Anthony Badami
Senior Associate, Editor
From Kansas City to Providence, and now New York, Anthony combines a Midwestern, no-frills sensibility (Missouri is the "Show-Me" state, after all) with a healthy dose of East Coast faux-elitism (he graduated last spring from Brown in political philosophy). Before joining Erica and the Agenda Project staff, Anthony worked as Editor-in-Chief of the Brown Journal of World Affairs, a professional world affairs magazine published under the auspices of the Watson Institute for International Studies. Previous summers have found Anthony conducting research for wizened professors, and exploring a wide range of titillating topics, e.g. democratic theory, discourse analysis, logic, and constitutional law. He is now the Editor of the Daily Agenda, the AP Action Fund's online a hub for progressive politics, right-wing skewering, and incisive, irreverent commentary on current events
Marlon Cole
Intern, Graphic Design
Marlon is an eccentric graphic designer, born and raised in New York. He has become fascinated with the power and positive influence he has with things he creates. As a designer Marlon shares his passion to create out-of-the-box designs, to push the envelope, and welcome new challenges with enthusiasm.
Daniel Kelske
Senior Associate, Strategy and Policy
After a brief stint with the New Hampshire State Government and the Suffolk County District Attorney Office, Daniel has finally found some solace in the public policy industry. Daniel studied History and Rhetoric at the University of New Hampshire, and is passionate about energy policy, financial reform, resource management and information systems. As the Agenda Project’s Strategy and Policy Associate, Daniel is the managing editor of Top Wonks and also specializes in packaging and marketing progressive values through web based tools and programs. When he isn’t busy solving some of the Agenda Project’s most vexing IT problems, Daniel can found searching for a way to build a sustainable progressive infrastructure.
Rachael Wall
Director of Strategy and Programs
Rachael transplanted to NY from the Midwest and is still working on shortening her vowels, donchaknow? She studied Political Science and Spanish at the University of Minnesota, sipped Malbec in Buenos Aires, worked on Capitol Hill, fought bulls while studying in Madrid, and even tricked a travel agency into paying her to give Spanish tours in Hawaii. After all that traveling, Rachael felt the urge to get in touch with her Minnesota roots by campaigning for one of their famed politicians (hint: he has written more SNL skits than Paul Wellstone, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Walter Mondale, and Michele Bachmann combined). She figured if she could get a comedian-turned-politician elected she could organize over 50,000 TSA employees. Now Rachael is the Director of Strategy and Programs and is helping to put democracy's "baggage" aside and "probe" American politics for the ideas that will allow our country to "take flight." She is currently running the Patriotic MIillionaires campaign.
David Berman
Senior Associate, Communications and Strategy
The Agenda Project's most recent college graduate, David made the long and perilous journey from the New York University "campus" three blocks south to the Agenda Project headquarters. Having completed coursework in Creative Writing and Zombie Defense (those who mock said coursework have probably never had to defend themselves against the living dead) at Oberlin College, David abandoned the intellectually suffocating cornfields of the Buckeye State for the bright lights of New York University. At NYU, he studied Politics and Sociology and was an editor of the Gallatin Journal of Global Affairs. When not shaking his fist at his most despised postmodern philosophers, David enjoys taking long walks on the beach, reading science-fiction novels, and fighting to take our democracy back from big corporations.
CJ James
Graphic Design & Web Developer
CJ is a graphic designer from Orlando, FL, who continues to grow in the colorful streets of Brooklyn, NY. A proud Knight, he graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design and minors in Photography and Sociology. He began his New York career in Midtown’s Fashion District working within women's contemporary, an industry that made him a glutton for critiques, last minute changes and looking photo ready in any environment. In short, he hails from a world not unlike Politics.
Shruti Sehgal
Senior Associate, Strategy and Media
Shruti Sehgal is Practical Progress Editor and Staff Writer for the Daily Agenda, the Agenda Project Action Fund’s online hub for progressive news, right-wing skewering, and incisive, irreverent commentary on current events. Before joining the Agenda Project, Shruti's worked at Vanity Fair and was a reporter for the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Shruti grew up in India, Thailand, and Malaysia and is deeply passionate about political culture and public policy. Shruti holds a B.A. in English and Philosophy from Barnard College.
Melissa Williams
Intern, Economic Justice
Desperately wanting an escape from the cookie-cutter, white picket fences of Long Island New York, Melissa moved to New York City where she attended CUNY Hunter College and obtained a BA in Economics. During her years as an undergrad she smooth-talked her way into two, all-expense paid study abroad trips to Barcelona, Spain and Shanghai, China where she developed a passion for economic development and soup dumplings. This past year, she has conducted research on poverty alleviation in the Latin America and Caribbean region and found specific indicators that can be used to measure the impact of Microfnace Institutions in this region. However, to promote change abroad, change must be established on the home front, this is why Melissa was drawn to the Agenda Project and its influence of progressive public policy. She now spends her days taking long walks to avoid Metrocard hikes and tasting all the foods from the top street vendors.
