National Convening Program Books 2015 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 31

Detailed Agenda
SATURDAY | JULY 25, 2015

reentry services division under the leadership of then District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. In 2009,
Simon was appointed executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San
Francisco Bay Area. An avid speaker, Simon lectures across the country. She has served on numerous
boards of directors and has received awards for her efforts including the MacArthur “Genius”
Fellowship, inclusion in O Magazine’s first ever “Power List,” and the New Frontier Award from the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
DEFENDING AGAINST PREEMPTION
Springwood Room

State legislatures around the country are passing legislation that is encroaching on
county and municipal governments’ ability create policy on a range of issues, from
nondiscrimination ordinances to paid sick leave and the minimum wage. Learn
strategies to effectively combat preemptive legislation.
Jon Hoadley

Michigan State Representative
State Representative Jon Hoadley was elected to the Michigan State
House of Representatives in 2014. Hoadley is also the president and
owner of Badlands Strategies LLC, a progressive strategy firm focusing
on coalition management, complex project management, and campaigns.
Current and past clients include the successful Bridget Mary McCormack
for the Michigan Supreme Court campaign; We Are Michigan; the
Michigan Election Coalition; the Unity Michigan Coalition, which focuses
on nondiscrimination protections; the Federal Agency Project; and
others. Hoadley was also the campaign manager of One Kalamazoo, the
successful local campaign to defend the sexual orientation and gender identity inclusive Kalamazoo
Non-Discrimination Ordinance put before voters in November of 2009. Hoadley regularly consults
on nondiscrimination campaigns across the country. Hoadley has served as executive director
of National Stonewall Democrats, worked for the Gill Action Fund, and managed South Dakotans
Against Discrimination, the campaign that opposed the anti-marriage amendment in South Dakota,
winning over 48 percent of the vote in 2006. A graduate of Michigan State University, Hoadley is
currently based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

AFL-CIO

Abe Silk is a legislative analyst in the AFL-CIO’s government affairs department, where he specializes
in state and local labor policy. He joined the AFL-CIO in 2010. In addition to his legislative duties, Silk
has managed national, state, and local independent expenditure campaigns around the country, most
recently in Louisville, Boston, and Las Vegas. Prior to working for the AFL-CIO, he was a marketing
consultant. Silk graduated with a B.A. in history from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
He is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut.

YEO National Convening | 2015

Abe Silk

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