National Convening Program Books 2016 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 61

YEO NATIONAL CONVENING 2016

ZACH KOUTSKY School Council Representative
Chicago, Illinois

Zach Koutsky is the legislative and political director for Local 881 United Food and Commercial
Workers, which represents 34,000 members in Illinois and Indiana. He is also the newly elected
community representative for his local school council in Chicago, Illinois, which focuses on
budgeting and curriculum issues in a co-governance structure with parents and educators at
Chicago Public Schools. He is a longtime political operative, having worked in 10 states on
campaigns ranging from the president down to the city council, and was most recently the
campaign manager and then the senior advisor for Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs,
himself a YEO member. Koutsky and his wife, Stephanie, live in Chicago’s Roscoe Village
neighborhood and welcomed their first child, Hudson, in January 2016.

JACK LALLY City Councilor
Brockton, Massachusetts

Jack Lally was elected in 2015 at the age of 18 to serve as a city councilor in Brockton. Lally is the
youngest elected official in the history of the city of Brockton. A graduate of Cardinal Spellman
High School, he now attends Bridgewater State University as a freshman majoring in political
science. While at Cardinal Spellman, he served as president of the Model United Nations team
and as co-captain of the mock trial team. He is working on increasing public safety and improving
the city’s financial state.

CHRIS LARSON State Senator
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Larson was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate at the age of 29 after defeating an incumbent
from his own party during the 2010 fall primary. Larson was one of the 14 senators in his political
party who bravely left the state in February 2011 to stand up for the rights of workers, giving them
a voice in the legislative process as the governor attempted to shut them out. Just two years later,
he was elected to serve as his party’s senate leader for the 2013-2014 legislative session. He was
one of the youngest senate leaders in Wisconsin history. Larson is a leading voice on education
issues and has a strong background in finance, progressive messaging, transportation, energy
policy, and environmental issues. Previously, Larson was a Milwaukee County board supervisor.
He is married with two children. In his downtime, he trains for marathons and is on his way to
running one in each state. @chrisjlarson

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