National Convening Program Books 2016 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 23

YEO NATIONAL CONVENING 2016

Op-eds, Press Releases, and Political Media Best Practices
Industry 1

Op-eds and press releases are a great way to showcase your
experiences and perspectives as an elected official – and those of your
constituents. In this session you will hear from industry professionals
on how to draft a strong piece, as well as how to make sure it’s printed,
read, and hopefully, remembered.

RAMSIN CANON Aldertrack
Ramsin Canon was a founding member of Gapers Block, one of the country’s first citycentric blogs, where he covered local and state politics, eventually becoming politics editor
between 2008 and 2013. In 2015, he co-founded Aldertrack, a subscription-based politics
and policy reporting service for high-information readers. Canon entered politics as a
union organizer and communicator, and worked as a political consultant in over a dozen
states. He practices land use, labor, and employment law in Illinois and California. He is a
member of the ARISE Worker Center Legal Advisory Board and the National Cannabis
Bar Association. He has written articles for In These Times, Chicago Magazine, Alternet,
TimeOut Chicago, and People’s Weekly, among other publications. He has had papers
published in the Oxford University Press, Community Development Journal, the Seventh
Circuit Review, the Chicago-Kent Law Review, and the International In-House Counsel
Journal. He lives in Chicago with his dog, Rosalita.

MATT HANEY San Francisco Unified School Board and
Dream Corps
Matt Haney is the president of the San Francisco Unified School District Board of
Education, where he is responsible for determining policy, budget, curriculum, educational
goals, and standards for all pre-K-12 public schools in San Francisco. Haney has worked
to end the “school to prison pipeline,” including authoring a landmark policy to transform
San Francisco’s school discipline system and address racial disproportionality. He recently
authored a policy to expand computer science and coding education to all students and
schools in San Francisco. Haney is the director of policy at Dream Corps, where he leads
policy advocacy for #cut50, an initiative to cut the prison population in half in 10 years, and
#YesWeCode, an initiative to create a pipeline for low opportunity youth to become the best
coders, computer engineers, and designers. Haney is the former executive director of the UC
Student Association, lecturer and fellow at the Stanford University Design School, and a
graduate of UC Berkeley, Stanford Law, and Stanford School of Education.

DETAILED AGENDA

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