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February 22, 2017

American Promise Gears Up for a 50-State Citizen Uprising to Win 28th Amendment to Get Big Money Out of Politics – Adding New Staff and Expanding Advisory Board

American Promise Gears Up for a 50-State Citizen Uprising to Win 28th Amendment to Get Big Money Out of Politics – Adding New Staff and Expanding Advisory Board

February 22, 2017
Published By American Promise

Law Professors John Coates and Tamara Piety and business leader, Jack Doty, join Senator Alan Simpson, Doris Kearns Goodwin and more on Advisory Council 

Cambridge, MA — American Promise, a national cross-partisan non-profit organization dedicated to winning a 28th Amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC and secure the political equality of all Americans, has announced that Professor John Coates, John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard University, Professor Tamara R. Piety, University of Tulsa College of Law, and Corporate Executive Jack Doty to their prestigious advisory council. The Advisory Council includes Former Senator Alan Simpson, Former Representative Jim Leach, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Former State Senator Nina Turner, Former Montana Supreme Court Justice James Nelson, Former Governor Mike Dukakis, Bob Monks, Judy Wicks, Joe Kearns Goodwin, Ella McGrail, Rev. Dr. Katherine Henderson, Kahlil Byrd, Matt Patsky, and Donnel Baird.

As part of the Citizen Uprising, American Promise is expanding capacity in preparation for 2018 ballot initiatives, legislative resolutions and local action across the country in support of a 28th Amendment. In addition to the expanded Advisory Council, American Promise is adding new staff. Joyce Sanchez (Citizen Engagement Coordinator) Johannes Epke (Counsel) and Emily Mulder (Communications & Research Analyst) have joined American Promise.  Click here to see all of the American Promise’s staff.

“A Constitutional amendment to return power to the American people is urgent,” said Jeff Clements, the co-founder and president of American Promise. “These new staff positions enable American Promise to serve and support all Americans who want to participate in this historic cause.” Clements added, “We are grateful to the leaders from across the political spectrum and different walks of life who have joined our Advisory Council and are modeling how all of us can step up.”

So far 18 states and over 740 cities and towns have passed 28th Amendment resolutions with cross-partisan support.  In Montana and Colorado, voters have approved 28th Amendment ballot initiatives by 75-25%. In November, Washington State became the 18th State to call for the 28th Amendment, with a voter initiative passing by wide margins in every region and every Congressional district of the state.

New Advisory Board Members

John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. Before joining Harvard, he was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in financial institutions and M&A. He has testified before Congress and provided consulting services to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Treasury, the New York Stock Exchange, and participants in the financial markets, including individuals, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks, commercial banks, and private equity funds. In addition, he served as independent distribution consultant for the Securities and Exchange Commission in two “Fair Fund” distributions to investors – including one of the first distributions (of $50 million relating to an enforcement action regarding payment for order flow), and one of the largest distributions (of $306 million relating to enforcement actions regarding market timing and late trading). He has also served as an independent representative of individual and institutional clients of institutional trustees and money managers.

Tamara R. Piety is a Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law. She is the author of Brandishing the First Amendment, as well as numerous articles and essays about commercial and corporate speech. Her most recent articles include “Why Personhood Matters,” in Constitutional Commentary and “The First Amendment and the Corporate Civil Rights Movement” in the Journal of Business and Technology Law. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and University of Miami School of Law. Before coming to the University of Tulsa, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law and a Thomas C. Grey Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School.  In 2015 Professor Piety was a Senior Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School and a Visiting Scholar in Residence at Yale’s Information Society Project.

 

Jack Doty is a senior level corporate finance executive with substantial experience managing gazelle level manufacturing, distribution and real estate development financial operations, including financial analysis, modeling and forecasting; strategic, management, sales and financial plan preparation and execution; and corporate infrastructure development. He currently serves as a Consulting Partner at CFOs2GO, a Bay Area based financial consultancy and staffing firm, and as President of Watlington Foods, LLC, a transactional California snacks food exporter This arrangement leaves him available for Bay Area short term CFO-level consulting and infrastructure development opportunities.

New Staff

Joyce Sanchez – Citizen Engagement.  From White House intern to Ohio Field Organizer, Joyce has dedicated herself to the betterment of our government and communities. As a freshman in college, she founded The 100 Collegiate Women of America, an empowerment organization that keeps women’s rights and community service at its core. She graduated with over 250 hours of community service, having zealously given her time volunteering at home and abroad. At age 12, Joyce knocked on her first door for a campaign, in 2016 graduated from Georgia Southern University, and today, is excited to help end Citizens United as part of the Citizen Engagement team at American Promise.

Johannes Hubert Epke – Counsel. Johannes joins American Promise with commitment to and experience in the work for the 28th Amendment. Previously with Move To Amend, Johannes combines strong legal and organizing skills. He will oversee the organization of Writing the 28th Amendment (an interactive collaborative citizen project), add legal support to the ballot initiative and legislative initiatives in the Citizens Uprising, monitor and track our legislator scorecard and Congressional and State vote-count, and expand resources and information about American democracy and the 28th Amendment for citizen leaders. Johannes is a graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School, and has practiced environmental law in California.

Emily Mulder –  Communications & Research.  Emily comes to American Promise with significant experience in media and communications from the Kingston University, the private sector and various management positions with the Family Online Safety Institute in Washington DC and London UK. She will research, organize, curate, and disseminate the Citizen Connection Center, with key data and stories on the progress towards winning a 28th Amendment and strengthening American democracy, as well as expand our media reach, support American Promise’s member-connection and citizen leader network, and be a resource to journalists, political representatives, and the public for accurate information about the 28th Amendment and money in politics.

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