Power to the People: Where We Go From Here
Join the Workers Circle for a virtual post-election conversation with award-winning author and journalist Ari Berman, VP at People For the American Way and courts expert Marge Baker, and grassroots mobilization powerhouse Andrea Miller, founder of the Center for Common Ground. We’ll explore the lay of the land post-election and the power we have to fight back against efforts to weaken democratic institutions and to fight for the multiracial democracy, voting rights, and court reform we need.
Speakers will be interviewed by Noelle Damico, Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle and a robust 30 minute session of Q and A from the audience will follow. Bring your questions, your grit, and your energy to this people-powered gathering that will connect you to activists across the nation and as we equip ourselves to fight forward for our democracy.
ASL and Close Captioning will be provided.
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Marge Baker is Executive Vice President at People For the American Way, where she oversees the organization’s government affairs and advocacy portfolio. She serves as spokesperson and chief strategist for People For’s ongoing work to confirm fair-minded judges to the federal judiciary and has led the organization’s voting rights advocacy campaigns, including the ongoing fight to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, as well as our efforts to reduce the undue influence of money in politics through a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
In her work at People For she brings a deep understanding of the issues, strong legislative know how, and the ability to build diverse progressive coalitions to win meaningful victories on key progressive issues. Baker’s expertise and insight is frequently drawn upon by TV, radio, and print outlets such as MSNBC, Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Politico.
She has served for more than 45 years in various public service roles. Prior to her current position, she was the staff director for the late Senator Paul Wellstone on the Senate’s Employment, Safety and Training Subcommittee. She also clerked for the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, served as Chief Counsel to Senator Howard Metzenbaum on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and directed the Consumer Services Division of the New York Department of Public Service.
Baker is a graduate of Yale Law School.
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Ari Berman is the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and a reporting fellow at Type Media Center. He’s the author of the new book Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It, published in April by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, as well as Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America (finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction) and Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post and The Atlantic, and he is a frequent commentator on MSNBC and NPR. He's won the Sidney Hillman Foundation Prize for Magazine Journalism and an Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media. He lives in New Paltz, New York.
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has been the Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle at the Workers Circle since April 2020. With 30 years of experience in grassroots and institutional organizing at the local, regional, and national settings, Noelle is an adjunct teaching organizing and political advocacy at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She has worked alongside the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for two decades to build consumer support for the farmworkers’ Campaign for Fair Food which gave birth to the internationally recognized Fair Food Program that has dramatically advanced human rights for farmworkers and the Worker-driven Social Responsibility paradigm. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Noelle previously served as national staff focused on human trafficking and farmworker rights for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and directed the United Church of Christ’s legislative network on Capitol Hill. Noelle has lectured widely on human rights, forced labor, and corporate accountability including keynotes at the OSCE and the US Department of Justice conferences. She holds a B.A. with High Honors from Swarthmore College as well as a M.Div. and Th.M from Princeton Theological Seminary.
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Andrea Miller is the Founding Board Member of the Center for Common Ground, Executive Director of People Demanding Action, Founding President of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Virginia, and a member of the Democracy and Governance working group of the Virginia Green New Deal. Andrea is an IT and Political Director and a digital and elections strategist. She designs and administers digital phone banks and texting programs. From 2013 to 2015, she led the Progressive Round Table on Capitol Hill, bringing together members of Congress, activists, and non-profit leaders. Her expertise is in voting rights, climate, and the Equal Rights Amendment. She has successfully advocated for legislation on both the Federal and State level. In 2008 she was the Democratic nominee for the Virginia 4th Congressional district.