SLSV Advisory Board

Jill manages the Nonprofit Partnership program at Democracy Works, helping partners optimize their use of our technology to design and implement effective voter engagement campaigns. With a background in the startup world, she is passionate about the intersection of social good and technology.

Alyssa Canty was born in Winston-Salem, NC. She attended The University of NC at Chapel Hill and received a bachelor of arts in public policy and in women studies in 2011. While at UNC she interned at Shodor Education Foundation, Planned Parenthood and was a member of Minority Student Recruitment, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, INC. and Jackson Ambassadors. After undergrad Alyssa attended Salem College where she received a certificate in Non-Profit Management and then continued her studies at North Carolina Central University for graduate school where received a Master’s of Public Administration in 2014. During her time at NCCU Alyssa interned at The LGBT Center of Raleigh and served as the community service chair of the Graduate Association of Public Administrators. She presented research at the Spring Research Symposium and won first place for her research titled “Utilizing Policy to Dismantle Poverty”.

Alyssa is currently the Campus Outreach Coordinator for Common Cause NC. She leads civic engagement efforts at St. Augustine’s University, Shaw University, Fayetteville State University, Elizabeth City State University, and NC Central University.

Christina Sanders is a Regional Program Manager at The Andrew Goodman Foundation. A Texas native, her practical expertise is engaging and training young people to be involved in elections, build issue campaigns and organize their peers to vote. She is passionate about women's right and spends her free time teaching Texas women to understand public policy. Christina is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Mater's in Public Administration (Public Policy) from the Barbara Jordan - Mickey LeLand School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University.

Catherine (Cat) Fish, Associate Director, Campus Partnerships of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge at Civic Nation, has ten years of experience in organizing, politics, and advocacy. Prior to joining the Challenge, Cat worked in the nonprofit sector, for a Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, and on political campaigns. This is Cat's third term on the advisory board of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.

Spencer Long serves as the Director of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is directly responsible for the oversight of programming and services centered on leadership development, volunteer and community service, and civic learning and democratic engagement. Through this role, Spencer works to transform leaders and develop lifelong active citizens who work towards positive social change. He brings ten years of experience from three different states and institutions to the Advisory Board.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->Steven Adelson is an Area Coordinator in the Department of Residential Programs at Stony Brook University, and also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Civic Justice. Since arriving in 2012, Steven has contributed to the university's transformed commitment to civic and democratic engagement for several years, and they are thrilled about the opportunity to position civic justice as a cornerstone of the student experience. Steven is a two-time alumnus of Stony Brook University: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (2015) and Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration (2017). In addition, Steven is pursuing their Doctorate in Education at Northeastern University. Steven's research interests include undocumented immigrant identity development and its effects on access to higher education, and college student democratic engagement.

Sedona Lynch is a Senior at the University of Arizona Majoring in Public Health. She currently serves as a Board Member for Planned Parenthood Arizona and has previously interned with their Education Department. She also serves as a senator and ambassador for the College of Public Health and had been a previous president of Planned Parenthood Generation Action. For the 2018 Mid-term Elections, she was a campus lead for Feminist Majority's Arizona Student's Vote, Student's Win campaign.

Clarissa Unger is the Director of Civic Engagement for Young Invincibles. In this capacity, she leads the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, which promotes nonpartisan civic engagement on college campuses. Clarissa has a background in advocacy, communications, fundraising, and political campaigns, and has worked on strategic campaigns both nationally and internationally. Prior to joining YI, Clarissa served as the Development Coordinator for the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas where she helped to promote civic engagement on campus. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a Masters of Science in Comparative European Politics from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.