Community Organizing & Volunteering
Jamilah Elder
Project Coordinator
Summary
Experienced project manager and solutions-oriented professional seeking Executive Administrative or Coordinator role in non-profit or public policy organization. Passionate about progressive politics, policy, electoral and issue campaigns. Dedicated to supporting project leads and contributing positively towards organizational goals.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
1997
1997
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Membership Team Coordinator
New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC DSA)
12.2023 - Current
- Provide administrative support for membership initiatives overseeing outreach, recruitment, onboarding, trainings, and logistics for membership drives and events.
- Onboarded 200+ new members, boosting campaign and workgroup engagement by an average of 13%-14% through innovative outreach strategies.
- Streamline administrative processes using platforms like Action Network and P2P texting apps, optimizing the coordination of monthly phonebanks and bi-weekly committee meetings.
- Craft targeted emails, newsletters, and social media content that reinforced organizational culture and drove robust membership growth.
Legislative Analysis Team Lead Coordinator
New York State Socialists in Office (SiO)
01.2022 - Current
- Support six state elected officials and their staffers by leading 70+ volunteers in managing a complex weekly schedule dedicated to bill analyses, amendments, vote recommendations, and supplemental research for legislative calendars and committee agendas.
- Manage and motivate dedicated team of 70+ volunteers, ensuring high standards in bill analysis, amendment review, and strategic brief preparation for six state-elected officials.
- Leverage project management platforms (Slack, Airtable, G-Suite) to streamline workflows, enhance coordination, and mentor three co-coordinators-boosting team efficiency and output quality within tight legislative deadlines.
- Oversee the thorough evaluation of over 3,500 bills and 750 amendments, producing weekly policy briefs that directly shaped legislative priorities and guided vote recommendations.
Chapter Coordinator
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
04.2021 - 08.2024
- Led chapter coordination and communication, overseeing outreach, recruitment, training, and coaching for campaigns such as the Pass the PRO Act and Green New Deal (GND) for Public Schools.
- Coordinated outreach and training across 100+ chapters, producing briefing documents and toolkits that empowered chapter leaders and aligned local operations with national campaign strategies.
- Orchestrated campaigns that generated over 1 million phone calls, recruited 100+ chapters, and supported 150 events-driving large-scale engagement in progressive initiatives.
- Coordinated national outreach efforts that effectively aligned local actions with strategic policy goals, ensuring measurable campaign success across diverse regions.
Committee Co-Chair
Multi-Racial Organizing Committee (MRO) DSA
06.2022 - 06.2023
- Co-led initiatives to increase multi-racial diversity, engaging chapters through conversations and programs focused on organizational culture, leadership, and recruitment.
- Led administrative operations for focus groups and one-on-one sessions, using efficient scheduling techniques to identify and address organizational gaps, capture insights, and improve organizational processes.
- Developed best-practice guides and reporting protocols that standardized meeting outputs and facilitated collective decision-making.
- Structured committees and streamlined feedback loops that improved internal processes and reinforced the organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Organizer
Tax the Rich Campaign NYC DSA
11.2020 - 04.2021
- Supported a volunteer-led campaign that created the Invest in Our New York Act to raise $50B annually through taxation for public services and COVID recovery.
- Played a central role in the Invest in Our New York Act, contributing to the generation of $4.3B in additional revenue for public services and COVID recovery.
- Executed an outreach strategy that encompassed 500K phone calls, the distribution of 125K door hangers, and direct engagement with 6K+ constituents.
- Streamlined campaign logistics and volunteer coordination to secure hundreds of constituent meetings-ensuring sustained momentum in statewide advocacy efforts.
Volunteer Lead Manager
Bernie Sanders 2020 & 2016
02.2019 - 06.2020
- Provided leadership, training, workflow optimization, and volunteer management 15 hours a day, 7 days a week to an entirely distributed, virtual team of super volunteers, sweepers, and peer-to-peer texting volunteers.
- Co-led a high-performing remote team of 200-300 super volunteers, facilitating the nation's largest peer-to-peer texting operation with over 30K volunteers sending 260+ million messages.
- Developed robust training programs and real-time support systems that secured the collection of 5.5M voter IDs and mobilized over 1M supporters for key events.
- Developed communication protocols and consistent messaging to maintain the accuracy of policy-based content that maximized volunteer efficiency across massive national texting operation.
Senior Director, Analytics & Insights
Kantar Media
02.2020 - 05.2020
- Established best practices, standards & procedures for newly created data and analytics practice while managing research, insights, reporting deliverables and providing creative data intelligence solutions to facilitate business decisions and development.
- Established an analytics practice from the ground up, leading a team that delivered actionable insights and creative intelligence solutions across multi-client teams.
- Improved operational workflows to achieve a 26% boost in efficiency while reducing report turnaround times by 47% through advanced data integration and management practices.
- Spearheaded the development of post-mortem frameworks and workflow best practices that enhanced data accuracy and supported high-stakes business decisions.
Co-Lead Research & Policy
Justice Democrats (JD)
10.2017 - 08.2018
- Drafted and researched policy briefs, campaign finance reports, opposition research and analyzed texting data to support a slate of 22 endorsed candidates (writing samples available on request).
- Co-authored influential policy and campaign finance reports-including the progressive 'The Future of the Party' report-that directly supported strategic decision-making for 22 endorsed candidates.
- Streamlined research processes by using digital collaboration tools (e.g., Trello, Slack, and Zoom), accelerating policy turnaround times and enabling rapid responses to evolving campaign needs.
- Led comprehensive opposition research initiatives that combined quantitative data with qualitative insights, refining campaign fundraising, messaging, and opposition research.
Senior Partner, Data Integration & Analytics
MEC
08.2011 - 01.2017
- Led a high-performing team of 15 data and analytics specialists to deliver best in class data integration solutions and competitive insights, enhancing decision-making for market mix modeling and omni-channel attribution.
- Headed the delivery of over 350 data feeds and 40 analytical reports each quarter, providing data-driven strategic insights that informed multi-channel marketing initiatives.
- Redesigned processes to achieve a 48% improvement in operational efficiencies, ensuring the rapid synthesis of large data sets into clear, actionable outputs.
- Presented complex analytics in accessible briefs and reports to agency leaders, driving strategic policy recommendations and business decisions.
VP, Associate Strategy Planning Director
MediaVest
03.2004 - 05.2011
- Led the strategic development and execution of media communication plans, effectively aligning objectives, strategies, and budget allocations across a diverse portfolio of clients, including automotive, consumer packaged goods, and telecommunications sectors.
- Directed the development of comprehensive media communication plans, integrating policy insights with data-driven analysis to elevate client visibility.
- Coordinated national and local strategic initiatives with detailed schedules and reporting processes that enhanced the efficiency of campaign execution.
- Led the production of high-impact briefs and strategic reports that guided decision-making and improved overall campaign performance.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration with concentration in Marketing and Economics
Wayne State University
Certificates of Completion - Call Time Management, DIY Digital for Electoral & Issue Campaigns, Field Organizing, Financing Campaigns, GOTV Bootcamp
Movement School
08.2020 - 10.2021
Skills
Education And Professional Development
- Bachelor of Science (Cum Laude), Business Administration with concentration in Marketing and Economics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 05/01/95
- Call Time Management, DIY Digital for Electoral & Issue Campaigns, Movement School, 08/01/20 - 11/30/20
- Field Organizing, Financing Campaigns, Movement School, 01/01/21 - 03/31/21
- GOTV Bootcamp, Movement School, 10/01/21
Tools And Applications
- Office Software: Microsoft Office | Google Suite
- Project Management, Productivity & Collaboration Tools: Slack | Asana | Trello | Airtable | Zoom | ChatGPT | Grammarly
- Campaign & Outreach: Action Network | NGP VAN | Mobilize | ActBlue
- Messaging & Relational Apps: P2P Texting Apps (Spoke, Scale to Win, Hustle) | Reach | Empower
- CRM & Ticketing Platforms: Salesforce | Monday | ZenDesk | Help Scout
- Digital Design: Canva
Interests
Volunteer Travel
Health & Fitness
Podcasts
Reading
Timeline
Membership Team Coordinator
New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC DSA)
12.2023 - Current
Committee Co-Chair
Multi-Racial Organizing Committee (MRO) DSA
06.2022 - 06.2023
Legislative Analysis Team Lead Coordinator
New York State Socialists in Office (SiO)
01.2022 - Current
Chapter Coordinator
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
04.2021 - 08.2024
Organizer
Tax the Rich Campaign NYC DSA
11.2020 - 04.2021
Certificates of Completion - Call Time Management, DIY Digital for Electoral & Issue Campaigns, Field Organizing, Financing Campaigns, GOTV Bootcamp
Movement School
08.2020 - 10.2021
Senior Director, Analytics & Insights
Kantar Media
02.2020 - 05.2020
Volunteer Lead Manager
Bernie Sanders 2020 & 2016
02.2019 - 06.2020
Co-Lead Research & Policy
Justice Democrats (JD)
10.2017 - 08.2018
Senior Partner, Data Integration & Analytics
MEC
08.2011 - 01.2017
VP, Associate Strategy Planning Director
MediaVest
03.2004 - 05.2011
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration with concentration in Marketing and Economics
Wayne State University
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