Candidates for Lyon Leadership Committee
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posted by Diane Sklar | DAF-Lyon Chair
Name: Diane Sklar
Position: Chapter Chair
I'm a baby boomer from New York who came to Lyon in 2015 after a career in the tech sector. In my last technology job I was a product manager for money-laundering detection software. Here in Lyon I teach business subjects and English at various schools around town.
When I stopped working 60 hour weeks it was like awakening from a coma. I started reading about climate change, income inequality, gender inequality, the history of race relations and the stealthy erosion of the middle class. Then the 2016 election happened. I was shaken awake and needed to mobilize. I'm so grateful to have found kindred souls in Democrats Abroad. It is a community of forward-thinking Americans looking to make our country live up to its potential.
I've been on the board of DA Lyon as Treasurer and Vice Chair and am on DA's global IT team. I've helped plan and attended most of the events that the chapter has held since its creation including coordinating a Get Out the Vote effort for American students studying abroad. I see 2019 as a rebuilding year. We will assemble a community of Democrats, young and old, in Lyon. We can spend 2019 getting to know each other and working together so that we have a fine tuned machine to make a difference in 2020.
Name: Julie Shapiro
Position: Chapter Vice Chair
My name is Julie Shapiro and I am running for Lyon Chapter Vice Chair. I am a dual American and Hungarian citizen originally from the Boston area. But since 2013, I have been a Florida resident and voter while I pursued a PhD in ecology. I moved to Lyon at the end of August 2018 to start a job as a post-doc with Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale). The 2018 Midterm elections were just around the corner. I was following the news from the US, but I wanted to do more. I had briefly been a member of Democrats Abroad when I was working in Denmark in 2017. So within a couple weeks of moving to Lyon, I joined our Democrats Abroad chapter. I am especially passionate about voter outreach and get out the vote. I phonebanked all through September, October, and November for the general election and then for the Georgia and Mississippi run-offs, as well as supporting Diane Sklar's efforts to register students studying abroad. I hope to continue with these efforts and our new projects to keep American citizens abroad engaged in American politics.
Name: John Matthews
Position: Treasurer
I am a self-employed software engineer and have lived in Lyon since 1999.
I joined the Board shortly after the Lyon chapter was formed in the wake of Donald Trump's election, first as a member-at-large and now as treasurer. We worked hard to engage new members to join us in the fight to overturn the disastrous policies of the administration and the Republican-controlled congress. We overseas citizens are also concerned with unfair treatment in areas such as income taxes, foreign bank account reporting requirements, and not being counted in the census. Our focus last year was on growing our membership and getting out the vote for the midterm elections, and we were successful in both areas. We have also worked to bring our members together through social gatherings and interesting events.
I am looking forward to continuing these efforts as we slowly ramp up the the 2020 elections.
Kelly A. Blunt
Position: Secretary
I consider my US home to be Portland, Oregon (which is where I am registered to vote) after an accumulated 24 years there, but I grew up in Southern California, and have lived in North Carolina, Chicago, Minneapolis and Boston. I was proud to be able to vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976 as a 19-year-old, after the law changed from having to be 21.
I have lived in France for almost two years, and have called Lyon home for the majority of that time. As I watched my friends commit to becoming more politically engaged after the 2016 election debacle, I was pleased to discover the Democrats Abroad Chapter in Lyon, and would like to become even more involved.
I have had Board experience in two non-profit organizations in Portland, including holding the offices of secretary (twice), treasurer, and president.
Name: Eva Moynihan
Position: Member-at-large
My name is Eva Moynihan and I am running for Lyon Chapter Member-at-large. I'm originally from the California Bay Area and enjoy telling French people that I'm from the area that makes the best wines in the world.
I decided to move to France after graduating from college in 2013. I had a series of jobs in banks in Luxembourg, which brought me to Eastern France (Metz). I felt pretty homesick, which was my original motivation for joining the Luxembourg branch of Democrats Abroad. It did fix my homesickness!
That said, I got more and more involved in the group because I enjoy feeling like I'm contributing in some way to our country. I was a Member-at-Large for 2 years and then Vice-Chair. Among other things I did phone-banking and helped run various events. I was also one-half of a debate team against Republicans Overseas before the 2016 elections, we did two debates attended by roughly two hundred people each time.
I moved to Lyon almost a year ago because I wanted to live in a bigger city. I love living here and want to contribute to Democrats Abroad. Thank you for your consideration !
Name: Claudia Quiros
I have been involved in Democrats Abroad since the birth of the Lyon chapter, with a short break when I moved to Paris last year during which I remained active in progressive organizing (even speaking at the Keep Families Together rally). I would like to run for a Member-at-large position because I believe in the power of using our civic duty, even from abroad, to fight for the principles we hold dear. For me, as a young person, these ideals include environmental justice, dealing with crushing student debt, fighting for racial and gender equity, and getting money out of politics. My current position working at the World Health Organization has confirmed my view that universal health coverage is not a pie-in-the-sky ideal and that health is a human right. If ever there was a time to be bold in our ideas and speak out against hate, injustice, inequality and fear, it's now.
Name: Dori Laboune
My name is Dori Laboune. I'm from Corvallis, Oregon, and I'm a permanent resident of France. I've lived here in Lyon for about ten years now. I'm running for a member at large position, where I hope to help work on different projects. I'm really interested in issues involving climate change, medicare for all, (and cooking ).
Nancy Goldstein
In 2018 I retired from my corporate career in the US and settled in Lyon with my husband, Phil. We had previously lived in Lyon (along with our two children) for a year in 2003, and could not wait to get back and call Lyon home. I continue to maintain a home in Atlanta, which is where I am a registered voter, and very anxious to change the politics in that state. I also spent 9 years living in Denver, Co. which seems to have a similar dynamic to Georgia - very liberal big city in a generally conservative state. I am impressed with all the efforts that Democrat chapters abroad have been making to GOTV, as well as providing a forum to meet with people who share the same values and concerns. I'd like to be able to contribute more to this cause by serving on the Board of the Democrats Abroad - Lyon chapter.