March 25, 2017
I ran to be Secretary of Democrats Abroad Switzerland. I unfortunately didn't win, but I told leadership that I still wanted to be involved!

April 22, 2017
I attended the Science March in Freiburg, Germany, with other members of DACH Basel.

June 2017
I was asked to step into the DACH Secretary role due to another member stepping down.

July 2017
The DACH Executive Committee had a Leadership Retreat in Bern. Over a weekend, we worked on communication and team-building.

August 18, 2017
My daughter and I attended a vigil in Zürich in honor of Heather Heyer. During the vigil, attendees were encouraged to call their elected representatives to urge that action be taken against the rising tide of extreme right-wing nationalism.

December 19, 2017
In preparation for the 2018 election cycle, I attended my first Vote From Abroad training session!

January 25, 2018
The Basel chapter held a "Call to Action Apéro" where we brainstormed ways to get out the vote in 2018.
We also completed our Federal Postcard Applications!

February 2018
I oversaw my first Membership Verification process as DACH Secretary. Our verified percentage increased by more than 5% over the previous year.
Our verified percentage has continued to increase every year that I have been (acting) Secretary or Database Administrator.

February 2018
I also attended my first DA event outside of Switzerland, heading to Madrid for the EMEA Regional Meeting.
Meeting DA leaders from all over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as hearing all of their great ideas, was so inspiring!

March 2018: Serving on the DACH Compliance Committee
Leaders at the national and chapter levels collaborated in creating a Compliance Packet. This included a Donation Declaration, standardized Registration Forms for checking into events, and literature on why FEC compliance is important. We rolled these materials out on March 16, 2018.
This exercise definitely eased DACH's transition into the new international FEC-compliant banking structure in 2022-23.

March 2018
I organized fundraising events in Basel and Zürich featuring Dr. Alexandra Cirone, where she spoke to members about the impact of Fake News on today's political climate.

April 26, 2018
I attended a lecture by Former Ambassador Suzi Levine about the role of gerrymandering in US politics and what can be done to combat it.
I personally believe that gerrymandering is one of the biggest threats to the US democratic system; I even spoke out against it during my campaign speech to become DACH Secretary in 2017.

May 2018
I packed my bags and headed to Japan for the DPCA Global Meeting in Tokyo!
Meeting DA leaders from the Americas and Asia-Pacific was awesome and left me more energized for the rest of the 2018 election season! 

June 16, 2018
My daughter and I went to Zürich to march in the Pride Parade with the Basel and Zurich chapters of DACH.

August 30, 2018
I went with a small group of volunteers to Franklin University Switzerland in Lugano to hold a voter registration event on their campus.

December 8, 2018
The Basel Chapter held its first "Wine Whine" fundraiser. We are still holding these events on a semi-regular basis in Basel and other locations. These events are run by a volunteer sommelier and all proceeds go to Democrats Abroad Switzerland. We have since rebranded these wine tastings as the Baucus Caucus.

April 7, 2019
I was officially elected as DACH Secretary! No one ran against me, but it still felt good to be chosen for the role, as opposed to simply stepping in to fill a vacancy.
I was also chosen as one of Switzerland's DPCA voting representatives, a position that I have continuously held since then (either by virtue of being Vice Chair or via election). I take very seriously and value highly my role in representing DACH's values and positions to the global DPCA body, as well as acting as a liaison between the local and global membership.

June 15, 2019
After the Zürich Pride Parade, I started the Democrats Abroad Switzerland "SwissDemocrats" Instagram account. This is still one of our main ways to communicate with DACH members, US citizens living in Switzerland who haven't yet joined, and other organizations who share our objectives.

September 2019: Revitalizing the DACH Website
Working with a volunteer communications professional, I started revamping the Switzerland portion of the DA website. This included creating standardized images for our events, an initial donation page (which has since been standardized according to international requirements), and a Pressroom, including subpages for press releases, a record of our earned media, and a dedicated page for press inquiries.

October 2019
It was time to pack my bags again, heading this time to the birthplace of democracy - Athens, Greece! The EMEA region met again to strategize ahead of the 2020 presidential election cycle. I also spent one session moderating the WebEx chat for our virtual attendees.

January 2020
DACH's Chair Kelli Brouillet had to step down from her position because she and her husband were relocated to Australia. Vance White became the Chair and I stepped up to be Vice Chair and continued to be acting Secretary.

February 2020
As we were preparing for the 2020 Global Presidential Primary events, we were also keeping a close eye on the developing corona virus health emergency. We began a social media campaign to update our members on the rapidly changing situation.

March 2020: Global Presidential Primary
As DACH Vice Chair, I had planned to attend one voting center in each chapter city: Zürich on Super Tuesday, Geneva on March 7, and Basel on March 10. I was able to attend Zürich's event on March 3, but had to step in as Voting Center Manager for both Basel Voting Centers on March 7 and 10.
Throughout the GPP week, I continuously updated our 2020 GPP page with pertinent voting center and COVID-19 information.

May 16, 2020: Chairing a Presidential Preference Group
I chaired the Biden Presidential Preference Group (PPG) for the 2020 EMEA Regional Meeting. This was the largest online meeting I had ever run!

August 2020: Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th Amendment
Throughout the month of August 2020, DACH celebrated the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We had a dedicated page on our site, daily Snapshots of History website/social media posts, and an in-person celebration in Zürich on August 29, 2020.

Election Day 2020
I helped moderate the overnight Election Watch Party organized by some members of DA who don't mind missing some sleep. I also spent some time speaking to the press about anxiously waiting for results while trying to encourage other people to be patient.

• US Democrats in Switzerland: “Trump is afraid of defeat” - Nau.ch

• What the Vice President of the Foreign Democrats in Switzerland says about the US election - Badishe Zeitung

Election Day 2020, continued
After results were finalized, I spoke to the press again about the results.

• US elections: This is what Democrats here hope for from Joe Biden - Nau.ch
  
  

January 28, 2021
In light of the events of January 6, 2021, I again invited Dr. Alexandra Cirone to speak to our members about Politics in a Post-Truth World. She donated her time for the event and we collected monetary donations from US citizen attendees to support DACH's Get Out the Vote efforts.

February and March 2021
I moderated all three of our online Tax Talks. These events are vital fundraisers each year and we were able to seamlessly transfer them online instead of in-person in each chapter city.

March 14, 2021
I was elected DACH Vice Chair at our (virtual) AGM.
Eric Burns (DACH Chair) and I started several initiatives, including monthly "salons," where our members could gather (online) to discuss various issues. We also emphasized a focus on diversity and mobilizing the youth vote.

June 16, 2021
President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. DACH members from all over the country travelled to Geneva to welcome him to our country.

• Blick TV - start at 14:30

September 12, 2021
I organized the Basel Family Tour with Jeanne Darling as a fundraising event. Jeanne is a US citizen who has made Switzerland her home and has written several children's books about Swiss cities and legends. She donated her time for the event, was very popular and sold out quickly.

October 22, 2021
I organized the Basel Ghost Tour as a fundraising event. Our Basel-native tour guide told us all about Basel's haunted history!

July 3, 2022: Independence Day
We organized an in-person, national Independence Day celebration in Bern. Typically, DACH chapters organize local 4th of July parties, but after all COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted, we wanted to gather many people together!
Activities included:

• Grilling and potluck

• Games and face-painting

• Letter-writing marathon

• "Why I'm Voting" booth

• "Bans off our Bodies" mini protest

• US political trivia contest

September 2022: VoteFromAbroad Ads on Public Transport
I designed a poster to advertise VoteFromAbroad on busses and trams in Basel and Geneva. The ads in each city had unique QR codes so that we could measure the number of hits we received from each ad buy.

March 19, 2023
I was elected Chair of the Basel Chapter, which allows me to focus on my local chapter while still having a vote on the Executive Committee. I am also serving as Database Administrator for DACH.

June 4, 2023
The Basel and Zürich chapters held their first annual Frick Cherry Blossom Trail hike!

April - June 2023: Served as Chair of the EMEA Regional Vice Chair (RVC) Nominations & Elections Committee (NEC)
The RVC is a vital position, in that the RVC holds a position (and vote) on the Executive Committee of the DPCA. They are the liaison between county committees and the global organization, as well as providing crucial leadership within their region.
For the 2023 RVC election, we had an unexpected number of nominees (38), which required a great deal of organizational work among the NEC and with the nominees/candidates, as well as communication to the electorate.

• The NEC started with 4 members and ended with 3; one member resigned in May.

• The NEC held 8 planned meetings and one ad hoc meeting. As Chair, I was also in frequent contact with all members of the committee outside of these meetings.

• In addition to those communications, the DA website had to be updated with candidate information and events; the Candidate Forum had to be organized and the video distributed; the election had to be executed; and a final report had to be made to the EMEA region and the DPCA Executive Committee.

• As Chair, I was the public face of the NEC, running the Candidate Forum and election, as well as making all necessary presentations.
  
  

October 2023: EMEA Regional Retreat
DACH volunteered to help organize the 2023 regional retreat, as we understand that our country committee is unlikely to ever host one. My contributions included:

• Helping to plan break-out session topics,

• Designing our VoteFromAbroad PopSockets,

• Leading two break-out sessions during the retreat,

• Helping set up each day, and

• Volunteering whenever an unexpected task popped up.

Election Year 2024

• Heading into Election Year 2024, I am focused on making sure that the Basel chapter, DA Switzerland, and all of Democrats Abroad are mobilized to Get Out The Vote!

• All of our chapter events this year will have a voter registration component, and ideally a fundraising component as well.

• I make sure to listen while I'm in public, hoping to hear an "American" accent. "Are you a US citizen? Are you registered to vote?"

• I am also sharing information about DACH events at my university, at my cycling studio, and around town (on public boards that allow personal advertising).

• I sincerely believe that I can use my passion for DA to help spread the word to other delegates at the DNC about all the good we accomplish around the world.

• I plan to use my preexisting Swiss media contacts to get lots of earned media exposure in the weeks leading up to and during the DNC. This should help us reach the well-integrated and/or "accidental" Americans who may not be aware of DA and don't cross paths with us in their daily lives or via our normal advertising channels.