Jack Yao, Founder/Principal |
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Jack Yao is a contributor to The Major Gifts Report and a veteran Democratic fundraiser and strategist. Jack formed Sustainable Change Strategies LLC in 2018 after seeing first-hand the need for individualized political campaign and fundraising support around the country. SC Strategies specializes in providing best practices in campaign fundraising and strategy, as well as fundraising consultation for non-profit organizations. In his career, Jack has been the senior fundraiser for both political campaigns and non-profit organizations that have raised over $17 million in total.
Previously, Jack managed Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath's 2018 campaign, and managed and was the senior finance staffer on targeted Congressional campaigns from San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties in California to Lake, Polk, and Hillsborough and Orange Counties in Florida, working with budgets of over $3 million.
Jack started his career wearing a variety of hats, co-founding a local media company in his hometown of Claremont while still in high school, later working in social media management as the Team Content Director of Celtics Nation as well as in Hollywood publicity at the longstanding firm Marleah Leslie & Associates. He started his fundraising career at American University and Gallaudet University, later serving as the Director of Development at It Takes Two, Inc., a non-profit focused on providing support for single-parent students and families in the DMV area.
Jack studied Political Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. He grew up in Claremont and still lives just miles from his childhood home. In his spare time, Jack enjoys watching basketball, coaching youth sports, and sharpening up his pastry chef skills.
Previously, Jack managed Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath's 2018 campaign, and managed and was the senior finance staffer on targeted Congressional campaigns from San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties in California to Lake, Polk, and Hillsborough and Orange Counties in Florida, working with budgets of over $3 million.
Jack started his career wearing a variety of hats, co-founding a local media company in his hometown of Claremont while still in high school, later working in social media management as the Team Content Director of Celtics Nation as well as in Hollywood publicity at the longstanding firm Marleah Leslie & Associates. He started his fundraising career at American University and Gallaudet University, later serving as the Director of Development at It Takes Two, Inc., a non-profit focused on providing support for single-parent students and families in the DMV area.
Jack studied Political Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. He grew up in Claremont and still lives just miles from his childhood home. In his spare time, Jack enjoys watching basketball, coaching youth sports, and sharpening up his pastry chef skills.
Warren Myers, Director of
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Warren joined SC Strategies as the Director of Campaigns in early 2019. Starting in 2009, Warren was directing canvass teams and voter registration drives across California as the Program Director of Californians for Voter Turnout, Education, and Registration (CalVOTER) - a voter registration and grassroots organizing committee formed by Senate President pro tempore Darrell Steinberg, and later maintained by Senate pro tem Kevin de Leon.
Between 2009 and 2016, CalVOTER launched nearly 20 voter registration programs around California, registered over 250,000 Democrats to vote, provided critical voter turnout support in some of the state’s most competitive legislative races, and trained and employed nearly a thousand first-time activists and organizers.
Warren got his start in politics and campaigning in 2007 as an entry-level field organizer, walking precincts and registering voters in central Orange County, California. In addition to his duties as the Program Director of CalVOTER, Warren has also worked directly on the campaigns of a number of highly contested special and general elections across the state, from San Diego to the San Joaquin Valley.
Between election cycles, Warren also worked for the State Senate as a District Representative for then-Senator Ted Lieu, and then in the State Capitol as a communications and policy consultant to the Senate Majority Caucus during the leadership of pro tems Steinberg and De Leon.
In 2016, after a hard-fought campaign, Warren was crowned First Runner-Up in a Sacramento’s Most Eligible Bachelor contest. He credits his placing over nearly 20 conventionally much better-looking opponents to a targeted Social Media/Meme campaign. Warren spends a lot of his free time at the movie theaters.
Between 2009 and 2016, CalVOTER launched nearly 20 voter registration programs around California, registered over 250,000 Democrats to vote, provided critical voter turnout support in some of the state’s most competitive legislative races, and trained and employed nearly a thousand first-time activists and organizers.
Warren got his start in politics and campaigning in 2007 as an entry-level field organizer, walking precincts and registering voters in central Orange County, California. In addition to his duties as the Program Director of CalVOTER, Warren has also worked directly on the campaigns of a number of highly contested special and general elections across the state, from San Diego to the San Joaquin Valley.
Between election cycles, Warren also worked for the State Senate as a District Representative for then-Senator Ted Lieu, and then in the State Capitol as a communications and policy consultant to the Senate Majority Caucus during the leadership of pro tems Steinberg and De Leon.
In 2016, after a hard-fought campaign, Warren was crowned First Runner-Up in a Sacramento’s Most Eligible Bachelor contest. He credits his placing over nearly 20 conventionally much better-looking opponents to a targeted Social Media/Meme campaign. Warren spends a lot of his free time at the movie theaters.
Richard Ahne, Associate Consultant |
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Richard joined SC Strategies in the summer of 2019, where he helps the team's clients maximize their fundraising potential and reach their operational goals.
Richard has worked on campaigns in Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Iowa, and his native Southern California. Most recently, he served as finance director for the first congressional campaign of former CO State Representative Diane Mitsch Bush, an EMILY's List endorsed candidate who raised $1.08 million in the final stretch of the campaign, outraising an incumbent Republican by twofold. Previously, Richard was the finance director for NM State Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez's congressional campaign, which raised $1.06 million as the top fundraiser in a seven-way primary.
Outside of politics, Richard's proudest accomplishments include Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Norah Jones shouting him out on stage for his "cute tie", narrowly avoiding being mauled by a sleepy cheetah in eastern South Africa, and "ordering like a pro" at In-N-Out Burger, according to the cashier.
When he's not helping Democrats obtain the resources they need to win, Richard can be seen hiding out at movie theaters or indie bookstores, playing the guitar badly, and studying for law school, much to the enormous relief of his Korean immigrant family. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College.
Richard has worked on campaigns in Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Iowa, and his native Southern California. Most recently, he served as finance director for the first congressional campaign of former CO State Representative Diane Mitsch Bush, an EMILY's List endorsed candidate who raised $1.08 million in the final stretch of the campaign, outraising an incumbent Republican by twofold. Previously, Richard was the finance director for NM State Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez's congressional campaign, which raised $1.06 million as the top fundraiser in a seven-way primary.
Outside of politics, Richard's proudest accomplishments include Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Norah Jones shouting him out on stage for his "cute tie", narrowly avoiding being mauled by a sleepy cheetah in eastern South Africa, and "ordering like a pro" at In-N-Out Burger, according to the cashier.
When he's not helping Democrats obtain the resources they need to win, Richard can be seen hiding out at movie theaters or indie bookstores, playing the guitar badly, and studying for law school, much to the enormous relief of his Korean immigrant family. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College.
Rena Childers, Campaigns Fellow |
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Rena joined the SC Strategies team in the fall of 2019. She is a senior at Pomona College, studying International Relations with a public health concentration. Aside from working at our firm, she also serves as President of Planned Parenthood at the Claremont Colleges and as Liaison to the International Relations Department at Pomona. She spent last summer working for the Kentucky Democratic Party, helping the party develop a strong rural voter strategy. Despite growing up in Kentucky, she is a staunch progressive and lover of all things West Coast.
Former Fellow Ryan Adams (aerospace companies please hire him, he will be getting his mechanical engineering degree in June 2020) |
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Ryan joined SC Strategies as the 2019 Summer Campaigns Fellow. Previously, he was a Finance Intern with Andy Thorburn's Congressional Bid in Orange County, CA. Ryan is a Mechanical Engineering student at Prairie View A&M University and during the school year, serves as the cameraman for Round Rock Express Baseball and University of Texas College Basketball. In his free time, Ryan coaches AAU basketball and serves as a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.