CATALIST BOARD OF MANAGERS

Patricia Bauman

President, the Bauman Foundation, Catalist Board Chair

Patricia Bauman is president of the Bauman Foundation. In recent years, the Foundation has supported civic participation through the general support of organizations engaged in voter registration and outreach and election protection. She has also led policy efforts to foster public access to government information.

She is also a real estate investor and is active as a donor to Democratic candidates. She is a co-chair of the Brennan Center for Justice and serves on the boards of Montefiore Medical Center in New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and as chair of the NRDC Action Fund.

Ms. Bauman is a graduate of Radcliffe/Harvard College, Columbia University School of Public Health, and Georgetown University Law Center.

Al Dwoskin

Founder Emeritus

Albert J. Dwoskin is President and CEO of A.J. Dwoskin & Associates, Inc. Since founding the company in 1967, the operations have primarily been the development, ownership, and management of neighborhood-serving retail centers and residential properties in Northern Virginia. He currently serves as Director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and on the Commonwealth of Virginia Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. He also serves on the Board of the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute and Endowment Fund.

In past years he has also served as: Catalist's Chairman of the Board of Managers, George Mason University Foundation (1998 – 2007), Director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (from 1994 – 2002), Metropolitan Washington YMCA, Member of the Commonwealth of Virginia Treasury Board, Governor’s Commission on Transportation in the 21st Century, Director for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology, and the Woodlawn Foundation, which is a National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Michael Frias

Chief Executive Officer

Michael Frias has nearly fifteen years combined experience in politics, state government, and the federal government. Prior to joining Catalist, Michael was at the Department of Homeland Security. While there, he served as Deputy Chair of the Common Vetting Task Force and led the interagency development of a Big Data environment to improve information sharing across the DHS Enterprise and the Intelligence Community. Prior to DHS, he served as Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill. He also worked on national, statewide, congressional, and municipal campaigns. Notably, he was the State Director for America Coming Together (ACT) in 2004 and the Arizona Coordinated Campaign Director in 2006.

Harold Ickes

Founder & President Emeritus

Harold Ickes' nearly fifty years of commitment and accomplishments fighting for progressive causes have earned him trust, respect and friendship of unusual breadth and depth in the progressive political community. He is a founding partner of The Ickes & Enright Group, a Washington DC consulting firm. Prior to this, Mr. Ickes served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Political Affairs and Policy to President Clinton, managing a number of the President's key policy initiatives. He was also an architect of the President's 1996 re-election campaign (the first successful re-election campaign of a Democratic president since FDR), the 1996 Democratic National Convention, and the 1997 Presidential Inaugural.  

Prior to serving in the White House, Mr. Ickes was a partner in the New York law firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C., specializing in election and union-side labor law. He rejoined the law firm as partner in 1998 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board and Co-Chair of the firm's Labor and Government Relations practice groups.

Julianne Kwon

Chief Legal Officer, Catalist

Julianne Kwon joined Catalist in 2019 and leads our legal, compliance, and regulatory functions. With more than 20 years of experience as both an accomplished corporate generalist and transactional specialist, Julianne also has particular legal expertise in launching new businesses and advising on corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, and commercial transactions.

Julianne earned her JD/MBA from William & Mary and her BA from Wellesley College. She is a member of the New York State Bar.

Genny Meyhew

Service Employees International Union, Chief Technology Officer

Genny Mayhew is the Chief Technology Officer at SEIU, where she oversees the IT and Data Systems and Analytics Departments. Genny has worked for labor unions throughout her career, including the New York State United Teachers, NEA, and the AFL-CIO.

Genny earned her Ph.D. in American Politics from the University of Maryland, where her research focused on large-scale field experiments and mass membership organizations.

Ademola Oyefeso

International Vice President & Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department, UFCW

Ademola Oyefeso is an International Vice President and Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the largest private sector union in the United States. In this role, Ademola Oyefeso advances the union’s legislative priorities and works with elected officials and candidates at every level of government to support the issues that matter most to UFCW’s 1.3 million hard-working members and their families.

UFCW members work in grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, and help to put food on our nation’s tables. For multiple years, Ademola has led UFCW’s legislative outreach and national sponsorship surrounding the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, helping to ensure it remains the largest single-day food drive in the United States.

He also helped to pass New York City’s fresh food financing initiative, which brought grocery stores to underserved communities.

Prior to UFCW, Ademola was the Senior Director of Political Affairs and Strategic Initiatives at the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). He also served as the Principal Director of the Outreach and Services Unit for the Speaker’s Office of the New York City Council.

Ademola has extensive campaign experience and has held leadership positions on Gubernatorial, U.S. House, New York Mayoral and New York City Council races. He was also the GOTV Director for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

He graduated from the State University of New York College at New Paltz with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Chemistry minor. Ademola lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two children.

Laura Quinn

President

Laura Quinn currently advises philanthropists and investors engaged in a variety of progressive media enterprises. She is also a current Board member and President of Catalist. A founder of the company, she served as CEO from 2006 through 2018. 

Ms. Quinn previously served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Vice President Al Gore; as Executive Director of the U.S. Senate Democratic Technology and Communications Committee for Majority Leader Tom Daschle; and in communications and economic policy positions for U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller, Carl Levin, and Joe Biden. In addition to her work in business and government, Ms. Quinn has held senior roles on five national Presidential campaigns; and senior management and consulting positions for numerous national and statewide political and advocacy campaigns and not-for-profits. In 2018-19, she was a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Ash Center for Governance and Innovation, and at Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy. Ms. Quinn currently sits on Boards and Advisory Committees of several technology enterprises that serve the progressive civic community.

Mark Steitz

Founder, TSD Communications

Mark founded TSD Communications in 1993. Mark directs strategic communications efforts for a wide range of businesses, progressive organizations and campaigns. Mark’s current clients include financial firms, research organizations, and foundations. Mark and TSD developed international communications strategy for the Athens 2004 Olympics from the bidding process in 1997 through the Games. Mark oversaw international and crisis communications for the global retailer The Body Shop between 1993 and 1996.

Mark Steitz is a leader in the field of political testing and targeting. He is a founding Board member of the Analyst Institute, which conducts randomized controlled experiments for progressive campaigns and causes. He co-founded Copernicus Analytics (now part of Catalist) and QRS New Media. He is also on the advisory board of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.

Mark was Director of Communications and Research at the Democratic National Committee under Ron Brown, developed the free media and scheduling targeting system for the 1992 Clinton campaign, and previously worked on the Presidential campaigns of Reverend Jesse Jackson and Senator Gary Hart.

An economist by training, Steitz was Chief Economist in the office of Senator Hart and worked at the Congressional Budget Office from 1978 to 1986 as an industrial and tax policy analyst.

Mark has an MA in Economics from Yale University and a BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis.

Nsé Ufot

Chief Executive Officer of the New Georgia Project (NGP)

Nsé Ufot is a long-time leader in the progressive community who currently serves as CEO of the New Georgia Project (NGP) as well as the New Georgia Project Action Fund. Ufot leads both organizations with a data-informed approach and a commitment to developing tools that leverage technology with the goal of making it easier for every voter to engage in every election. NGP develops Georgia's home-grown talent by training and organizing local activists across the state, and has registered nearly 500,000 Georgians to vote.

Prior to joining NGP, Ufot worked as the Assistant Executive Director for the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Canada's largest faculty union. She also served as the Senior Lobbyist and Government Relations Officer for the American Association of University Professors, where she coordinated initiatives for mobilizing members.

Ufot, who was born in Nigeria and raised in Southwest Atlanta, is a proud naturalized U.S. citizen. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Dayton School of Law.  

Karen White

Deputy Executive Director, National Education Association

Karen M. White is the Deputy Executive Director of the National Education Association (NEA), which represents 3.2 million public school teachers, educational support professionals, students preparing to become teachers and higher education faculty. Her priority area of focus is NEA360, a program that strengthens coordination and leverages NEA's data and information technology assets.

Previsouly, Karen was the Senior Director of Enterprise Data and Information Strategy at the National Education Association. She also served as the NEA’s Political Director from 2007-2015. She was responsible for managing and executing all aspects of campaigns, including member campaigns, independent expenditures, issue advocacy campaigns, ballot initiatives, internal organizational campaigns (i.e., Elementary and Secondary Education Act) and all federal electoral campaigns. She directed the creation of NEA’s national campaign plan and budget while managing multi-million dollar national campaigns for the Association. Karen also worked with state Affiliates to implement their own state-based campaign plans and other allied organizations to support the goals of the NEA, our affiliates and our association. Prior to joining the NEA, Karen served as the national political director for EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest political action committee and a prominent political network for pro-choice Democratic women candidates across the country.  

Karen has emerged as one of the most respected strategists in progressive politics.  In her tenure, Karen worked on 25 campaigns in 21 states, and she is considered one of the Democratic Party’s leading experts in grassroots campaigning, field operations, and Get Out the Vote efforts.  Karen frequently provides political analysis for ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, NPR and many other national television and radio networks.  Karen also has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, National Journal, and prominent regional papers throughout the country.  Karen has been recognized for her work on numerous gubernatorial and U.S. Senate campaigns.  

Although she has managed campaign operations nationwide, Karen is most recognized for the work she has done in Maryland.  Karen’s successful management of the Glendening campaign clinched her reputation as “a veteran grassroots organizer in Democratic politics” (The Washington Post).  Her work on the 1998 campaign earned her a key position in the Glendening Administration.  Karen served as deputy secretary and chief of staff of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, where she managed a staff of 2000 and a budget of over 300 million.  

Today, Karen is a sought-after trainer and speaker in Democratic circles. She has led campaign management training sessions across the country and participated in numerous Democratic National Committee efforts to recruit candidates, educate staff and establish field operations.  She is credited with changing the way campaigns think about grassroots organizing.

Al Yates

In August 2003, Albert C. Yates retired from the presidency of Colorado State University after thirteen years at the helm of one of the nation’s top research universities, completing a 35-year career in higher education as a professor and administrator. Since then he continues to be involved in the formulation of public policy and consults on matters of leadership and management through his many associations with public boards, commissions and community leaders. In addition, Dr. Yates serves as advisor to, and spokesman for, the Bohemian Companies in Fort Collins, CO. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Guaranty Bancorp, Inc. and Level 3 Communications, Inc. He is also a member of the board of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and the Colorado Forum, a statewide policy roundtable.

Dr. Yates graduated magna cum laude from Memphis State University in 1965, with degrees in chemistry and mathematics; earned a doctorate in theoretical chemical physics from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1968; returned to Indiana University as a chemistry professor in 1969; and, in 1976, was appointed professor of chemistry and vice president and university dean for graduate studies and research at the University of Cincinnati.  Prior to his Colorado State appointment, Dr. Yates served for nine years as executive vice president and provost at Washington State University in Pullman.