Panelists
Abnerline Macenat is a rising senior at J.M Wright Technical High school In Stamford, CT where she studies Health Technology and is a part of the student council. She is also dedicated to her community. Her interest also includes focusing on the mental health of young women, and the health and STEM fields. Abnerline's responsibilities include providing members assignments, member engagement, and recruitment. Abnerline is also an NSHSS Ambassador.
In her role at NetWork Volunteers, Caitlin is responsible for managing all group volunteer projects, ensuring that volunteers have a positive experience while focusing on meeting community partner needs. Caitlin began her relationship with volunteering during her teen years through helping elderly residents with house beautification tasks in Memphis, TN, her hometown, though her passions aligned more with the political. Through her education at Pace University in New York City, where she double-majored in Political Science and Philosophy and Religious Studies and minored in Peace and Justice Studies, she became passionate about the power of civic engagement in its many forms and began to see the relationship between service and both large and small scale initiatives. While at Pace, Caitlin worked at Pace University’s Center for Community Action and Research as Student Outreach and New Media Projects Coordinator, leading “Take Action” events ranging from voter registration drives to protests to urban gardening volunteer projects. She also served as a “FACES Program” Teaching Assistant, helping manage students in Civic Engagement courses with semester-long volunteer placements. She went on to earn the Jefferson Award for Public Service (2015) and the Class of 2016 Community Service Award. Since 2016, Caitlin has completed AmeriCorps two terms of service with Serve Louisiana (formerly Louisiana Delta Service Corps) at NetWork Volunteers. Upon finishing her second term, she was brought onto the team full-time as Director of Service-Learning and Community Engagement. Caitlin manages all group volunteer programming, including community partner outreach, volunteer database management, project logistics planning, and curriculum creation.
Javier is part of Levi Strauss & Co.'s Corporate Affairs team, working with corporate social responsibility, employee giving, and community engagement programs. Formerly, he was NextGen America's National Operations Manager, contributing to the largest US youth voter engagement program in two campaign cycles. Previously, he was also project lead of Next Gen's Voter Registration efforts in California, registering over 800,000 voters in the state through a coalition of 69 community-led and grassroots organizations. Previously, Javier worked at the Senate of Puerto Rico and at the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, the largest bipartisan organization of Hispanic state legislators in the U.S. An avid campaigner and project manager, he has worked for the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico in two campaigns, and was a key player in State Senator Eduardo Bhatia's election efforts during the 2012 election and later elected Senate President.
Mike has spent the past 15 years working to support and empower communities that have been systematically excluded from opportunity. Currently, he is When We All Vote's Senior Advisor for Education, including the My School Votes program, which is aimed at closing the race and age gap in voter registration and participation by supporting high school students and educators. Previously, he spent seven years as the Executive Director in DC of Turnaround for Children, an organization that partners with schools and districts to translate neuroscience into tools, practices, and strategies for teachers and leaders. He also spent five years working in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and helped start the Office of School Turnaround. He began his organizing and education career first as a middle school teacher on the South Side of Chicago and then as an organizer on Barack Obama's 2007-08 Presidential campaign. He lives in DC with his wife Aurora and their daughter Quinn.
Founding Board Member, Count Us IN Special Projects Manager, VoteRiders Foundation, Operations & Program Management Consultant In addition to her responsibilities with VoteRiders and Count Us IN, Reba is a foundation and program management consultant working with social impact organizations on a variety of causes and advocacy. VoteRiders is a nationwide, nonpartisan nonprofit focused on voter ID education and help to make sure no eligible US citizen is denied their right to vote for lack of ID. Count US IN is an Indiana based nonpartisan nonprofit focused on more inclusive and equitable political participation by encouraging a larger, more diverse voter turnout.
Panel Moderator