ABOUT ME
Sam is a spicy Latina who has lived in Panama, Thailand, the United States, Hungary, and now Italy and who spent a year serving as the International President of BBYO (the largest Jewish youth movement in the world). Sam has run a gubernatorial campaign office, worked for a Congresswoman’s Washington D.C. office, a Senate race, presidential PAC, the digital firm behind Bernie Sanders' rapid ascent, and was the Get Out The Vote Director for the Monroe County Democratic Party. Sam worked for five years with JDC Junction as the community program manager and is now the Western Europe Area Director for BBYO. When not traveling for work Sam can be found helping Ukrainian refugees get rehoused with her co-founders of Due Torri Refugee Assistance.
RESUME
Education & Jobs
Indiana University Bloomington
Political Science and Government Major
Activities and Societies;
- Hillel (Intern)
- Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority (Aephi)
- Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Societies
- University Scholar of Distinction
- Sinai Scholars
Chiang Mai University
Study Abroad Semester
Spring 2015
Travelled throughout Southeast Asia. Took classes in Southeast Asian; gender, art, culture, religion, and development
James W. Robinson Secondary School
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Activities and Societies;
- DECA student marketing association
- Basketball
- Wrestling
- Track & Field
- Cross Country
BBYO
Area Director Western Europe
July 2021-Present
-Managed a team of 24 staff across 13 countries serving over 5,000 teens
-Navigated community relationships, stakeholder engagement, board relationships and donor prospecting
-Planned immersive experiences across the continent for 200+ attendees
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)
Junction Community and Program Manager
Budapest, Hungary October 2016-July 2018
-Collaborated with three major funders to expand and brand a pan-European strategy to reinvigorate Jewish life in Europe by
empowering young Jews to create community in their own image.
- Operated as community manager, program consultant, and advance worker, traveling to cities across Europe to working with
partners, identifying talent and planning and executing large-scale programs, engaging over 1,200 participants across 8 immersive
experiences. Allocated and managed 80 grants across 25 cities for high-impact grassroots programming.
- Generated loyalty and movement around the Junction brand through strategic media planning and management.
- Developed strategic plan focusing closely on diversity as an asset, social entrepreneurship, and change-oriented networks.
Flywheel Sports
Club Coordinator and Facilities Coordinator
Washington D.C. June 2016-October 2016
Greeted and assisted members in an upbeat, positive manner, effectively facilitated class check-in, assisted Studio Manager in general day-to-day operation of the studio, assisted in resolving member issues and concerns with the highest level of customer service, maintained studio excellence, managed Flywheel studio technology
Shouk
Cashier and Expediter
Washington D.C. June 2016-October 2016
Helped bring values-driven, plant-based, affordable dining to D.C. area residents
Revolution Messaging
Mobile Strategies Intern
Washington, D.C. June 2015-August 2015
Worked at the intersection of digital media and politics, assisted leaders in the progressive community, using tools that help innovate on-the-ground organizing and messaging, worked on individual and team projects, part of the client servicers team directly assisting clients in shaping, maintaining and evolving their political presence in a digital technology market, maintained mobile messaging platforms, brainstormed digital strategy, assisted in preparation of client case studies and memos, and compiled daily clips
Monroe County Democratic Party
GOTV Director
Bloomington, IN September 2014-November 2014
Hired by the Monroe County Democratic Party to coordinate Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts for all the county-wide candidates. Decided and created the GOTV universe, organized GOTV weekends of action, wrote and uploaded GOTV scripts, worked closely with Congressional and State House candidates, managed volunteer efforts, and spoke to candidates and lay leaders at GOTV rallies. Voter turnout was predicted to be 10%, but through 5 passes of the universe was able to get turnout to exceed 20%
O'Say Can You See PAC
Finance Intern
Washington, D.C. May 2014-August 2014
Entered data into NGP, researched area demographics and created donor prospecting briefings, wrote donor bios and political briefings for Governor O'Malley, helped with 2014 Trustee Retreat planning and execution, donor maintenance, helped the Governor's robust national travel schedule, assisted with call-time program
U.S. House of Representatives
Intern
Washington, D.C. November 2013-January 2014
Worked in the D.C. office of Congresswoman Eshoo (CA-18), answered phones, led capitol tours, filed mail, constituent correspondance, learned Intranet Quorum (IQ), conducted office inventory
Terry McAuliffe for Governor
Deputy Field Organizer
Fairfax, VA June 2013-November 2013
Organized Fairfax City, started Fairfax City office from the ground up, had 50+ 1:1s with volunteers, recruited, interviewed, and hired multiple interns, managed team of 10 interns, managed Neighborhood Team, planned and executed Office Opening with House Delegates, State Senators, and Attorney General candidate, worked with Field Organizer capabilities on vote builder. Started as Campaign Fellow in June promoted in September to Deputy Field Organizer.
Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences in Washington DC
Founder
June 2013-Present
Created organizational proposal, submitted and got approved by Deans of the College of Arts and Sciences, gathered student data, worked directly with alumni relations office and DC alumni chapter, connected network of Indiana University student’s interning in DC for the summer
Donnelly for Senate
Intern
Bloomington, IN September 2012-November 2012
Managed volunteers, entered data into VoteBuilder.com, phone banked, led satellite campaign operations, student engagement, leadership development activities
BBYO
International Teen President
May 2011-May 2012
Elected to lead world’s largest global Jewish youth movement, deferred year of college to travel across North America and foreign countries, oversaw board of 9 teens and managed 43 regional counterparts, worked on developing new organizational brand, served on International Board of Directors, led community stakeholder meetings, increased donor and alumni engagement, planned 5 day convention for 1,000+ attendees in Atlanta, numerous public speaking opportunities, managed media appearances and engagement
PRESS & MEDIA
MY BOOK CHALLENGE
Beginning during the fall of 2015, I decided to try tackling one book a week. Exercise the mind a bit. Sometimes I read a little more, sometimes a little less, but I'm thinking a lot and the goal keeps me on track. I'm currently reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari , Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (disclaimer: I feel like when I finish the book I need to go vegan and I can't bring myself to do it),and God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism by Abraham Joshua Heschel I use Goodreads to keep a running book list, if you've got a recommendation please share and if you'd like to read a book together, I'd love nothing more!
WHERE I'VE BEEN
Click on the globe for an interactive map of my travels without a license
WHAT I'M LISTENING TO
My favorite podcasts that help make every mile much more entertaining
MORNING RITUAL
LET'S CONNECT
