks      
Patagonia, Inc.             
Peace Corps      
Peggy Lamm for Congress      
People for Puget Sound      
Perkins School for the Blind      
Philadelphia Women's Center      
Physicians for Human Rights      
Physicians for Reproductive Choice & Health      
Planned Parenthood of MD      
Planned Parenthood      
Preventing Violence in the Home      
Prevention Points Philadelphia      
Progressive Campaigns      
Progressive Majority      
Progressive Minnesota      
Progressive Voter Network      
Project for Public Spaces      
Project Vote Smart      
Public Citizen      
Public Utilities Commission, Energy Division      
Rainforest Action Network          
Reading to Kids      
Redwood National & State Parks      
Renewable Energy Initiative      
Renewable NW Project      
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)      
Resource Conservation      
RESTORE: The North Woods      
RTK Net/OMB Watch      
Save Darfur Coalition      
Save the Children UK      
Seattle Alliance for Good Jobs and Housing for Everyone      
Seattle Department of Transportation      
Seattle Tenants Union      
SEIU      
Sen. Stan Rosenberg      
Senator Jack Reed      
Sequoia National Park      
Share Group      
Sher & Leff LLP      
Sierra Club      
Sierra Nevada Alliance      
Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign      
Sierra Student Coalition      
Sierra Watch      
SLUG (SF League of Urban Gardeners)      
Social Accountability International      
Speaker of the Colorado House      
State Appeals Court Judge      
State Dept. on NATO Policy      
State of Massachusetts      
State of Maryland      
State of Oregon      
Statewide Poverty Action Network      
Surface Transportation Policy Project      
Sustainable Northwest for the Healthy Forests      
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance      
Taxpayers for Common Sense      
Teach for America      
Telefund      
Texas Trial Lawyers Association      
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society      
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society      
The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights      
The GreenKeeper      
The Institute for College Access & Success      
The James Irvine Foundation      
The Pioneer Institute      
The smartMeme project       
The Steppingstone Foundation      
The Wilderness Society      
This is That Productions      
Tobacco Free Mass      
Training Resources for the Environmental Community      
Transit Riders United      
Transport for London      
Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC)      
Transportation Choices Coalition      
Transportation Planning
City & County of Denver      
Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center      
Tri-State Transportation Campaign      
Trout Unlimited      
Trust for Public Land      
Tuolumne River Trust      
U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland      
U.S. Senator Harry Reid      
Union of Concerned Scientists      
United Council      
United for a Fair Economy      
United for Peace and Justice      
United Way      
USAction      
USDA      
Utne Reader      
Vermont Campus Compact      
Voice Your Vote      
WA Citizens for Resource Conservation      
Walmart Watch      
Washington Conservation Voters      
Washington Labor Council      
Washington Toxics Coalition      
Washington Trails Association      
Washington Wilderness Coalition      
Western States Center      
White Earth Land Recovery Project      
WI Dept of Natural Resources      
Wilderness Society      
WildLaw      
Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo      
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters      
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation      
Women Presidents' Organization      
New Jersey Work Environment Council      
Working Assets      
Working Families Party      
World Wildlife Fund      
YMCA      
Young Voter Strategies      
Zilkha Renewable Energy       
Los Angeles City Council      
New York City Council   

Why We Canvass

Everyone who canvasses with the Fund understands the value of canvassing.   Boiling it down, canvassing helps the progressive movement in at least five ways:

• Raising money to fund campaigns and build grassroots organizations.  Individual contributions are the lifeblood of citizens' groups.  They translate directly into political power and fund the research, advocacy and outreach critical to winning campaigns.
• Signing up members for the organization.  Canvassers identify people who support the values and principles that grassroots organizations fight for.  By signing them up as members, we set the stage for a long-term relationship that will enable our partner organizations to continue their work well into the future. 
• Educating the public about problems and solutions.  Canvassers speak directly to millions of people around the country every year.  We alert them to environmental problems and legislative proposals by special interest groups.  We also make people aware of common-sense solutions and give them the opportunity to have an impact on their democracy.
• Building name recognition for the organization and the campaign. Public interest organizations can't often afford to run TV and radio ads to build their name recognition, as large corporations do.  However, by talking to people individually and leaving literature with them, we can raise their awareness of the work that we're doing. 
• Influencing decision-makers.  Canvassing in the community gives us the ability to speak with thousands of voters in an elected official's district.   We can inform people about their representatives' voting records, gather petition signatures, and ask people to make phone calls.  That establishes accountability and encourages decision-makers to vote in their constituents' best interests. 

Maggie Drummond, GrowSmart Maine, Advocacy Director

“Canvassing for the Fund was my first genuine political experience, starting the summer after I graduated from college in 1998. Fortunately, the experience didn’t just open my eyes to critical issues facing our environment and democracy, it also taught me solid communications skills and gave me much-needed leadership experience- all of which has helped me build a career in non profit and public interest work. Canvassing provides a opportunity for people from all walks of life to participate directly in the political process on issues they care about, and serves as an entrée for thousands of young people for a lifetime of public service and good citizenship. It was invaluable in shaping the person I am today.”  Maggie Drummond

Maggie Drummond is the Advocacy Director for GrowSmart Maine, a non profit organization working to promote quality growth in the State. Maggie started as a canvasser and field manager for the Fund during the summer of 1998. She went on to become a director in the Newton, Massachusetts office that fall & winter, and became the National Canvass Administrator in 1999. Maggie held that position for three years, before moving back to her home state of Maine to direct the Toxics Action Center office from 2001 until 2004.

E. Christopher Wilder, Valley Medical Center Foundation

When the video was shot, Chris worked with City Year.  He's now Executive Director the Valley Medical Center Foundation.

E. Christopher Wilder, Valley Medical Center Foundation, Executive Director

"I owe my success in the fund-raising and nonprofit development world to my years with the Fund, canvassing for the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). There, I learned the fundamentals of campaign work, and how to lead door-to-door canvass operations benefiting the environment, improving consumer safety and strengthening democracy."  E. Chris Wilder

With eighteen years in the Bay Area's public benefit sector, Chris Wilder serves as the Executive Director of the Valley Medical Center Foundation. The VMC Foundation supports Silicon Valley's largest and busiest hospital, the only one with a 100% open-door policy providing excellent care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Since taking the position three years ago, Chris has raised more money than in the VMC Foundation's previous twelve years combined.

Before joining the VMC Foundation, Mr. Wilder most recently served as the Executive Director of City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, California's premiere AmeriCorps program. There he managed a large staff, led a dynamic board and oversaw a fund raising effort exceeding $2,000,000 annually.  Prior to that, Chris served as Assistant Executive Director for the Vanished Children's Alliance, California's oldest and largest missing children's organization.

Today he serves as a commissioner to the Santa Clara County Child Abuse Council and is past Chair of the county's Victim Support Network. Chris also serves on the City Year advisory board, the San Jose Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force Executive Committee and is a founding board member of the California AmeriCorps Alliance. He graduated from Stanford University's Executive Program in Nonprofit Leadership.

Chris has hosted and produced two award-winning cable TV shows: Community Perspectives and For the Animals. Chris is a graduate of San José State University, a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, and a musician/song writer who has performed in two-dozen nations. He has received accolades and commendations from San Jose Mayors Ron Gonzales and Susan Hammer, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren Congressman Mike Honda, Governor Gray Davis and others.

Eric M. Garcetti, Los Angeles City Council President

"Canvassing helped teach me that democracy is something that is best practiced face-to-face. My experience prepared me for reaching out to people who tune out television ads and mailings, but who will engage with a direct interaction at their door. I am certainly a better and more effective public servant because of this experience."  Eric M Garcetti

Mr. Garcetti won a hotly-contested election to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001, becoming one of the youngest city councilmembers in the city's history. Over 100 languages are spoken on the streets of his district, from Hollywood to Downtown and across the Los Angeles River. The neighborhoods he represents constitute the beating heart of Los Angeles.

Council President Garcetti chairs the Rules and Elections Committee. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Energy and the Environment Committee and sits on the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee, which he chaired for four and a half years. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc River Committee and the Ad Hoc Homelessness Committee, and serves on the Ad Hoc Stadium Committee. He was unopposed for re-election and began his second term in office in July 2005.

During his first term in office, Garcetti led the effort to fund the nation's largest Affordable Housing Trust Fund, oversaw the economic and cultural revitalization of Hollywood, wrote and championed Proposition O to clean up our local water, won passage of a plan that eliminated the city’s business tax for 60% of all businesses, and helped bring thousands of new high wage jobs to Los Angeles and his district. In his district, he doubled the number of parks, ensured the availability of an after-school program in every school in the district, and reduced graffiti by more than 60 percent.

Councilmember Garcetti's work has been recognized in dozens of awards, including a Green Cross Millennium Award from former President Mikhail Gorbachev for his environmental leadership, a "Tiger Award" from the Valley Industry and Commerce Association for his work on business tax reform, and the first Olson Award from Human Rights Watch for his human rights activism. The Los Angeles Times writes that Garcetti is "smart” and “imaginative” and offers the city “refreshing idealism.” He was featured in LA Weekly's Best of Los Angeles issue and the Los Angeles Alternative Press readers named him "L.A.'s Favorite Elected Official" of 2003. In 2004, The Los Angeles Business Journal named him one of the 25 Angelenos who stand out for their potential to shape lives in Los Angeles. A profile in Los Angeles magazine in 2006 called him "a rising star".

Prior to his election, Garcetti taught public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California. In 1998, the Rockefeller Foundation selected him as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow. Garcetti studied urban planning and political science at Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics.   Council President Garcetti canvassed with the Fund during college.

Abe Scarr, Student Empowerment Training (SET) Project, Director

“I began canvassing after I graduated from college in 2002. I was politically motivated and engaged in my community in both high school and college, but had never worked on a campaign that made an impact on the scale I wanted. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to work as an activist but had no idea how. Canvassing changed all of that. For the first time, I could see concrete results from my actions both on a daily basis and over the course of a campaign. As a developing activist, I especially appreciated the challenge of canvassing: every day I was forced to push myself to perform, and to develop and hone my communication skills. Canvassing opened up the doors for a career in organizing. Six months after I started, I was hired as a campus organizer with the student PIRGs, where I worked for two years, returning over three summers to direct canvass offices. Now I direct my own project, working with student governments all over the country, teaching student leaders skills and organizing techniques that help them be more effective advocates for students. I use the skills I learned canvassing every day.”  Abe Scarr

Abe is now the Project Director for the Student Empowerment Training Project, which works with student governments and state student associations across the country, a position he began in August 2005.  Over the course of his first year with the SET Project, Abe launched and organized three regional conferences, training hundreds of students in organizing and campaign skills, hired and trained field organizers to run field campaigns for the Minnesota State University Student Association and the California State Student Association, worked closely with students in South Carolina working to institutionalize the South Carolina State Student Association, and raised enough money to hire 5 additional staff to work with the SET Project over the 2006/2007 school year.  Abe launched his public interest career as a Fund canvasser in October 2002, in Washington DC, working on Greenpeace renewable energy campaign and helping to launch the first U.S. PIRG street canvass. In April of 2003, he started working with the Student PIRGs as a campus organizer. Abe worked with students on the North Shore of Massachusetts to help pass tough new legislation to clean up Massachusetts coal burning power plants, including the Salem Harbor power plant. Between 2003 and 2005, he directed Fund canvass offices in Washington DC, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Manhattan.

Elizabeth Ouzts, Environment North Carolina, Executive Director

"Canvassing is absolutely essential to the work that we do. Having tens of thousands of one on one conversations with people about our campaigns ensures that we are rooted in work that the people of North Carolina care about. Funding our organization through thousands of small, individual contributions allows us to be independent from corporations and political parties. Canvassing has not only built up Environment North Carolina from scratch; it has also played an essential role in a host of victories for the environment--from cleaning up coal-fired power plants to protecting our rivers and lakes."  Elizabeth Ouzts

Ms. Ouzts is responsible for coordinating policy development, research, and legislative advocacy for Environment North Carolina. She works to clean up the largest sources of air pollution in the state—automobiles and power plants—and to preserve the state’s forests, farmlands, and natural areas. Elizabeth serves as the organization’s main representative in North Carolina’s General Assembly, and was one of the primary environmental advocates for the state Clean Smokestacks law in 2002. She has appeared on local affiliates of NBC, ABC, and CBS in Raleigh and Charlotte, and has testified before the state legislature on issues ranging from cleaner gasoline to cleaning up factory hog farms. She is on the executive board of the NC Conservation Network and is a steering committee member of the Land for Tomorrow coalition, the statewide effort to create a permanent, dedicated source of funding for protecting forests and farmlands. A graduate of the NC School of Science and Math and Yale University, Ms. Ouzts began her work with the state PIRGs in New Jersey in 1997, where she completed service for NJ Community Water Watch, a project of NJPIRG Law and Policy Center. In 1998, she returned to North Carolina to work with NCPIRG. She became the director of NCPIRG in 2001, and in 2006 assumed leadership of Environment North Carolina.