BISC FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Strategic Partnerships
Adam Snipes, with two decades of experience in government affairs and advocacy organizing, is known for crafting persuasive strategies to shift public narratives around controversial issues. As an adaptive and flexible national leader, Adam has extensive experience working tough campaigns in the South and across the Great Plains.
Adam's experience includes serving as a national advocacy director, regional campaign manager, deputy chief of staff, and advisor to national organizations, members of congress and local politicians. He is known for developing high performing teams centered on relational organizing and equitable leadership development practices.
Adam volunteers on the boards of the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the Partners in Public Health Foundation. Adam's work has been published in the American Political Science Review and TIME magazine. He enjoys spending time with his daughter, mountain biking and watching OKC Thunder games.
Job Titles:
- Director of Strategic Communications
Caroline brings over 20 years of strategic communications experience in working with organizations to advance social and economic justice both nationally and globally. At BISC, she leads the communications strategy, branding and narrative on how ballot measures build and transform power.
Formerly, Caroline was an Emmy-nominated TV correspondent and social entrepreneur. In 2014, she was named a '50 under 40 Social Enterprise Leader' by the American Express Foundation for her award-winning digital platform, SourceRise, which connected journalists to on-the-ground sources during specific humanitarian crises.
Caroline has served as a United Nations Representative and has facilitated communications workshops at the United Nations, Google, and Twitter, among others. She has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, has been a contributor to the Huffington Post, and has appeared as an expert guest on CNN's Inside Africa, The Today Show, Good Day New York, and Univision's Despierta America.
Caroline is a practitioner and speaker on the use of communications and technology as a tool for social change. Her social change work has taken her from the halls of the United Nations to refugee camps in East Africa where she has partnered with women and youth on digital storytelling projects and technology-driven public health initiatives.
Caroline has a BS in Communications from St. John's University and an MA from Antioch University.
A born and bred first-generation New Yorker from Queens, Caroline enjoys traveling off the beaten path, watching documentaries, making paella and playing UNO with her husband, Allen, and daughter, Sabina.
Job Titles:
- Senior Development Manager
- BISC 's Development Manager
As BISC's Development Manager, Chloe brings her love of the hard ask to the team to support organizational and programmatic growth. Though she knocked her first door before she could cast a vote, prior to joining BISC, Chloe worked in public relations and economic development spaces before diving headfirst professionally into electoral work. Since then, Chloe has organized and fundraised on behalf of progressive women candidates and causes including Planned Parenthood Votes, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, and Congresswoman Katie Porter.
Chloe is an unwavering believer in the Midwest "third coast." She is a proud graduate of Michigan State University. Depending on the level of snowfall, she can be found enjoying Michigan's freshwater beaches and/or Detroit's live music scene.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- BISC 's Executive Director
Chris has been BISC's Executive Director since June 2018, bringing two decades of experience in advocacy, creating collaborative spaces, and movement building. She has devoted her career to social justice and ensuring our democracy works for "We the People." Chris leads the organization's vision, strategic planning, and fundraising efforts. As a queer woman of color who came to the United States at an early age with her working-class parents, she leads from her lived experience and desire to build an equitable and just world.
She came to BISC because she has witnessed the power of ballot measures to create radical transformational change and shift the narrative on issues like LGBTQ rights and the freedom to vote. She believes ballot measures can be a tool for liberation if we use them to build power, dismantle systems of oppression, and center the communities most impacted by the change we seek.
A seasoned strategist, she has worked in numerous roles for progressive political and issue-based campaigns across the country. Over her career, she has developed messaging and communications strategies at ReThink Media, led large-scale national programs to expand and protect the right to vote at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, worked on campaigns to end money in politics at Common Cause, and fought for DC's children and families to have access to a quality education at DC ParentSmart.
Chris is Venezuelan-American, raised in Texas where she received her Bachelor's degree at Austin College in Texas. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her amazing daughter and rambunctious border collie. She is known to burst into song and loves cooking up delicious treats in the kitchen.
Danielle Long (she/her) brings more than 20 years of social justice advocacy experience to her role as Program Coordinator. Prior to joining BISC, Danielle served as Program Coordinator at IGNITE Worldwide, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the equity gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. As Endorsement Coordinator for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, she was honored to work alongside an incredible team as the Dobbs decision devastatingly reshaped the landscape of abortion rights and healthcare access. She also spent five years with Freedom for All Americans as Project Coordinator for the Mayors Against LGBTQ Discrimination Coalition, working with mayors nationwide to champion and protect LGBTQ+ rights.
While Danielle has found her niche in coordinating, in her past life, she received her MHS in Pathology from Duke University. She worked for a decade in diagnostic laboratories in North Carolina, Boston, and Seattle, where she began volunteering with Washington NARAL and hasn't looked back.
Outside of work, Danielle divides her time among three adorable bunnies, two extraordinary teens, and one patient (Minnesotan) husband, all of whom tolerate her love of travel, language learning, and the German Bundesliga to varying degrees of success. She grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York State and lived for over a decade in New England, so no matter where she is, she will always drive like she is from the East Coast. She is fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest, where she is reminded to never take the sunshine for granted.
Job Titles:
- Communications Manager
- BISC 's Communications Manager
As BISC's Communications Manager, Devin develops communications materials and digital assets on how ballot measures work to strengthen democracy and advance intersectional justice.
Devin became passionate about the power of direct democracy during her time as a student in Oklahoma, where she worked on several local and state-level campaigns to advance healthcare access, elect progressive women to public office, and expand economic opportunity for underrepresented communities. She began her career in communications as a reporter and columnist for The Oklahoma Daily, where she wrote about issues of gender and racial equity on campus. Prior to joining BISC, she also served on the communications teams at Sally's List and at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she focused on reducing poverty and inequality.
A first-generation college student, Devin graduated from the University of Oklahoma with dual degrees in Journalism and International Area Studies. She now lives in Washington, DC, and enjoys spending her free time outdoors with a good book or scoping out different comedy venues and live music spots in the city.
Job Titles:
- BISC in 2018 As the Executive Assistant
- Senior Capacity Building Manager
Eliana Ramirez-Vaughn joined BISC in 2018 as the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director, later advancing to her current role as the Senior Capacity Building Manager. In this capacity, she plays a crucial role in bolstering the skills and capabilities of both national and state partners, contributing significantly to the advancement of their expertise and leadership within the ballot measure space.
Prior to her time at BISC, Eliana accumulated valuable experience in the education and hospitality fields. In 2016, she embarked on a transformative journey, backpacking through five countries in Southeast Asia over eight months.
Hailing from Lawrence, Massachusetts, Eliana's upbringing by a single mother who immigrated from the Dominican Republic deeply instilled in her a fervent advocacy for civil and immigrant rights movements. At BISC, her dedication to economic justice and reproductive health reform has blossomed through active support of ballot measure campaigns.
Eliana is an alumna of Temple University and currently resides in Maryland with her husband and six-year-old son.
Elizabeth joined BISC in October of 2018 as our Development Director. She would like to remind you that the "contribute" button is in the upper right-hand corner of the home page.
Elizabeth has almost 20 years of experience working for candidates and campaigns including statewide, political party, state legislative, presidential, and advocacy campaigns. She has also managed finance operations for non-profit organizations and a referendum campaign.
Most recently Elizabeth worked at Every Voice, focusing on putting people back at the center of our campaigns and our democracy.
Elizabeth has lived in D.C. for over a decade, but she is a proud Wisconsinite at heart. When not at work she can be found exploring the city in search of a perfect place to read a book or at the baseball park.
Francesca Baroni (She/Her/Ella) is BISC's Research Analyst. Although she has called Washington, D.C. home for the past few years, Francesca was born and raised in New Jersey. As a second-generation Latina, she saw the many sacrifices her parents made to give her and her sister a better life. As a result, Francesca became incredibly passionate about advancing conditions for her community and other historically underrepresented groups and creating a better world for future generations.
To create this change, Francesca pursued a career in political Social Work, obtaining her BASW and later an MSW, with a management and policy specialization. Since then, she has had experience working for a New Jersey-based Latinx/e non-profit, and the federal government; and organizing to get out the vote. Now, Francesca is eager to continue her journey by working to defend direct democracy and encourage meaningful change through progressive ballot initiatives with BISC.
In her free time, Francesca can be found thrifting, reading, spending time with her cat, or being a tourist in her own city.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Comanche Nation
- Senior Manager, Public Policy Communications
Hillary-Anne brings more than a decade of experience in communications strategy to her role as Senior Manager of Public Policy Communications. Her work at BISC focuses on translating research and policy analysis to ensure that partners, press, and the public can use the Ballot Measure Hub to easily understand the ins and outs of direct democracy.
Her first steps into advocacy followed the Texas legislature's disastrous 2011 cuts to family planning clinics and eventually led her to Sen. Wendy Davis' infamous filibuster against the anti-abortion House Bill 2. Returning home to Montana in 2016, Hillary-Anne's work in the Treasure State has since included advocating for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, reproductive health, and LGBTQ+ rights.
In 2022 she served as campaign coordinator and communications lead for the No on LR-131 campaign that defeated Montana's legislatively-referred ‘born alive' ballot initiative. With the help of BISC's Declaration of Equity Toolkit, Hillary-Anne developed a winning communications strategy that centered the personal stories of families and the expertise of healthcare providers. She and other members of the campaign went on to found the Montana Sexual & Reproductive Health Collective which received BISC's 2023 Progress X Power Award.
Hillary-Anne, a member of the Comanche Nation, received her Bachelor's of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in beautiful Bozeman where she can usually be found hitting the trails with her dog, embarrassing herself at the climbing gym, or waiting in line for a huckleberry scone.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Convenings
Jane brings over 20 years of experience getting results and leading change to her role as BISC's Chief of Staff. She previously served as BISC's Director of Programs.
Jane also served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as a senior political appointee. Before joining the Obama Administration, she held leadership roles in organizations working to advance social and economic justice locally, nationally, and globally.
Jane is happy to call Washington, DC home.
Job Titles:
- Policy and Legal Advocacy Director
Kalee is BISC's Operations Manager and brings her creative problem-solving and organizational skills to the team. Before joining BISC in September of 2021, she was a grassroots campaign organizer for local and state elections. While working on political campaigns, Kalee found her passion for civic engagement and love for "getting out the vote."
Kalee recently graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She received her B.S. degree in Economics while also obtaining a minor in Political Science. As a former barista, she is always trying to find new ways to hone her craft - from practicing latte art to holding coffee tastings, she enjoys learning and sharing her coffee knowledge!
Job Titles:
- Capacity Building Director
Job Titles:
- Development and Operations Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director of Programs and Strategy
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations
- Finance