NDRC Announces Senior Staff Hires

Today, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) announced hires for key senior staff positions, including Hayley Dierker as Chief of Staff, Marina Jenkins as Litigation Director, and John Bisognano as Director of Campaigns and Outreach. In addition, José Morales, who has served as Special Projects Director since February, has been promoted to the position of Community Engagement and Projects Director.

Statement from Kelly Ward, Executive Director of NDRC

“Hayley, Marina and John are crucial additions to the NDRC team, and we’re excited to welcome them on board as we continue to build our team and implement our comprehensive redistricting strategy. Hayley’s steady leadership will be an invaluable addition to our work. Marina will use her extensive legal expertise to oversee our efforts to fight unconstitutional maps in states around the country. John brings a wealth of experience to our efforts to elect more Democrats to have a seat at the table during the next round of redistricting. We also congratulate José on this much-deserved promotion.

“Following a successful 2017 in which we helped elect Ralph Northam to be Virginia’s first Democratic governor with veto power over redistricting since 1991, we are gearing up and excited for the important tasks in front of us in 2018 and beyond.”

Following the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the elections in 2018 will be the first major opportunity to impact redistricting, with 36 governors and 322 state senators elected to four-year terms around the country. These officials will have a seat at the table during the next round of redistricting in 2021. The National Redistricting Foundation, an NDRC affiliate, has filed litigation in Georgia and Pennsylvania and is actively sustaining existing cases in Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas.

Dierker will oversee long and short-term planning, day-to-day operations, and budgeting for NDRC.

Jenkins will oversee and track all litigation efforts carried out by NDRC affiliated lawyers and external partners. She will also engage with partner organizations and handle the communication and community outreach efforts necessary to ensure our visibility and participation across diverse communities and social justice movements.

Bisognano will serve as the committee’s point person on national and state political activity, coalition building and ally coordination.

NDRC is currently hiring a Census Director, Director of Digital Communications Strategy, Technical Product Producer, and interns for 2018. To learn more, visit https://prdndrc.wpengine.com/careers/.

Bios

Hayley Dierker will serve as the Chief of Staff for NDRC. She most recently served as chief of staff and chief operating officer for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), for which she co-developed long-term and short-term strategy and facilitated cost optimization for organizational operations. Prior to that, she served successfully as chief of staff to the chairman’s office and later as senior adviser to Congressman Steve Israel. Before joining the DCCC, she worked as deputy chief of staff for Congressman Scott Murphy and director of operations and scheduler for Congressman Donald Cazayoux Jr. of Louisiana.

Marina K. Jenkins is the Litigation Director for NDRC. Jenkins joins NDRC from Jenner & Block LLP, where she focused on government controversies, public policy litigation, and election law. Jenkins has represented corporate, non-profit, and individual clients in cases involving voting rights and redistricting, government investigations and corporate compliance, copyright disputes, and human trafficking. She also served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Robert L. Wilkins of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

John Bisognano serves as the NDRC’s Director of Campaigns and State Outreach. He is a veteran of the Obama White House and three presidential campaigns. As the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement, Bisognano served as the public liaison to the Progressive, Labor, and National Security communities. In this role, he organized national coalitions around issues such as raising the minimum wage, ensuring equal pay, responding to the Syrian refugee crisis, the effort to close Guantanamo Bay, securing the Iran Deal, and countering violent extremism. During the 2016 election cycle, he left the White House to run the successful Coordinated Campaign in New Hampshire for Hillary Clinton, Senator Maggie Hassan and the entire Democratic Party slate.

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