Democratic Party of Georgia Announces Expanded Outreach & Organizing Team

Today, the Democratic Party of Georgia announced additional staff members to lead political and organizing operations across the state ahead of crucial 2021 and 2022 elections. The new slate of full-time, off-year positions includes an Organizing Director, Deputy Organizing Director, Digital Organizing Director, Political Director, and three Deputy Political Directors focused on coalition-specific engagement. These hires represent new investment by DPG in an expanded year-round organizing program, as well as in designated staff to lead full-time organizing and outreach to the diverse coalitions that make up Georgia.
 
“Georgia Democrats made history this past election cycle by investing early and heavily in organizing and outreach, and with this strong team in place, we are well-positioned to build off of those successes heading into 2022 and beyond,” said Scott Hogan, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “This team is battle-tested and proven to have what it takes to flip and keep Georgia blue. We are excited to build a robust program to engage and grow the diverse coalition that elected Democrats up and down the ballot last cycle as we re-elect Senator Raphael Warnock and House Democrats, take back the Governor’s mansion, and win key races across the state.”
 
Matt Handsfield – Organizing Director. Matt previously served as the Democratic Party of Georgia’s Organizing Director for the 2020 general election. A native of Tucker, Georgia, Matt brings over seven years of electoral organizing experience to the role, most recently serving in organizing leadership positions in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
 
Ernest Boston, Jr. – Deputy Organizing Director. Ernest is a College Park, GA, native who previously worked with the Democratic Party of Georgia in 2018 as a Regional Field Director in Fulton County. He also served as Field Director with Bernie Sanders for President, working in four states in 2016. In the 2020 Presidential Primary, he worked for the Bernie Sanders campaign in South Carolina and Georgia. He got his start in Organizing under current DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison with the South Carolina Democratic Party before working with successful candidates across the South, including current Virginia Attorney General candidate Delegate Jay Jones. A father of five, Ernest also serves as a Post Seat Holder for the Fulton County Democratic Party.
 
Stacia Yim – Digital Organizing Director. Stacia most recently served as Digital Organizing Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia during the 2021-21 presidential and runoff elections. In that role, she and her team developed robust voter contact programs through Peer-to-Peer texting, Relational Organizing, and Distributed Calling, growing Georgia’s distributed volunteer community by nearly 7,000 people. She previously worked on the Andrew Yang 2020 campaign, where she directed the innovative digital distributed organizing strategy for the Ballot Access team. A former high school teacher, she is the mother of three daughters.
 
Dominick Perkins – Political Director. Dominick was previously the Political Director for the Biden campaign in Georgia during the general election before serving as political advisor to the Democratic Party of Georgia’s Runoff Coordinated Campaign that helped elect Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock to the U.S. Senate. A native of Columbus, Georgia, he is a longtime aide of Congressman Sanford Bishop, serving as the senior advisor to the campaign in 2018. He was the data director for Jim Barksdale’s bid to unseat Senator Johnny Isakson in 2016 and has worked on or advised a host of other state and local races in Georgia. Dominick is currently the affirmative action chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia and previously served as the political director of the Young Democrats of Georgia.
 
Jamil Favors – Deputy Political Director, African American Outreach. Originally from Atlanta, Jamil first began his political work in Georgia by volunteering with the voter protection team during the historic 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. He continued his service with the party over the years, most recently serving as a full-time voter protection volunteer during the 2020 presidential election and the Deputy Director of Voter Education and Community Outreach for the 2021 Georgia runoff election.
 
Taher Hasanali – Deputy Political Director, Asian American and Pacific Islander Outreach Outreach. In this role, Taher will be continuing the work he started as part of the Coordinated Campaign during the general election and as Deputy AAPI Outreach Director during the runoff election. He currently serves as the chair of the Young Democrats of Georgia’s AAPI Caucus. In addition to his work with the party, Taher has worked with numerous organizations working to rally the vote and build more civic engagement within the South Asian community.
 
Jennifer Zenteno – Deputy Political Director, Latinx Outreach. Jennifer comes to the Democratic Party of Georgia from the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), a Latinx leadership development and civic engagement organization. Since 2018, she has helped develop over 300 community leaders through GALEO’s leadership programs and has helped foreign-born Georgians naturalize as U.S. Citizens through the New Americans Campaign. She has also served as Secretary for the Young Democrats of Georgia’s Latinx Caucus. Jennifer is one of Georgia’s Dreamer advocates, and her advocacy has been featured on Fox News, CNN en Espanol, and many local outlets.

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