To Senator Bernie Sanders:
It is difficult to find the words to adequately thank Bernie Sanders for everything he has done for the U.S. working class throughout his lifetime and certainly through his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Undoubtedly, the best way to say, “Thank you, Bernie,” is to continue the work spearheaded by our Organizer in Chief.
We are grateful for the opportunity to work as volunteers alongside the Distributed Organizing Team (DOT).
In recognition of and appreciation for the bottom-up organizing approach adopted by the 2020 Sanders campaign, we, the volunteer workers who powered the Bernie Victory Captain and Bernie Victory Coach teams, respectfully request:
1. That the organizing efforts of the DOT and necessary support staff continue through November under the valued leadership of:
Ana Acosta
Basi Alonso
Becca Rast
Ciara Vincent
Claire Sandberg
Claire Wyatt
Curt Ries
Daniela Lapidous
Delaney Vandergrift
Ed Quantz
Emily Isaac
Haley Zink
Hannah Bauman
Hannah Fertig
Harinee Suthakar
Jack Califano
Jess Newman
Jonah Furman
Kim Selig
Kohlee Kennedy
Kyle Machado
Latchmi Gopal
Lynn Hua
Michelle Lim
Nick Martin
Raffi Mercuri
Ruth Sussman
Shana Gallagher
Sophie Lasoff
Supreet Kaur
Thomas Kennedy
Vanessa Grisko
Yong Jung Cho
and other support staff the campaign deems necessary and appropriate;
2. That ownership of Bernie 2020 digital assets (written resources including the Bernie Victory Captain handbook and Coaches Guide, dialers, texting tools, BERN app, Open VPB, their respective data sets and other training and resource materials) be transferred to Our Revolution or another appropriate organization (Successor Org) for purposes described in №4, below;
3. That DOT Staff members work with Successor Org to transition the campaign’s electoral scripts to issues-based outreach as necessary to advocate for Bernie’s platform, elect down ballot candidates selected by Successor Org, to support workers, and to address injustices and needs arising from the current pandemic and other socio-economic crises;
4. That current Bernie Victory Captains, Coaches and Slack Moderators be invited to participate on a digital platform owned by Successor Org and managed by DOT in a similar manner with the revised goal of achieving the progressive objectives listed in Paragraph 3, above.
The Distributed Organizing program is a unique advance in national political organizing, integrating digital, field, canvassing, phonebanking, constituency organizing, fundraising, outreach, and more through the intentional training and empowerment of tens of thousands of volunteers as full members of the Sanders campaign team. This never before has been accomplished. It would be a tragedy to lose the organized power that you have built in the past few months.
Bernie, please keep this team going.
Signed, over 2500 volunteers, including:
410 Victory Captains
38 Victory Coaches
989 Call Team Members
904 Text Team Members
287 Bernie Journeyers
175 Delegates
96 Field Team Volunteers
72 Moderators
67 Campus Corps Leaders
48 Bernie 2020 Staff
33 VANGuard Members
15 Community Connectors
and many more volunteers, donors, and supporters
Organized by:
Pamela John, Bernie Victory Coach and Coach Mod
Brad Johnson, Bernie Victory Coach and Coach Mod
Full list of signatories is regularly updated at
https://medium.com/@pamela.s.john/the-struggle-continues-52b07718c890