Jenn serves as the VP of Digital at 50+1 Strategies. Jenn is a seasoned marketing and communications strategist, with an emphasis on digital media and tool utilization. At Ford Motor Company, she led digital programs to engage women and people of color and oversaw multi-million dollar digital marketing and advertising campaigns. She also recently worked with Elizabeth Warren for President, and led statewide digital programs for Mike Bloomberg for President and US Senator Chris Coons (D-DE). On the Bloomberg Presidential and Coons Senate campaigns, she led the state digital strategy in Maine and Delaware, respectively, to help support Democratic wins in the 2020 election cycle.

Jenn worked as a public school teacher and in the non-profit sector before entering progressive politics.  Jenn got her start in progressive politics while studying as an undergraduate student in Austin, Texas.  There, she organized for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, and later went on to volunteer for his reelection campaign.  She has also consulted on campaigns and volunteered with progressive candidates in Michigan, including Rashida Tlaib’s 2018 campaign and the Michigan Democratic Party.  Her interests include racial justice, women’s rights and ending mass incarceration.

Jenn has also worked in the non-profit, education and international fields. She is a military brat, who grew up all over the country, though her family originally hails from Sunny San Diego, CA. She received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin and her MBA in Marketing from the University of Rochester. She lives outside of Detroit, Michigan with her husband, Daniel, their baby daughter, Lucia, and their Pomsky, Zorro. Jenn loves reading, traveling, cooking, museums, and spending time in nature.

Aaron Keshishian

Aaron Keshishian is Vice President of Campaigns and has nearly two decades of experience leading campaigns to elect progressive leaders and bring communities, organizations and stakeholders together to achieve their goals and win through creative, data-driven strategies. Aaron works on strategy, message development, direct mail, and audience targeting. As a consultant and campaign manager, Aaron has worked to elect democratic leaders throughout California and win on progressive issues across the nation. Prior to joining 50+1 Strategies, he consulted on electoral, ballot measure and state democratic caucus campaigns. Aaron also served as Communications Director in the office of then-California State Assembly Appropriations Chair, Jimmy Gomez, and as Deputy State Director for NextGen Climate Action in New Hampshire.

Derek Lee

As a native 5th generation San Franciscan, Derek has a passion for local politics and working to make the City a better place. Derek graduated with a degree in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also was sometimes mistaken for a film major. He does not surf.

Derek’s first step into a larger world began as an intern for then Supervisor David Chiu. Over the years, Derek has worked and volunteered on a variety of campaigns in several capacities. A jack of all trades, Derek has operated in both field and campaign finance, and has also utilized his skills in research, social media, photography, videography, and website design.

At 50+1, Derek ensures that campaigns are compliant with campaign finance regulations and is also responsible for day-to-day management of campaign finances and expenditures. In addition, Derek provides essential support to campaigns, including, but not limited to managing infrastructure, procurement, and even photography. In addition to his Compliance duties, Derek also directs 50+1’s research efforts, utilizing his diverse knowledge and skills to find the answers clients are looking for.

Derek is a founding board member of the United Democratic Club of San Francisco and Eastern Neighborhoods Democratic Club, where he currently serves as Vice President of Finance and as its Treasurer for both clubs.

Hobbies of Derek include being a huge film buff, karaoke, photography, learning random trivia, playing the violin (and dabbling in mandolin, ukulele, and banjo), listening to bluegrass or Hamilton, and utilizing the Oxford comma.

Andrew Sinn

Andrew advises candidates, elected officials, ballot measure committees, PACs, and nonprofits on issues regarding campaign finance, lobbying, government ethics, and election law matters. Andrew serves as counsel and treasurer to various political committees and provides expertise on campaign compliance and reporting matters. Additionally, Andrew also serves as the Chief Operating Officer for 50+1 Strategies, overseeing the firm’s finances and business affairs.

Andrew comes to the firm from New York, where he served as a judicial clerk and later as a consultant to various ventures and start-ups. A critical and consummate perfectionist, Andrew leverages his versatile skill set, bringing a pragmatic energy and a level of excellence to the 50+1 team.

Andrew is a member of the State Bar of California, the California Political Attorneys Association and holds degrees in law, finance, and philosophy from New York University School of Law and the University of Washington. He also served as a Graduate editor on NYU’s Journal of Law and Business. As a native of San Francisco, Andrew is proud to be part of a progressively minded team that strives to advance the important issues facing the communities he grew up in.

 

Other FNG Consultant Team Members

Annie Eagan

Annie brings 25 years’ experience in government and politics, in education campaigns to Funding the Next Generation.  She is a seasoned political fundraiser, and the owner of Annie Eagan Consulting, which she founded in 2003.

Her first job was working for Senator Dianne Feinstein (1994 – 1998) on her legislative staff working on health and education issues. She started fundraising in 1999. Her education client campaigns include State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Karen Monroe, Berkeley School Board Member Judy Appel, and several other ballot measures.

She has served on the  Emerge California campaign advisory committee since 2007, and worked on a team of seasoned campaign professionals, which proved instrumental in electing Emerge alum to office. She hopes to bring the lessons she learned in cultivating new talent for the election arena to Funding the Next Generation.

Jamileh Ebrahimi

Jamileh Ebrahimi has been the Youth Organizing Director at RYSE, a youth agency in Richmond, California, since 2012. As Youth Organizing Director, she builds a vibrant youth organizing culture both at the Center and in the Richmond community.  Jamileh brings her rich experience as a leader in the 3 campaigns which resulted in the Richmond Fund for Children and Youth.  She became an expert in bringing youth to the fore in local ballot measure efforts.

Jamileh is deeply committed to education, organizing, organizational and community sustainability, and movement building, and through her 18+ years of community organizing, she has discovered the importance of community empowerment, healthy living, and justice. She works to ensure that young people serve as key stakeholders and decision-makers on issues and policies impacting their individual and collective health and well-being. Before joining RYSE, Jamileh started organizing for change in Youth Together (YT) at the age of 13. Following high school, she became the Regional Organizer at YT where she worked for seven years organizing the regional Ethnic Studies conference, campaign planning, and doing local, regional, statewide, and national coalition work for educational justice. She was a member of the BSU at Berkeley Community College, Organize Da B.A.Y., Schools Not Jails Coalition, and the Just Act Core Group, where she had the opportunity to travel to Brazil for the World Social Forum.

Sheldon Gen

Dr. Gen is the Director of the Public Administration Program at San Francisco State University, and advises students in the public policy emphasis. He studies public engagement in the policy making processes, and focuses on environmental and education policy issues. These interests stem from his prior employment and consultancies with many public and nonprofit organizations in the areas of environment, education, transportation, and development. He holds a B.S. and a license in civil engineering, an M.P.A., and a Ph.D. in public policy. He is also an alumnus of the Presidential Management Fellowship and the Peace Corps.

In the MPA program, Dr. Gen often teaches applied research courses and he uses those courses to engage students in service projects with local government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Through this kind of arrangement, he has delivered over 20 agency reports with over 30 student co-authors. A few of these engagements have also led to conference presentations and journal publications.

Ed Harrington

Ed Harrington was everyone’s favorite public administrator when he was Controller of San Francisco and later as the General Manager of the Public Utilities Commission, until he retired in 2012. He was revered for his integrity, knowledge, accessibility and commitment to public service.

During the 4 and 1/2 years that Harrington was General Manager of the SFPUC, he was also the Chair of the Water Utility Climate Alliance composed of 10 large water utilities in the United States with 45 million customers, focused on providing leadership and collaboration on climate change issues affecting water utilities and the customers they serve.

From 1991 to 2008, Harrington was the Controller for the City and County of San Francisco managing the City’s budget, payroll, accounting and auditing programs. As Controller he started the City Services Auditor function which provides audit, performance management and strategic planning services to City Departments. He oversaw the creation of San Francisco’s Children’s Baseline Budget, which involved many hours of negotiations with children’s advocates and city department heads. He monitored the implementation of San Francisco’s Children’s Fund throughout his tenure as Controller.

Harrington was on the Board of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada from 1999 to 2006 and President of the organization in 2004. From 2008 to 2012, he served on the Board of the Financial Accounting Foundation that oversees the work of the Financial and Governmental Accounting Standards Board for the United States, where he co-chaired the Standard Setting Oversight committee and served on the Executive and Appointments and Evaluations Committees. Harrington received his license as a Certified Public Accountant while employed at KPMG, an international accounting firm, in the early 1980’s.

Harrington has been an officer in the Harvey Milk Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club in San Francisco, the treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of Greenpeace International, the treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of SPUR, a Bay Area urban policy think tank, and a lecturer at the University of San Francisco.  He is currently a member of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and a board member of the Children’s Funding Project.

James Harrison

James has practiced law at Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, LLP, one of California’s premier election and government law firms, for more than 20 years.  He is widely recognized as one of the state’s leading experts on the drafting and defense of complex ballot measures at both the state and local level.  He also has expertise in complex conflict of interest matters, election law, and campaign finance issues of all types, and the laws governing public agencies and non-profits. James’ litigation experience includes representing clients in state and federal trials and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and various California courts of appeal.

James’s ballot measure practice has included numerous pre- and post-election challenges, including the successful defense of Governor Brown’s criminal justice reform measure, Proposition 57 (Brown v. Superior Court, 63 Cal.4th 335 (2016), in the first-ever challenge to newly enacted legislation allowing amendments of qualified ballot measures prior to their submission to the voters. He was involved in drafting and then successfully defending through trial and appeals Proposition 71, which established the first-ever state stem cell agency (California Family Bioethics Council v. California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, 147 Cal.App.4th 1319 (2007)) and Proposition 10, the tobacco tax that funds a state and regional system of early childhood education (California Assoc. of Retail Tobacconists v. State, 109 Cal.App.4th 792 (2003)).  He was trial and appellate counsel in the successful federal court challenge to Proposition 208, a statewide campaign finance measure (California Prolife Council Political Action Committee v. Scully, 164 F.3d 1189 (9th Cir. 1999)) and successfully challenged Proposition 213 regarding auto insurance (Horwich v. Superior Court, 21 Cal.4th 272 (1999))..  He has also been instrumental in the drafting of Proposition 26 (2000), Proposition 82 (2006), Proposition 87 (2006), and Proposition 47 (2014).

At the local level, James has provided drafting and litigation assistance on ballot measures in the cities of Sacramento, Malibu, Apple Valley, Alameda, Pleasanton, and Mountain View, among others.  He was involved in drafting the Berkeley soda tax, the Alameda early care sales tax, and has advised many of the coalitions and advocates in the Funding the Next Generation network.  He has drafted model legislation to move funding from Juvenile Halls to youth development.

On election matters, James has been involved in litigation at every stage of the process.  He successfully sought judicial relief to compel the counting of late-delivered ballots in Riverside County and represented Alameda County in litigation challenging its ballot counting methods.  James has litigated all aspects of ballot pamphlet challenges at the local and state level  James is a trusted advisor to government agencies, candidates, committees, and non-profit organizations.  He served as interim General Counsel for the California First 5 Commission (1999), and as Board Counsel (2004-2014) and General Counsel (2014-2017) for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.  James currently serves as outside counsel to the Consumer Attorneys of California, the American Civil Liberties Union, Alameda County First 5, and the California First 5 Association, and numerous ballot measure committees, among others.

James was admitted to the California Bar in 1992.  He is a graduate of Duke University (B.A., cum laude, 1988) and the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (J.D., 1992).  Prior to joining Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, Mr. Harrison was a litigation associate at Morrison & Foerster for four years.

David Metz

David Metz, a Partner in Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), has provided opinion research and strategic guidance to hundreds of non-profit organizations, government agencies, businesses, and political campaigns in over 40 states since joining the firm in 1998.

In 2012, Metz’s research helped a diverse variety of campaigns to success at the ballot box around the country. They included Prop 39, a California ballot measure to close a corporate tax loophole and fund clean energy programs; Pre-K for SA, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro’s ballot measure to fund early childhood education; an independent expenditure campaign to elect Martin Heinrich to the U.S. Senate in New Mexico; a pair of statewide land and water conservation measures in Rhode Island; major local revenue measures in Houston, Portland, Sacramento and Austin; and four members of Congress and nearly a dozen state legislators in California, Washington and Iowa.

Dave’s other successful work on ballot measure campaigns has included tobacco prevention (California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Arizona), Indian gaming (Arizona and California), clean energy (California and Washington), early childhood education (Texas and Arizona), arts funding (Oregon and Minnesota), stem cell research (California and Missouri), transportation funding (California and Washington), and political reform (California and Illinois).

Metz has also provided opinion research on key message and policy issues to numerous environmental and conservation organizations and has specialized in providing community satisfaction, policy development and ballot measure feasibility surveys for major cities, including Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose.

David Metz received his Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University and his Master’s in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California-Berkeley. His writing on politics has appeared in Campaigns & Elections magazine, and in Classifying by Race, an edited volume on the role of race in American politics. Metz may be reached at FM3’s Oakland office at (510) 451-9521, or at dave@fm3research.com.

Jill Wynns

Jill Wynns was a school board member in the San Francisco Unified School District in San Francisco County for 24 years – the longest serving School Board member in the City. She is the 2013 Immediate Past President of the California School Boards Association. She is a major leader in the urban education community and an expert on California school finance, urban education reform issues and governance, charter schools, privatization of public schools, healthy school food programs and labor-management collaboration. She is the former director of a children’s advocacy organization and works as a consultant specializing in education issues, community organizing and development.

She has served on the board of the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) of the National School Boards Association, and is a former President of the Association of California Urban School Districts. She was a working group member of the California Master Plan for Education, served on the California Student Attendance Review Board and the California Title 1 Committee of Practitioners. She is an active participant in the Council of the Great City Schools, as well as CUBE, lobbying regularly on federal education issues. Wynns holds a Bachelor of Arts in humanities from New College at Hofstra University in New York.