Patrick Barrett
Patrick Barrett is the Administrative Director of the A. E. Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change, which is based in the Sociology Department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One of the Center's main projects is the Midwest Social Forum, an annual gathering of grassroots organizations, community activists, educators, students, and others committed to social movement building.
In addition to serving as a Liberty Tree Fellow, Patrick Barrett is also a board member and secretary treasurer of the Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project, and Co-Director of the Jim Barrett Justice Fund. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the UW-Madison in 1997 and is the author of several articles on Chilean and US politics and co-editor (with Cesar Rodriguez and Daniel Chavez) of La nueva izquierda en America Latina (Norma, 2005). He is the very proud father of three children (two boys and one girl).
Brandon Lacy Campos
Brandon Lacy Campos is a performer, writer, and professional fundraiser living in Minneapolis. Brandon was the first chairperson of the National Lavender Green Caucus of the Green Party of the United States from 2003-2005. In 2006, he was a leader in Minneapolis' successful ballot measure campaign for Instant Runoff Voting. Brandon studied Colonialism and Feminism at the Universidad de Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, and he received his B.A. in Spanish and Political Science from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2001.
Brandon is Associate Director of Liberty Tree, a Fellow, and Democratizing Elections Program Director. In addition, he serves as a member of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice Board of Directors, MaMa mOsAiC Theater Collective, and the Latino Advisory Committee to the City Council and Mayor of Minneapolis.
David Cobb
David Cobb was the 2004 Green Party nominee for President of the United States. He served as General Counsel for the national Green Party until declaring his candidacy in 2003. His legal career is dedicated to challenging illegitimate corporate power and to creating democracy.
In addition to his service as a Democratizing Elections Program Director and a Fellow with Liberty Tree, David is a member of the Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County Steering Committee, a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors for the Green Institute, and a member of the Sierra Club's national Corporate Accountability Committee.
George Friday
George Friday is the National Coordinator for the Independent Progressive Politics Network; an organization she has been active with since 1995, and is a co-chair of United for Peace and Justice. George grew up in a rural low income community in North Carolina in the 60s. She holds degrees in Political Science, Economics, and African American Studies from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
George Friday is a Liberty Tree Fellow and Local Democracy Program Director. She has served on boards of The Institute for Southern Studies (current), the Grassroots Policy Project, the Economic Human Rights Project (current), the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and the New World Foundation.
Taylour Johnson
Taylour Johnson serves as Liberty Tree's Administrative Director, Democratizing Education Program Director and as a Fellow. Before joining Liberty Tree, she served as the Organizing Director for the United Council of University of Wisconsin System Students and as the Field Director for the Linda Clifford for Justice state supreme court campaign.
Taylour Johnson’s organizing history includes employment as Outreach Director for the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, where she worked closely with the United States Student Association and other campus-based organizations on campaigns for tenant rights, campus sustainability, and increased access to higher education for all. She also worked on low-income worker and homeless voter registration and engagement for Interfaith Worker Justice in Portland, Oregon. Taylour has a B.S. in Planning, Public Policy and Management from the University of Oregon.
Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar is a Democratizing Education Program Director and Fellow with Liberty Tree. He currently serves as Dane County Supervisor representing the 5th District in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. In 2005, Kumar announced his bid for office with the endorsement of the Green Party, Progressive Dane, and the Socialist Party. As supervisor he continued to work with these political parties, community and labor organizations to author and usher in groundbreaking legislation which included policies to end police brutality and curb the jail-industrial complex, affordable housing laws, and model legislation in the field of immigrant rights.
Ashok Kumar's organizing history includes working as the Academic Affairs Chair for the Associated Students of Madison while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During this time he organized to fight massive tuition hikes by the state, and worked closely with United Students Against Sweatshops to successfully implement a campus-wide living wage and right to organize policy, the first of its kind in the country.
Ben Manski
Ben Manski is a Wisconsin attorney. He serves Liberty Tree as Executive Director, editor of the Liberty Tree Journal, and as a Fellow. Ben received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 2005, and a B.A. in Sociology with a focus in Rural Sociology from the UW-Madison in 1999.
Ben Manski served as co-chair of the Green Party of the United States from 2001 through 2004. He was employed on the staffs of a number of environmental, social justice, pro-democracy, and education advocacy organizations throughout the 1990s, and played leadership roles in many others. Ben currently serves as President of the Press Connection Foundation. He is a member of the Speak Out! Speakers and Artists speakers bureau.
Juscha Robinson
Juscha Robinson is a Wisconsin attorney and a partner at Herrick & Kasdorf, LLP, in Madison, Wisconsin, focusing on tenant-landlord, real estate, immigration, and nonprofit organization law. Juscha received her J.D. from University of Michigan in 2003, and a B.A. in Developing World Politics and German Studies from the University of Michigan in 1998.
Juscha Robinson served as co-chair of the Coordinated Campaign Committee of the Green Party of the United States from 2002 through 2004. In addition to her Liberty Tree duties as Local Democracy Program Director and Fellow, Juscha serves on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua and on the Housing and Economic Development Working Group for the Dane County (WI) Comprehensive Plan.
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap is the Executive Director of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County. In November 2004 she was elected to serve on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water Board, becoming one of the youngest elected officials in California. She is a founder and Secretary to the Board of the California Center for Community Democracy. She serves Liberty Tree as a Fellow and a Local Democracy Program Director.
Kaitlin also serves as Project Co-coordinator for the Humboldt Exchange Community Currency Project, she belongs to the SmartMeme STORY board, is a member of the Steering Committee of the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights and the Housing Advisory Board for the City of Eureka. She was a member of the leadership team of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom's national campaign to Challenge Corporate Power/Assert the People's Rights campaign from 2002-2004.
Laying the Foundation
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