Ben Gillespie
Glenside,PA
Summary
Forward-thinking Organizing and Field Director skilled at operating departments and managing staff for maximum project success, growth, and retention. Talented in developing partnerships, overseeing personnel and developing tactical plans to meet strategic goals. Successful background matching employees with roles for maximum performance. Proactive and hardworking individual focused on continuous operational improvement.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
Regional Organizing Director
New Pennsylvania Project
01.2022 - Current
- Led team that registered over 4000 new voters in two key electoral counties between January and November of 2022
- Have registered about 1000 since
- Recruited, trained, and managed 5 full-time organizers and 5 part-time field staff
- Developed strong working relationships with other local and statewide organizations, local businesses, educational institutions, and activists to educate and mobilize new voters
- Collected, quality-controlled, accurately reported, and delivered over 4000 PA Voter Registration forms
- Managed large teams of local and out-of-state volunteers to supplement work of paid organizers
- Planned and hosted multiple voter-education events in historically disenfranchised communities.
Field Director
Jill Beck for PA Superior Court 2021
04.2021 - 06.2021
- Created and implemented field plan for statewide judicial primary that contacted over 200,000 voters in all 67 Pennsylvania counties
- Trained and managed Field Organizers and Interns all around state to recruit and train volunteers for competitive direct voter contact program.
Dialer Manager
GetThru
07.2020 - 11.2020
- Facilitated DVC calls for hundreds of campaigns around the country, including Biden-Harris
- Managed staff to maximize platform efficiency and troubleshoot dialer problems
- Interfaced with ThruTalk back end and multiple interfaces to keep accurate record of highly dynamic data throughout the day.
Campaign Manager
Marlene Katz for PA State Rep 2020
02.2020 - 06.2020
- Managed all aspects of a top-tier State House race through the primary
- Raised $70,000 during the Spring COVID shutdown, to keep candidate in the top 3 Democratic challengers for fundraising, statewide
- Ran a groundbreaking Vote-by-mail program that utilized phone banking, texting, mailers, social media, and targeted ads, that increased Democratic Mail-in Ballot use by over 30% in the district
- Utilized creative methods to run a robust field program during the strictest period of the COVID shutdown.
Regional Field Director
Delco Victory 2019
07.2019 - 11.2019
- Successfully swept County-wide races in a historical election that saw Democrats take control of Delaware County, PA for the first time since 1855
- Managed a team that knocked over 40,000 doors and increased turnout by about 33% from 2017
- Trained and helped manage 25 candidates for local office in 9 heavily Republican municipalities and 3 school districts, seeing 10 of them elected.
Field Director
Beth Finn for Philadelphia City Council 2019
03.2019 - 05.2019
- Managed small staff and volunteers to optimize efforts in a very crowded field of candidates, to make over 14000 DVC attempts in just 2 months
- Completed over 100 GOTV shifts.
Field Organizer
Scott Wallace for Congress 2018
06.2018 - 11.2018
- Organized 814 volunteer shifts that knocked over 30,000 doors and made over 13,000 phone calls
- Interfaced with state and local Democratic campaigns.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Criminology & Criminal Justice
University of Nebraska - Omaha
01.2016
Skills
- VAN (Votebuilder, EveryAction and other platforms)
- Recruiting and management
- Volunteer outreach and management
- Event planning and execution
- NGP/ActBlue/MailChimp
- Fundraising and Budgeting
- Press Releases, Social Media, Digital Communications
- Windows/Macintosh/Google Suite Environments
- Microsoft Office and Excel
- Intermediate Spanish
- Staff Management
- Project Planning
- Budget Management
- Schedule Management
- Problem Resolution
- Decision-Making
- Technical Proficiency
- Onboarding and Orientation
- Interpersonal Relations
- Hiring and Training
- Work Planning and Prioritization
- Task Delegation
- Idea Development and Brainstorming
- Training and Development
- Staff Training
- Strategic Planning
Training
Arena Academy 201, 06/01/21
LeadPA- Ready To Manage, 11/01/19
Timeline
Regional Organizing Director
New Pennsylvania Project
01.2022 - Current
Field Director
Jill Beck for PA Superior Court 2021
04.2021 - 06.2021
Dialer Manager
GetThru
07.2020 - 11.2020
Campaign Manager
Marlene Katz for PA State Rep 2020
02.2020 - 06.2020
Regional Field Director
Delco Victory 2019
07.2019 - 11.2019
Field Director
Beth Finn for Philadelphia City Council 2019
03.2019 - 05.2019
Field Organizer
Scott Wallace for Congress 2018
06.2018 - 11.2018
Bachelor of Science - Criminology & Criminal Justice
University of Nebraska - Omaha
Similar Profiles
Sean GubermanSean Guberman
Campus Organizer at Project 26 PennsylvaniaCampus Organizer at Project 26 Pennsylvania
Debra CaldwellDebra Caldwell
Independent Contractor – Member Services at AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania - Medicaid & Keystone First – AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania Community Health Choices – Keystone First Community Health ChoicesIndependent Contractor – Member Services at AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania - Medicaid & Keystone First – AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania Community Health Choices – Keystone First Community Health Choices
Ankiambom Nkesa NkesaAnkiambom Nkesa Nkesa
Project Manager at Project Management Capstone: Acme Health Innovations Marketing Application Development Project. Courtesy Coursera IBM IT Project Manager Professional Certificate CourseProject Manager at Project Management Capstone: Acme Health Innovations Marketing Application Development Project. Courtesy Coursera IBM IT Project Manager Professional Certificate Course
Cassius O'MalleyCassius O'Malley
Barista at Giant (Starbucks)Barista at Giant (Starbucks)
Lily ODonnellLily ODonnell
Accounts Payable Manager at FiOptix IncAccounts Payable Manager at FiOptix Inc