I am running for GPUS National Steering Committee

[Andrea Mérida Cuéllar]

Colleagues, just an FYI that I have been nominated for, and have accepted, election to fill a vacancy on the national steering committee of the Green Party of the United States.In case you may not know, our national party is run by seven co-chairs, in conjunction with the national committee's delegates.  One of the co-chairs has stepped down to take on a paid staff fundraiser position with the party, which is why the seat has become vacant.  The term ends in July, at which time I am also running for a full term of two years at our national committee meeting in July 2015 in St. Louis.Here is my "pitch" to the national delegates that will vote to accept me or not:

Dear Secretary Dickinson and Green Party of the United States:It is with great enthusiasm that I accept Charles Osdtdiek's nomination of me to fill the vacancy on the GPUS Steering Committee, left open as a result of Starlene Rankin's resignation recently.  Starlene has left very large footsteps for me to follow, and I am humbled by the opportunity to serve the Party.          My name is Andrea Merida, and I am an activist for public education and racial and economic justice from Denver, CO.  National committee members, I believe my track record of real results in growing the numbers of registered Green voters in Denver, in improving communications with our Green voters and in growing the membership of chapter activists throughout Colorado are skills that can be scaled up to benefit our national party.  Therefore, I ask you today for your vote to appoint me to the GPUS Steering Committee.I am a former elected member of the Denver Board of Education and represented a working-class and predominantly Latino and Vietnamese-descent district.  I have the distinction of being Denver's first-ever elected official registered as a Green.  The very first person of my family to be born a U.S. citizen, I am a veteran of the United States Army.I am also is a founding member of Parents Across America, a national grassroots organization that connects parents and activists from across the United States to fight for equity in our nation's schools and to release public education from the clutches of the corporate reform movement.  I work closely with parents and students to understand their rights to, and to support their decision to, opt out from standardized testing.  I am honored to serve currently as a co-chair of the Denver Green Party, and during my tenure, Denver Green Party voter registrations jumped 25 percent from 2014 to 2015.  I am also a member of the GPUS' national committee as a delegate from Colorado, a member of the Green Party's BRPP and Outreach committees and am active in the Denver local #BlackLivesMatter movement.  Additional work includes as a steering committee member for 15 Now Colorado, whose goal is to launch a ballot initiative campaign to raise Colorado's minimum wage in 2016. In my "spare" time, I work as a freelance web designer and as a manager and backup singer of a successful Denver funk band.The support I have received for my bid for this position include:

• David Cobb, 2004 GPUS presidential nominee (official endorsement)
• Cynthia McKinney, 2008 GPUS presidential nominee (verbal support)
• Jill Stein, 2012 GPUS presidential nominee (verbal support)
• Bill Bartlett, co-chair, Colorado Green Party (official endorsement)
• Laura Clark, co-chair, Colorado Green Party (official endorsement)
• Asher Platts, chair, Maine Green Independent Party (official endorsement)

It is my intention to also run in July for a full term on the steering committee, but some of my goals for the immediate future would include:

• the official launch of the GPUS Latino caucus
• helping to optimize and publicize our party fundraising activities along with Starlene Rankin
• focusing on reinforcing ballot access activities
• improving communications between state parties and the steering committee

National committee members, please do not hesitate to ask me questions here on this thread or at (303) 550-0677 or andrea@denvergreenparty.org.  Please vote for me when the floor opens.  The nation is waiting for the promise that the Green Party of the United States holds, and I cannot wait to lay shoulder to the plow.  Con todo mi agradecimiento/With gratitude,Andrea Mérida

I am holding an online fundraiser to help offset some of the costs of getting to St. Louis, which I will be doing anyway to represent the Colorado Green Party as one of your two state delegates to the national committee.  I would appreciate your support with that effort, located here: https://fundly.com/help-andrea-merida-get-to-st-louis.  Would you consider helping with whatever small amount you can?  No amount is too small.Thank you for your attention, and I ask for your support as well!

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