Staff

Executive Director
Joan Mandle, Ph.D.
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Joan Mandle has been the Executive Director of Democracy Matters since 2001. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Colgate University from 1990-2001, where she also directed the college’s successful Women’s Studies Program, and founded and supervised Colgate’s Center for Women’s Studies. Her teaching and her extensive published work explore social change and social movements. Professor Mandle also has taught sociology at Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, and Penn State and in Tianjin, China. While on leave from Colgate in 1997 and 1998 she was a Distinguished Visitor at both the Institute for Social Change at the University of California at Berkeley and the Women’s Leadership Institute at Mills College. In 2001, Professor Mandle left Colgate University to accept the position as Executive Director of Democracy Matters.

Professor Mandle has been actively involved with many efforts to reform the political system. She spearheaded a two-year grassroots organizing drive in Oakland, California and in San Francisco that resulted in the successful passage of significant campaign finance reform in both those cities. Mandle also has had extensive direct experience with the electoral system, having served as Campaign Manager for incumbent Congressman Robert W. Edgar of Pennsylvania in both 1984 and 1986. In San Francisco in 1998, she worked on Barbara Boxer’s successful Senatorial race.

Over the years, Mandle has received widespread recognition for her political work. Most recently, she was awarded the League of Women Voters of Oakland’s “Civic Contribution Award” for her campaign finance reform work in the Bay Area, and the Sociologists for Women in Society’s “Feminist Activism Award” for a lifetime of service and activism.

Democracy Matters, founded by NBA player Adonal Foyle, has offered internships in political organization and social change to students at over 600 high schools, colleges and universities since 2001. Mandle lectures widely at these schools and to civic groups and organizations as well on subjects of democracy, women, and political change. In 2009 she hosted a radio series on WRCU in Hamilton, NY called “Democracy Matters.”

Regional Field Organizer
Anita Kinney

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Anita has been driven by a sense of urgency in our current political system to work for the rights of citizens through social justice and activism. She has worked with migrant, Native, and underrepresented communities in North America, advocating for equal access and a political voice in these times of hardship. She is currently working towards her Masters of Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, while maintaining the other foot in the heart of North Carolina, her home state. Anita is a musician and artist, integrating these tools in her activism work - attempting to live by conscience and by example. Anita's passion for equal rights and community activism has led her work in the direction of organizing, studying social justice theory, and emphasizing historical context when working in the field of advocacy.

Office Manager
Susan Critton
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Susan Critton came to Democracy Matters with extensive administrative and bookkeeping experience -- including 7 years with not-for-profit organizations including Arts and Community Development organizations. Critton also brings to DM expertise in fundraising, grant oversight, database management, graphic design, and web site management.