We’re advised by talented experts in the field of student organizing.
Garrett Havens
Director of Operations, B&B Strategies
Garrett Havens is a youth engagement specialist with over a decade of experience advocating for higher education policy changes, training community leaders and organizers, and directing voter registration and mobilization efforts. He currently serves as the Director of Operations for B&B Strategies, a Seattle-based firm that provides support for electoral campaigns. Prior to that position, he worked as the Executive Director of the Washington Student Association (WSA), which represents the 150,000 students at the four-year public universities in Washington State. Under his leadership, WSA led the Washington Youth Vote Coalition, which helped register more than 22,000 young voters in 2012, and co-coordinated the Washington State Dream Act Coalition, which successfully provided undocumented students access to the Washington State Need Grant.
Andy MacCracken
Executive Director, National Campus Leadership Council
Andy MacCracken has been engaging student leaders for several years, building regional and national coalitions that elevate the youth voice across the country. He currently leads the National Campus Leadership Council, where he’s worked with nearly 600 current and former student body presidents from colleges in each state to leverage the power of campus ideas to make a national impact. He regularly consults for organizations and institutions on youth policy and how to more effectively engage Millennials in the public discourse. Andy helped organize “Do We Have a Deal Yet?,” a campaign that empowered 150 student body presidents to speak up about the federal debt ceiling debate in July 2011. He previously served as executive director of the DC Student Alliance and president of the American University Student Government.
Abe Scarr
Executive Director, Illinois Public Interest Research Group
Abe Scarr has more than a decade of professional experience as an organizer and advocate, including four years as the Director of the Student Government Resource Center. While in that position, he trained thousands of student government leaders across the country and helped statewide student associations build stronger organizations and run effective advocacy campaigns. Among his many projects, he helped the California State Student Association run a grassroots campaign to protect funding for need-based financial aid, advised on the launch of a new statewide student government association in Colorado, and oversaw a series of regional student leadership training conferences. Abe is currently the Director of Illinois PIRG, a statewide public interest advocacy organization. In that role, he is responsible for program and organizational development, research, and legislative advocacy.
Laura Simolaris
Program Director, Executive Education, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Laura Simolaris is the Program Director for the Executive Education program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, which offers the world’s most comprehensive range of classes for public, private, and nonprofit sector leaders. Prior to that position, she worked at the Harvard Institute of Politics as the Director of the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement, a program that unites 23 colleges and universities around the country who are committed to creating a more civically engaged campus. In that position, she administered HVOTE, an intramural competition to register, educate and mobilize Harvard students to vote. Additionally, Laura oversaw many of Harvard IOP’s student committees including the Policy Group Program, which facilitates students conducting policy research and developing policy recommendations in a number of areas. Laura has been with Harvard University since 1999.
Josh Winters
Voter Engagement Consultant
Josh Winters has spent his career developing, implementing, and evaluating civic engagement programs to involve underrepresented communities in civic life. He most recently served as the Director of the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project, America’s oldest and largest nonpartisan youth voter mobilization program. Prior to the New Voters Project, Josh served for six years as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, a grassroots, nonpartisan, student-directed nonprofit organization that empowers and trains students to take collective action in the public interest. Prior to that, Josh worked for five years as the Public Policy Associate with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, where he organized and trained nonprofits on innovative civic engagement strategies and tactics.