National Convening Program Books 2016 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 14

Detailed Agenda
MESHEA POORE Former West Virginia Delegate
Meshea L. Poore was sworn into the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2010. She
received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University in Washington,
D.C. While in the nation’s capital, Delegate Poore worked for Congressman James E.
Clyburn of South Carolina and interned at her party’s central committee. She obtained a
J.D. from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, before returning to
West Virginia in 2004 to work as a public defender for Kanawha County. She left the public
defender’s office in November 2009 and is now the sole practitioner and owner of The Law
Office of Meshea L. Poore. In 2014, Poore ran for U.S. Congress. She is the vice president of
the West Virginia State Bar and a member of the Alabama State Bar Association.

FAITH WINTER Colorado State Assembly
Councilmember Faith Winter was previously the mayor pro-tem of Westminster, Colorado,
and currently serves as the program director for Colorado Conservation Voters and in the
Colorado State Assembly. Winter has spent her career inspiring people to action, training
thousands of women to run for office at the White House Project, and engaging her
constituents on important issues facing Westminster. In 2004, the Youth Vote Coalition
named her one of 30 people under 30 showing political leadership. In 2008, she was named
one of the 10 most influential women in Denver by the Denver Examiner, and in 2010 she
was named woman of the year by Colorado Business and Professional Women–Northwest
Chapter. Winter loves organizing because she believes the best way to create change is by
building power through people.

Participatory Budgeting
Workroom 1

Putting a human face on the abstract proposals and figures in
budgeting helps refocus spending in our communities. This panel will
examine how participatory budgeting—used by 1,500 cities around the
world—recognizes a community’s priorities and gives citizens a say in
allocating public budgets to do the most good.

MARIA HADDEN PB Project
Maria Hadden manages the Participatory Budgeting Project’s work in the Midwest and
South. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, she started her professional career at an early
age working as a mediator and mediation trainer with the Interfaith Center for Peace. She
earned her B.A. in international peace and conflict studies from The Ohio State University
before moving to Illinois to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA. Hadden first became involved
in participatory budgeting (PB) as a budget delegate during the very first PB cycle in the
U.S. in 2009, and was so inspired by the experience that she joined the organization in 2010
as a founding board member. Her interests in community voice and the role of civil society
were the focus on her graduate studies at DePaul University where she earned an M.S. in
international public service management.

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DETAILED AGENDA