Agenda – SVYD September Membership Meeting – Monday, September 23, 2013

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I. Welcome, Introductions, and approval of Agenda

II. Special speaker: Representative Zoe Lofgren

III. SVYD Officer

   A. President- Joshua Barousse (3 min)

        i. CYD Update – 2013 Tahoe Retreat

        ii. Bylaws committee – Erica (1 min)

iii. National Voter Registration Day- Tues 9/24

   B. Vice President of Membership- Brandon Li (3 min)

i. Mentorship Program

ii. Membership form

iii. Women’s Leadership Committee – Samantha (1 min)

iv. College Committee – Lucas (1 min)

    C. Secretary- Emily Ann Ramos (3 min)

i. website/social media update – Newsletter

ii. communication committee

iii. Live stream test part 2

    D. Treasurer- Amanda Montez (3 min)

         i. Financial update

ii. Finance Committee

iii. Last call for dues before endorsement

    E. Political Director- Eric Hernandez (3 min)

       i. Endorsement Update

a. Sunnyvale City Council – Committee recommendation

III. Old Business

A. Vote on change in venue

IV. New Business

A. Sunnyvale City Council Endorsement

V. Announcements

VI. Adjournment

 

Next Meeting: Mon, October 21, 2013 @ 7 pm- UFCW Local 5, 240 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

 

Minutes – SVYD August Membership Meeting – Monday, August 19, 2013

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I. Welcome, Introductions, and approval of Agenda

Called to order on: 7:13 p.m.

II. Special speaker: Rod Diridon

Introduced by Joshua Barousse

Rod Diridon spoke about the high speed rail. Powerpoint Presentation can be found here: HSRSummaryforSVYD

III. SVYD Officer and Standing Committee Reports

    A. Political Director- Eric Hernandez

       i. Endorsement Update – Cindy’s Swearing in ceremony. We’re proud of all of you getting Democrats into office. We will hold endorsement interviews fro Sunnyvale City Council. TBD.

   B. President- Joshua Barousse

        i. CYD Update – Retreat

Will send out an email to let us know

        ii. Bylaws committee – Alex

Have met twice. Will meet one more time. Gone over basics. Will propose next meeting.

iii. SCCDP update – Call to action

Lots of good young dem represented and shared our views

Corey PYD report – September endorsements meeting

   C. Vice President of Membership- Brandon Li

Brandon was unable to make it to the meeting due to illness. Joshua covered Brandon’s report.

i. Mentorship Program – Nothing new to report

ii. Membership form – Please fill it out if you haven’t already

    D. Secretary- Emily Ann Ramos

i. website/social media update

– Small Changes to the homepage

– New website calendar: Now includes general membership meetings, Central Committee meetings, WLC and other committees. Also added PYD membership meeting.

– Community events can be added, if information is sent

– Closing the group (522 members) –> Page (377 likes)

ii. communication committee

– Originally going to be the technology committee, but would be more useful as a standing committee filled with bloggers, historians, and parliamentarians

– Let me know if you are interested. For parliamentarian, I will need to know past experiences

– New survey out for priority of our issues (will probably do every 6 months)

– Get ready for your close-up: Group picture september meeting

iii. Live stream test – it works sort of… See the results on our YouTube page

    E. Treasurer- Amanda Montez (3 min)

         i. Financial update

We have finally close our FPPC account. It will be an administrative closure. We have settled with the FPPC, but still need to settle with the CA Secretary of State. We will most likely be able to keep the funds we have. We will be taking dues at next meeting.

    F. Standing Committees

i. Women’s Leadership Committee – Samantha Pedrosa – Set a time and place for next WLC event: October 23 at Blackbird Tavern.

ii. College Committee – Lucas Ramirez – Nothing new to report

III. Old Business

IV. New Business

A. New Resolution vote – Passed view endorsement page for more information.

B. Possible change in venue – Santa Clara County Office – General Membership wants more time to think about it. Suggest a online poll. Will vote on it next meeting

V. Announcements

Vice Mayor Jim Griffith and City Council Candidate Gustav Larsson asks for our support at the upcoming Sunnyvale City Council elections.

VI. Adjournment at 9:00 p.m.

Next Meeting: Mon, September 23, 2013 @ 7 pm- UFCW Local 5, 240 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

 

Agenda – SVYD August Membership Meeting – Monday, August 19, 2013

Download Agenda August 2013 PDF

I. Welcome, Introductions, and approval of Agenda

II. Special speaker: Rod Diridon

III. SVYD Officer and Standing Committee Reports

    A. Political Director- Eric Hernandez (3 min)

       i. Endorsement Update

a. Sunnyvale City Council

b. Past Special Election

ii. New Resolution

   B. President- Joshua Barousse (3 min)

        i. CYD Update – Retreat

        ii. Bylaws committee – Erica (1 min)

iii. SCCDP update – Call to action

   C. Vice President of Membership- Brandon Li (3 min)

i. Mentorship Program

ii. Membership form

    D. Secretary- Emily Ann Ramos (3 min)

i. website/social media update

ii. communication committee

iii. Live stream test

    E. Treasurer- Amanda Montez (3 min)

         i. Financial update

    F. Standing Committees

i. Women’s Leadership Committee – Samantha (1 min)

ii. College Committee – Lucas (1 min)

III. Old Business

IV. New Business

A. New Resolution vote

B. Possible change in venue – Santa Clara County Office

V. Announcements

VI. Adjournment

 

Next Meeting: Mon, September 16, 2013 @ 7 pm- UFCW Local 5, 240 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

 

Strategy & Impact Associate and Development & Engagement Associate (Third Plateau)

Third Plateau, is hiring!

The two jobs are:
Development & Engagement Associate 
Strategy & Impact Associate

Here are the basics: for both, they are looking for individuals who are ridiculously smart, critical thinkers, solid communicators, and really fun. They love the work they do, so they want people who can help them do more of it, do it better, and enjoy it as much as they do. Both jobs have salaries in the $40-46K range, plus benefits. If you know of anyone who would be a great fit, please forward the job postings along and encourage them to apply.

Minutes – SVYD July Membership Meeting – Monday, July 15, 2013

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Called to order at 7:17 p.m.

 

I. Welcome, Introductions, and approval of Agenda

II. SVYD Officer and Standing Committee Reports

   A. President- Joshua Barousse (3 min)

       i. Peninsula Young Democrats (PYD) report (Cory Wollbach): Partnering with Peninsula coalition for voter registration

ii. Momentum (Matt Dalton) – Provides mental health services, would like support from Young Dems, and event keynote will be by Robert Kennedy, Jr.

iii. CYD Update: We are chartered with CYD. They are trying to mobilize in 16th district elections supporting Leticia Perez. At stake democrat 2/3 majority in state senate. Bi-annual Tahoe retreat will be in November.

       ii. Bylaws committee – Time to review bylaws. President will appoint committee members. Committee will meet twice before submitting minutes at next meeting. If bylaws are not passed at next meeting, committee will meet two more times to submit for September meeting.

       iii. Moving Forward – Youngs dems will be on the ballot next spring and more awesome events are being planned.

   B. Vice President of Membership- Brandon Li (3 min)

        i. CYD API Caucus – Dues are currently being waived. Looking for new director

        ii. New membership form- will be online by tomorrow. Will send link via email.

        iii. College Committee – Launched. Lucas Ramirez will lead. Goal is to incubate College chapters until they are self sustaining

iv. New programs – Mentorships (currently hunting for mentors / form will be available to members seeking mentors soon), workshops (topics include Social Media, FPPC, Campaign organizing, nonprofits, candidate training, fundraising, policy forums, job hunting, and local political landscape), continue doing job postings, voter registration.

v. emails: We are now moving to Salsa .

    C. Secretary- Emily Ann Ramos (3 min)

i. website/social media update

a. We are now on google+. This will allow the possibility of live streaming meetings

b. blogs will now contain job postings, agendas, and minutes

ii. technology committee

a. 2 goals: support technology needs of SVYD; become a resource for technology issues

    D. Treasurer- Amanda Montez (3 min)

        i. Financial update

a. took two trainings CA filing system

b. we were an FPPC filer since 2008

c. We will refrain from accepting our disbursing money for now

d. Bylaws will be updated to include steps to have a secure treasury and training for treasurer, clear and open process on donations and transactions

e. We will hold off on accepting dues

f. Updating membership database (Brandon’s form)

g. We are suspending all expenditures and transactions

    E. Political Director- Eric Hernandez (3 min)

        i. Endorsement Update

a. 2nd year on board and would like to thank everyone involved in the last endorsement process.

b. Volunteers are needed for endorsed canidate Cindy Chavez for GOTV. Expect email

c. Next round of endorsements will be for Sunnyvale City Council

– Gustav Larson attended last meeting

– We will ask candidates to come to meetings

– Will run a voter registration drive to support Sunnyvale elections

– 3 Open seats a large

– Issues may need be addressed like affordable housing in this election

– 2 democrats are eligible for our endorsement

        ii. H.R. 2454: Aaron’s Law

a. Bill proposed by Rep. Zoe Lofgren and is currently in committee. Purpose to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)

b. Endorsement proposed by Emily Ann Ramos

c. Opened for discussion

– Members are not too familiar with CFAA and H.R. 2454

– Jeremy Barousse points out favorable point that bill was proposed by local democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren

– Cory Wolbach Spoke in favor of the bill and and the progressive political activist it was named after

    F. Women’s Leadership Committee – Laura Pedersen (1 min)

i. Meets monthly – 1st or 2nd Wednesday of month at Fairmont Cocktail lounge

ii. 2 goals: gender parity (via membership drives and word of mouth) and get an SVYD woman elected into office by 2016

iii. Laura will leave for Law school this fall. Samantha Pedrosa will take over

iv. Omar Torres points out SVYD history of women presidents

III. Old Business

IV. New Business

A. Get well card for active SVYD member Jordan Eldridge. He is doing fine after surgery.

V. Announcements

A. Omar Torres: D2 walk on Wednesday beginning at Santa Maria Urban Ministry

B. Christina Ramos: Library commission / friends of the library feedback needed for D5

C. Jeremy Barousse : D8 roundtable coming up

D. Star Dormanesh: member of Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women – 40th anniversary fundraiser on August 23

E. Nick: Starting back up San Jose State Democrats chapter

F. Erica Schafer: Looking for GOTV volunteers for Teresa Alvarado D2 supervisor campaign

G. Alex Wara: from Jim Beals office – community coffee (August 16), Creek Clean up (August 24), Medicare event (October)

H. Corey Wolbach: Peninsula Young Dem meeting at Cafe Barone (August 25), Old Dot Society at Charles pub 8:00 p.m. tomorrow

I. Amanda Montez: Open Spaces district fundraiser – Free food / Monte Bello open space preserve  with Jerry Hill, Jim Bell, Rich Gordon, Don Corsle

J. Eric Hernandez: Santa Maria Urban Ministry has a summer speakers program funded by the save summer grant. Past speaker was SVYD member and Campbell Union High School district board member Kalen Gallagher. Upcoming speaker will Raul. Eric is also co-hosting Young Professionals fundraiser for Cindy Chavez.

K. Joshua Barousse presented outgoing Secretary and Treasurer, Victoria Ramirez and Colleen Haley with certificates to thank them for their service.

VI. Adjournment

A. Adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

 

Next Meeting: Mon, August 19, 2013 @ 7 pm- UFCW Local 5, 240 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Job Opening: Public Policy Associate (Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits)

Position Overview

The Public Policy Associate will support SVCN’s public policy agenda in the areas of research, data
analysis, and composing concise and well-written reports. There will be some Administrative work within
this position’s scope as well.

Read the full job description

About SVCN
The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits (SVCN) champions the interests of nonprofits in Silicon Valley. We
are the major organization in the County of Santa Clara convening the nonprofit voice to focus on health
and human service public policy issues. We currently represent over 200 health and human service
agencies in the County of Santa Clara. SVCN works to ensure the nonprofit sector’s voice is heard and
that solutions are developed in ways in which Everybody Wins.

SIREN has 4 job openings

Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) is a leading immigrant rights organization in the South Bay dedicated to providing immigrant rights advocacy, community education and naturalization assistance to Santa Clara County’s diverse immigrant communities. The mission of SIREN is to empower low-income immigrants and refugees in Santa Clara County through direct services, community education and organizing, leadership development and policy advocacy. We believe that all people regardless of legal status or nationality are entitled to essential services, human dignity, basic rights and protections, and access to full participation in society.

Executive Assistant
The Executive Assistant (EA) provides general, administrative, events and volunteer coordination, accounting, operations, and technical support to the Executive Director. The EA performs complex and highly responsible office support work requiring independence, initiative, and direction. The EA is also responsible for the coordination of fundraising activities and the maintenance of the Rapid Response Network and SIREN’s website.

Policy & Organizing Program Director
The Policy & Organizing Program Director (POPD) is responsible for the program development, implementation, fundraising, and management of the policy advocacy and community organizing programs. The POPD will lead the development and implementation of advocacy strategies to promote immigrant integration. The POPD will work with SIREN advocacy campaign coordinator and community organizer to identify, develop, implement and evaluate advocacy and civic engagement strategies. The POPD also serves as a member of the leadership team and is a key part of organizational-wide activities including fundraising, communication and planning. The POPD reports to the Executive Director.

Advocacy Campaign Coordinator
The Advocacy Campaign Coordinator (ACC), working closely with the Policy & Organizing Program Director and community organizer, assists in developing and implementing SIREN advocacy campaigns to build immigrant power. The ACC will be responsible in coalition building and facilitating coalitions/partners/allies to promote immigrant integration. The ACC is expected to plan and coordinate meetings with community members and organizations as well as organize community events, trainings and other advocacy activities that will result in engaging immigrants and organizations. The ACC is also expected to promote SIREN and its full range of services to the community. The ACC reports to the Policy & Organizing Program Director.

Immigration Program Associate
The Immigration Program Associate (IPA) will provide citizenship application assistance, legal services, advocacy, and follow-up services to qualified applicants. The IPA will oversee outreach and publicity activities that encourage eligible immigrant community members to apply for citizenship and will participate in the planning and coordination of Santa Clara County’s Citizenship Day and other citizenship related events. Additionally, employee will handle intake for the Vietnamese Q&A Assistance Line.

Agenda – SVYD July Membership Meeting

Meeting date: Monday, July 15, 2013

Download pdf

I. Welcome, Introductions, and approval of Agenda
II. SVYD Officer and Standing Committee Reports

A. President- Joshua Barousse (3 min)
i. CYD Update
ii. Bylaws committee
iii. Moving Forward

B. Vice President of Membership- Brandon Li (3 min)
i. CYD API Caucus
ii. New membership form
iii. College Committee

C. Secretary- Emily Ann Ramos (3 min)
i. website/social media update
ii. technology committee

D. Treasurer- Amanda Montez (3 min)
i. Financial update

E. Political Director- Eric Hernandez (3 min)
i. Endorsement Update
ii. H.R. 2454: Aaron’s Law

F. Women’s Leadership Committee – Laura Pedersen (1 min)

III. Old Business
IV. New Business
V. Announcements
VI. Adjournment

Next Meeting: Mon, August 19, 2013 @ 7 pm- UFCW Local 5, 240 S. Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Netroots 2013: Bringing together progressives and technology in Silicon Valley

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending Netroots Nation. For the first time, this convention was in our backyard, San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley. SVYD took advantage of this and hosted a great after party at Mosaic that featured many local elected officials as co-hosts & co-sponsors. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet progressives from all over the country and share ideas to improve our communities. Netroots offered panels, training sessions, meet and greets, and special keynote speeches relating to technology and the progressive movement. Many of these panels were recorded and are available online. I strongly recommend everyone to view them.

 

The first panel I sat in was The New Netroots: Getting the Web We Want. Leading this panel was Timothy Karr, from Free Press. Other panelists were Ellery Roberts Biddle from Global Voices, Rainey Reitman from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and Katherine Maher from Access Now. Originally, this panel’s main focus was on internet activism and its diverse community worldwide. With recent revelations involving the National Security Agency (NSA), the focal point of the conversation quickly became about the privacy in a world where information can easily be distributed to the public. Many questions arose from the event. Are we upset about how the NSA allegedly accessed phone records of U.S. citizens, or are we upset that we know nothing about the program? Should we be equally as upset about these measures if they are used on non-U.S. citizens? How does this reflect our country’s relationship with the rest of the world? No one had a complete solution, but each panelist introduced the initiatives their organizations have proposed to get answers like stopwatching.us or the “Restore the 4th” movement.

 

I won’t go into every panel and training session I attended, but I wanted to take note of an important panel, Building a Productive Partnership Between Tech and the Progressive Community. It’s easy to assume that our group, Silicon Valley Young Democrats, would be the bustling hub between the tech community and the progressive political community. It’s Silicon Valley after all. Unfortunately, this assumption is currently inaccurate. Why is that the case? The panel attributes this to miscommunication, varying methodology, priorities, and a little pride between the two groups. An example from the panel, included a story about how a web designer/programmer wanted to help with a local campaign back in 2008 . He walked into the campaign office and campaign staff sent him to another office to do phone banking. I’m not saying that phone banking isn’t important, but it shows how people in the tech community were not used efficiently because it was not the way things were done. Of course, the tech community didn’t do itself any favors with the progressive community when they tried to push a bill relating to increasing H1B visas without comprehensive immigration reform. It didn’t send a good message to other progressives. However, there were also examples of partnership between the two communities. One awesome example was the creation of the Technology Field Office in San Francisco for President Obama’s 2012 campaign.

 

Where does this leave us now that there isn’t a presidential campaign going on? I believe the solution lies in the two communities embracing each other’s issues. Pay close attention. Technology issues such as open government data, net neutrality, and internet censorship have a large impact in issues of women’s health, education, and corporate/government transparency. Technology may even help solve many traditional issues the progressive movement face, such as the amount of money big corporations and special interests pour into elections.

 

“Okay, the internet provides this opportunity now. To raise money. To get candidates elected. You know, it use to be there was just no way for a small group of people to go up against the power of Big Money, but one the things we’ve seen… In the past year, you know, using nothing but basically computers and you know, our own apartments, we’ve gotten 300,000 people to join our list and raised $1.2 million. I mean that just, you know, three people were able to make a huge difference like that and that, I think, means the internet really provides this chance where we can start taking on big corporations.”

Aaron Swartz, during an interview about the beginnings of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC).

 

This leads me to the panel which was the highest priority on my lists of events to attend, Carrying on Aaron Swartz’s Legacy. This panel moderated by Charlie Furman from Demand Progress featured Senator Mark Begich, Representative Zoe Lofgren, Rainey Reitman from EFF, and Ben Wikler from The Flaming Sword of Justice. Swartz was a programmer who became a vocal political activist. As a programmer, he was involved with the creation of RSS, Creative Commons, and Reddit. As an internet activist, he founded the group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In 2011, Swartz faced 13  federal felony charges when he bulk downloaded academic articles from JSTOR at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 11 of those charges were based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Punishment could be up to $1 million and 35 years in prison. Rep. Lofgren pointed out some serious flaws in the law leading the charges against Swartz in her Wired Op-Ed introducing H. R. 2454 cited as “Aaron’s Law”. The bill has been referred to committee and you can view the bill and its progress online. Rep Lofgren also has a section-by-section summary on her website.

I am recommending everyone in SVYD to read about this bill. If you have questions about it, you are welcome to ask me. I intend to have our members vote to endorse this bill at our next general membership meeting. I have submitted my endorsement request to the political director. If the executive board approves this to be on the agenda, I want every member in SVYD to be informed about this bill. Also at the next meeting, I hope to start a technology subcommittee. Its focus would be on identifying and supporting technology issues and finding ways for SVYD to use current technology to advance its mission. I look forward to pursuing these goals with everyone at SVYD and welcome anyone who wants to join SVYD to help us promote the power of technology for a progressive cause.