July 28, 2003                                                                              

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES 2004 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION LEADERSHIP TEAM

Boston, MA - Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe today announced his intention to nominate New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as the Permanent Chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  Governor Richardson, the first Hispanic American to assume this vital leadership role, is supported by all nine Democratic presidential candidates.

McAuliffe also announced California civil rights activist Alice A. Huffman, the Co-Chair of the Site Advisory Committee, as Chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc. (DNCC).  Huffman, long recognized as a leader among California Democrats and the Party nationally, will chair the convention committee which is responsible for the planning and execution of the Convention.

To manage the operation in Boston, McAuliffe announced Rod O'Connor as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the 2004 Convention.  Having served as the COO of the 2000 Convention in Los Angeles, O'Connor is widely credited with successfully managing relations with Los Angeles city officials and all Democratic constituencies as well as directing over a thousand convention staff and volunteers.

"I am proud of the talented and experienced team we have assembled to guide Democrats through the 2004 National Convention in Boston," McAuliffe said.  "These leaders will make this Convention the strongest possible launching point for Democrats to take back the White House.  Our convention team which represents the best of America will put forth a candidate and a platform that represents and fights for all Americans."

These announcements were made today at a rally at Boston's Old South Meeting House to mark the day one year from now that Democrats will nominate their candidate to unseat President Bush.  At the rally Democrats noted the strong symbolism of holding this event at the site which sparked America's fight for Independence.
The Democratic National Convention Committee will open offices in Boston in the coming weeks.  In addition to the leadership team, the DNC announced several senior staffers.  Biographies of all those announced today are attached.

2004 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION LEADERSHIP TEAM

Governor Bill Richardson, Permanent Convention Chair (nominee)
Governor Bill Richardson will be nominated as the Permanent Chair of the 2004 Convention.  The nomination will be voted on by the delegates of the 2004 Convention at the opening session.  It is the responsibility of the Permanent Chair to preside over the Convention's proceedings.  New Mexico Governor Richardson is the only governor to pass a tax cut and his state is one of only three states with a budget surplus.  He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, served 15 years in Congress, served as United Nations Ambassador and as U.S. Secretary of Energy. 

Alice A. Huffman, Chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc.
Alice A. Huffman will serve as Chair of the DNCC, Inc., and will be responsible for the planning and execution of the Convention.  Ms. Huffman is founder and President/CEO of A.C. Public Affairs, Inc., and is also the current President of the California State Conference of the NAACP.  She was recently elected to the NAACP National Board of Directors.  In July 2003, Ms. Huffman was appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees by Governor Gray Davis.   She served in California Governor Jerry Brown's Cabinet and was the Associate Executive Director of the California Teachers Association.  She is the past Co-Chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention Site Advisory Committee and is a California-elected DNC member.

Rod O'Connor, Chief Executive Officer
Rod O'Connor will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Convention. O'Connor will be returning to work on his fourth Democratic Convention.  O'Connor was the Chief Operating Officer of the 2000 Convention in Los Angeles.  Prior to that O'Connor served as Chief of Staff of the DNC and was a close advisor to Vice President Al Gore, managing the Vice President's political activities for the Democratic Party.  He managed the VIP Department at the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Committee and the day-to-day operations for the Vice President during the 1996 campaign. O'Connor is a former White House aide and has worked for the United States Senate.  In between campaigns, O'Connor has held posts as an executive in both the public relations and telecommunications industries. He recently received a MPA from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Rekha Chalasani, Director of Budget
Rekha Chalasani will serve as Budget Director.  Chalasani has over eight years of project management experience in national Democratic politics, international development, and several entrepreneurial and non-profit ventures.  After helping found a Boston based biotech company in the early 1990s, she went to work for the Clinton/Gore 1996 re-election campaign and spent four years in the Clinton Administration.  Recently, Ms. Chalasani has consulted for Boston area non-profits including City Year, Youth Tech Entrepreneurs, and Mass Insight.

Stephanie Cutter, Director of Communications
Stephanie Cutter will serve as Communications Director. Cutter currently serves as Communications Director for Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Washington, DC.  She previously worked for President Clinton as the Deputy Communications Director at the White House and as the Associate Administrator for Communications at the U.S. EPA.  Cutter has participated in the press operation of the last three conventions -- Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.  Originally from Raynham, Massachusetts, Cutter is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Smith College in Northampton, MA. 

Evangelina "Lina" Garcia, Press Secretary
Lina Garcia will serve as Press Secretary.  Garcia has an extensive background in public affairs and public relations working for government, congressional campaigns, non-profits and the private sector.  She most recently served as Deputy Communications Director for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  Prior to that, she worked for an international public relations firm in San Francisco and is a former Deputy Press Secretary of the DNC.

Zoe Garmendia, Senior Advisor for Operations
Zoe Garmendia will serve as Senior Advisor for Operations.  Garmendia has worked for the 1996 Convention, the 2000 Convention and the 2004 site selection and housing process.  During her tenure at the DNCC, Ms. Garmendia has been Deputy Director for Convention Planning, Associate Director for Credentials, and Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief Executive Officer.  Ms. Garmendia was Event Coordinator for the 53rd Presidential Inauguration, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Gail Jackson, Director of Community Outreach
Gail Jackson will serve as Director of Community Outreach.  Jackson has over two decades of communications experience specializing in public, community, government, and corporate relations.  She has been involved with communications programs, strategic planning, fund-raising, events planning and management to several diverse organizations, including the Ad Club of Greater Boston, Roxbury Community College, Action for Boston Community Development, Wang Laboratories, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  She has been nominated by Ebony Magazine as "One of the Most Promising Black Women in Corporate America".

Cindy M. Lott, Chief Counsel
Cindy Lott will serve as Chief Counsel.  Lott, a 1993 Yale Law School graduate, served as Deputy Counsel at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.  She was also Chief Counsel in a state Attorney General's Office in addition to practicing in the private sector.  Lott's role in the 2004 Convention will be a return to Boston for her.  In 1993, she served as a judicial clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and later practiced with the Boston law firm of Foley, Hoag, and Elliot.

Cameron Moody, Director of Operations
Cameron Moody will serve as Director of Operations.  This is Moody's third Democratic National Convention.  He served as the Deputy Director of Logistics for the 2000 National Convention and as Deputy Director of Transportation for the 1996 National Convention.  He has worked on the G-8 Economic Summit, the Presidential Inaugural festivities and the past three Olympic Games.  This is a return to Boston for Moody, who previously worked as a marketing executive at Saucony in Peabody, MA.

Dennis O'Brien, Director of Housing
Dennis O'Brien will serve as Director of Housing.  In his past two years at the Democratic National Committee, O'Brien has served as a Special Assistant to Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and for the past year as the Deputy Director of Convention Planning for the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  Prior to that, he worked for Vice President Al Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign and played a key role in the 2000 Presidential Debates.

Lee Satterfield, Director of Convention Planning, Washington D.C. Office
Satterfield will continue in her role as Director of Convention Planning acting as a liaison between the DNC and others in Washington and the staff on-site in Boston.  She was intimately involved in the selection of Boston as the host city.  Prior to her role in Convention Planning, Satterfield served as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the DNC.  She has vast experience in Democratic politics, serving as Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and in the White House during the Clinton Administration.

Eileen Toback, Director of Administration
Eileen Toback will serve as Director of Administration.  Toback has been an advocate for workers' rights for over ten years.  She was most recently the Executive Director of the New York Professional Nurses Union enforcing collective bargaining agreements and lobbying for patient safety.  Her experience also includes organizing service and maintenance workers with the United Auto Workers, Local 2300 and lobbying for single payer health care with the New York Jobs with Justice/Health Care Campaign.


Contact:   Debra DeShong    202-863-8148