Our Team

Dream Team

The Dream Team plays a central role in building the Be2021 movement by strategizing and organizing the various aspects of our campaign. They arrange campus events, blog, spread the message through social media and other outlets and much, much more!

Rajit Das

Issue Analyst

Rajit graduated in August 2011 with his M.A in International Relations from St. Mary’s University focusing on International Conflict Resolution. He received his B.A in Political Science with a minor in International Relations from The George Washington University. In the summer of 2008, Rajit had the opportunity to study abroad in Geneva, Switzerland where he participated in a program entitled, “Multilateral Governance in International Affairs,” hosted at the Geneva Institute for International Studies at Development. During his undergraduate years, Rajit gained experience interning for various non-profits in the DC metropolitan area. Furthermore, he got onboard with AID as a Young Leader and attended a seminar hosted by AID in Washington, DC. He is passionate about human rights, international law, peace/security studies, international development, and U.S.-South Asian relations. What he brings to the Be2021 campaign, is his interests in “inter-faith” dialogue, bringing change needed for a more tolerant world 10 years post the 9/11 attacks.

Samantha Gold

Issue Analyst

Samantha Gold studies politics and religion at Claremont Graduate University, an interest sparked by the attack in her lower Manhattan neighborhood on her first day of high school in September 2001.  In the years that followed, Samantha graduated from Emmanuel College with a BA in International Relations and Global Affairs and earned an Arabic language certificate from New York University. She has worked both in international tourism and for education non-profit organizations. Samantha is a licensed scuba instructor and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Kaysie Green

Communications Guru

Kaysie Green studies International Relations and Political Science at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She began to pursue this path after traveling to Nicaragua her junior year of high school. It was there that she was inspired to work in politics and aid 3rd world countries. Kaysie has worked with many international students since high school; providing tutoring and cultural excursions.

Kushal Ismael

Issue Analyst

Kushal is entering his junior year at McGill University. He is a double major in Political Science and International Development Studies. Within his Political Science major, he has a concentration in political theory, international relations, and comparative politics. Within his International Development Studies, his main concentration is on states and governance. As an American in Canada, he is deeply interested in projecting a better view of America abroad. Aside from his studies, Kushal is a TV fanatic. He is also a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan. He is eager to volunteer with the Be2021 campaign as an issue analyst.

Jim Minardi

Communications Guru

Jim attends Loyola University Chicago, where he is majoring in Political Science and minoring in International Studies. He has always been very interested and engaged in the social and political events that have affected the world around him. Jim has been shaped spiritually, mentally, and emotionally by the events that unfolded on the morning of September 11, 2001. He is truly honored and excited to be able to work on this campaign and help honor and commemorate the people that were lost that day. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, Model United Nations, Campus Ministry, and Loyola Students for Liberty on campus. He has had extensive Social Media experience through using Twitter, Facebook, Yelp!, and YouTube during his internships with the Heartland Café and the Marketing and Promotions Office of Love Park in Philadelphia. After finishing his undergrad, Jim plans on entering either graduate or law school.

Hannah Nemer

Movement Organizer

Hannah is a second-year student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she is an active member of Advocates for Human Rights and a Center Director in the public policy-based Roosevelt Institute. Planning to major in Peace, War, and Defense and International American Studies, Hannah focuses on how the United States both perceives and is perceived by the world. Also passionate about film, Hannah spent the summer in Uganda as a Silent Images intern documenting the impact of a nutritional supplement program on malnourished youth. Having served as a 2010 AIDemocracy US-Muslim Relations Issue Analyst, she looks forward to serving on the Be2021 team.

Ramis Wadood
Movement Organizer

Ramis Wadood is a high school senior at Athens High School in Troy, Mich. Currently, he is President of his school’s Model United Nations Club, President of his school’s Diversity Club, Vice President of his school’s Kiva (global micro-financing) Club, a Board Member of his school’s Club Wall Street (Economics Club) and a Law Intern. He previously hosted a school-wide “Day of Peace” for those suffering in the Arab Spring Revolutions across the Middle East and helped host the school’s Ethnic Fair, which showcased the school’s many different cultures. Most recently, he attended AIDemocracy’s Global Scholar program in Washington D.C. He intends to study International Relations in college and then go on to law school.

Ningxi Xu

Issue Analyst

Ningxi graduated from the George Washington University in May 2011 where she double majored in international affairs and French with two minors in music and organizational communication. She previously interned at American Enterprise Institute, Hudson Institute and Voice of America. She is passionate about international development issues and the political economy. Particularly interested in the finance and energy sector, she plans to go on to business school in the next few years and potentially become involved in the field using her knowledge and skills obtained from an undergraduate liberal arts education. Ningxi is excited to be part of the Be2021 canoaugb and hopes to contribute to and learn from the experience while sharpening her own analytical skills and knowledge about issues surrounding 9/11 and its tenth anniversary.

Coordinators

Patrick McDermott

Global Peace and Security Program Coordinator, AIDemocracy

Patrick earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a Minor in International Studies from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. He previously served as a Legislative Aide for PA State Senator Lisa M. Boscola, and as an intern for AIDemocracy’s Peace and Security Program. After spending some time “inside the beltway” he decided he wanted to try some “outside the beltway” work, which brought him to Washington, D.C., oddly enough. He canvassed on behalf of Save the Children for a time in the D.C./Virginia area until he joined Global Zero, which is an international, non-partisan movement dedicated to the elimination of all nuclear weapons. He ventured on a six-week road tour across the Midwest of the United States to screen a new documentary film making the case for “Zero” entitled “Countdown to Zero.”

Karen Showalter

Executive Director, AIDemocracy

Karen specializes in building activist networks and the use of new technologies for campaigning. She has built and/or advised activist communities mobilizing around the 2008 US Presidential elections and the international financial institutions. Most recently, she founded the ‘Espace de Plaidoyer’, a community of activists demanding more and better social services in Bamako, Mali. Through her work with Oxfam International, Netcentric Campaigns, IFIwatchnet, the Princeton Refugee Initiative and the Bank Information Center, Karen has sharpened a rare blend of communications, campaign and policy analysis expertise. Karen has worked in Mali, Nepal and Kenya, and lived in Niger for three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. She has a MPA from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and a BA in History (honors) from the University of Michigan.