Candidates for GPWA offices are listed alphabetically by first name.
ALICE GREEN – CANDIDATE FOR DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Hello GPWA Greens, my name is Alice, and I am currently the acting Treasurer of Green Party of Seattle, and our small workgroup is methodically rebuilding our local chapter at this time. I maintain the GPSEA.org website and blog and participate in projects with other activist groups as well. Currently my official address is in Shoreline Washington, and I am also spending a lot of time in Portland because of a prolonged medical leave from my regular job as a nurse. When GPSEA bylaws are solidified I may move out of that position. My work background is as a Labor & Delivery RN, I am officially an empty nester and none of my four children or any of their friends who call me mom are staying with me.
Originally, I became involved with the Green Party of Washington as a member of the ‘Action Faction’ late in 2015, the following year I joined the Green Party of Seattle and became involved with the Jill Stein Campaign. She was an easy candidate for me to support. Both ‘mainstream’ parties are disappointing in that they represent interest groups and large corporate donors, and both support endless war.
I want to work with the Green Party of Washington at the national level as a Delegate and feel that although the job would be new to me, there are reliable Greens that will be willing to mentor me through the process of learning. My grasp of Green Values is strong although my grasp of Bylaws is weak, and it does take me time to digest the information that I read there. However, I am willing to learn and will endeavor to keep up with the emails, which I hear are copious, contentious, and convoluted.
There are many potential Green Votes in Washington, and I believe that many people would welcome a viable national party alternative to Republican or Democratic corporatocracy. In the 2024 election cycle an openly Ecosocialist Party has many reasons to succeed as young voters come of age and entrenched political forces wane. The Greens must stand up for Peace, Sustainability, and advocate for Regenerative Systems at all levels, personally and globally. Peace does start at home.
My main political interests are Universal Healthcare and Single Payer insurance reforms. I also feel that local economies can thrive with community building systems in place such as Free Higher Education, Mutual Aid Organizations, and Green Job opportunities. Technology can help or it can hurt us, we must safeguard Grassroots Empowerment against the Corporate and Technocratic forces that seek to commodify everyday citizens. When the powerful divide communities to maintain their control the only interests they represent are their own. If elected I would represent Ecosocialist values for the State of Washington as a National Delegate.
Thank you for the opportunity to represent Greens.
BRENT ALAN MITCHEL-GAUDET – CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT TO COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE AND APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Brent has an educational background in Environmental Sciences and in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. An alumnus of the California State University, Fullerton, the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, he is active in a number of scientific, cultural, heritage, and environmental organizations.
Brent was most recently the manager of the Hoodsport Visitor Information Center in Hoodsport, Washington. The Center is a partnership with the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Shelton/Mason Chamber of Commerce.
He is a retired Lieutenant/Engineer with the Nenana Alaska Fire Department and has been the Nenana Cultural and Visitors Center Manager for 4 years.
He was a certified as an Emergency Trauma Technician with the State of Alaska. He was also certified in Healthcare Provider CPR.
Brent has worked as the Assistant Program Director for the tribal TCCC AmeriCorps program and has been the CERT program coordinator.
Brent worked at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History
Brent has worked in partnership with the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, Tanana Chiefs Conference, and with other government agencies and non-profits, on projects in Virginia, Alaska, Minnesota, and California.
A former Habitat Restoration Specialist with the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, Brent has focused on Schoolyard Habitat Restoration Projects in the Alaska Interior. Brent has been the Environmental Youth Corps Coordinator for three years, which included training young adults in Ecology, CPR, and ETT.
Brent has worked with children K-12 on environmental projects and sustainable agriculture gardens, in classrooms. Brent has worked with Nenana City School, Tri-Valley School. Two Rivers School, Cantwell School, Hopson Middle School, Minto School, and many others.
Statement of Interest from Brent:
I am submitting this statement of interest in order to be considered for the two unfilled positions.
I believe I possess the qualifications to fill either the National Delegate or the At-large Coordination Council position.
I have a history of working in positions of service and environmental protection.
I have been on the front lines of struggle for social justice for minorities, women, and the under-served in our society, my entire adult life.
I have worked with Winona LaDuke on environmental and sustainable foods projects on the White Earth Reservation, Ogema, Minnesota.
I am currently on the Global Green COP26 working group.
I have developed and I continue to develop positive relationships with Greens from around the world. I have cultivated friendships and positive relationships with Greens from every continent (except Antarctica).
I am easy to work with. I am positive and caring. I get things done.
I have the time and dedication to serve in either of these very important positions.
Respectfully,
Brent A. Mitchel-Gaudet
DANIEL BUMBARGER – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE
Hello everyone, my name is Daniel Bumbarger and I’ve been nominated to the state Coordinating Council. I’ve been a formal member of the state party for a little over a year, but I’ve been a green voter and advocate since 2012.
I’m currently the Secretary and Webmaster for the South Sound Green Party chapter. I am also a member of the National Lavender Green Caucus and serve on the Green Party National Accreditation and Fundraising Committees. Additionally, I am a member and heavily involved with the GPUS Youth Caucus where I work on the media team.
Outside of the Green Party I am a long time HIV/AIDS prevention and education advocate helping form and serving on the board of governors for a local prevention non-profit.
I’m organized and a regular attendee of the GPWA CC meetings and feel I’d be a good fit. That’s of course up to you! Give me the work and I’ll be happy to do it.
JODY GRAGE – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE
I was born in Seattle and have been an activist for most of my live. I taught at-risk youth in the Central Area in the early 60s, at alternative schools, and at Juvenile Hall. I have deep roots as a community activist in Ballard where I have lived since 1976. I founded and ran the Seattle Nonviolent Peacekeeper Pool for over a decade back in the day and was one of the founders of both Sustainable Seattle and Sustainable Ballard.
In the mid-80s I worked with the issue-based group Cascadia Green Alliance and on our newspaper “Waves”. I continued as it grew into the Green Party of Washington State serving on many working groups as well as the Coordinating Council as Treasurer and an at-large member over the years. I served on the GPUS Steering Committee for several terms as an at-large member, as well as four years as Treasurer and two years as Secretary, and have been a member of many committees.
I bring with me institutional memory, an appetite for paperwork, a willingness to toil in the trenches, a vision of Green Party locals all across our state – and a feeling that the 11th Key Value is perseverance.
LISA CANAR (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – DEPUTY TREASURER
I have been a member of the Green Party of Seattle and Green Party of Washington since 2016. I currently volunteer as social media and communications coordinator for GPWA, and oversee our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter), post news to our website, publicize events, and send organizational emails. I attended the GPUS annual convention in 2016 as a Presidential Nominating Convention delegate, and I have served on the GPWA Coordinating Council for five years, most recently as Deputy Treasurer. I am running to continue in the role of Deputy Treasurer for 2021-2022.
In my professional life, I am a Medical Consultant for a diagnostic and clinical testing laboratory. I completed my training in Naturopathic and Integrative Medicine at Bastyr University.
Our health depends on the health of our communities and our planet, and on establishing a comprehensive Green agenda. In my work and activism, I strive to uphold the Green visions and values of social and racial justice, grassroots democracy, environmental justice, sustainability, non-violence, cooperation, and ecosocialism. For people, planet, and peace over profit!
MARA BRAY (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Hello everyone, my name is Mara Bray and I am submitting my biography for consideration to be nominated as a national delegate. I’ll be frank – I am new to the Green Party, and have little to no volunteer work with the party itself. However, what I can offer is my experiences, political involvement and education, and interest in supporting the Green Party. If, at the end of the day, what I offer is not enough to secure an elected position then I know it is not a good time for me – which is okay. So let me begin.
I am young, 29 years old, I have been on my own since I was 16 and have learned the importance of not only local community organizations, but a need for universal healthcare as well. I started volunteering in politics and voting at 18. My most involved bout of politics was in 2016 when I went all in for Bernie Sanders. This involvement with managing events, phone banks, and door knocking led me to not only winning a Congressional Delegate seat in Spokane, WA but an interest in politics as well. This was also the year I applied to, and got accepted into, Johns Hopkins University to pursue a Masters in Government. 2016 was also the year I chose to vote for Jill Stein and the Green Party over voting for a lesser evil. By 2018 I had spent two years researching millennials and voter turnout, finishing my Masters Thesis titled, “Deterioration of Civic Engagement: Millennial Behavior in Contemporary Politics.” In the most recent election I once again got nominated as a delegate representing Bernie Sanders, and while we continued to help edit and push a more progressive state platform, I once again found myself turning to vote for the Green Party. After two election cycles of voting Green, I realized what I wrote in my own thesis rang true to even me – the two party system is flawed. The vast cleavage growing between the two parties of Red and Blue is leaving middle of the road voters to choose between a lesser evil. We shouldn’t be sacrificing our values to choose a candidate that is slightly better than another. This is the moment I chose to officially join the Green Party. The Ten Key Values makes sense to me on a foundational level, which is why I am writing this today. While I do not have a strong foothold of volunteer time within the Green Party, I have spent years working in nonprofits, volunteering within the community, and being an activist.
When it’s all said and done I strongly believe that the Green Party needs fresh eyes, fresh ideas, and an individual who is both passionate and knowledgeable. I can offer both. I am here to stay in politics, and will eventually run for a locally elected position. I am also knowledgeable about the political agenda and the inner workings of the political arena, that I am not easily swayed nor fooled. I both recognize and respect that many of the Green Party members have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the party. A growing political party needs this. However, it also needs someone like me – new to the party, familiar with other parties, and the passion to help push us forward.
Thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to grow and represent the Greens.
MARGARET ELISABETH – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE AND APPOINTMENT AS DELEGATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Thank you for the privilege of letting me earn your vote for the Coordinating Council.
My name is Margaret Elisabeth and I’d like to tell you a little about myself, my involvement with the Green Party, my activism, and my general thoughts so that you’ll have something of an understanding of who I am and what I’m about.
I am a nonbinary person and recently served as Co-Chair of the National Lavender Green Caucus (April 2019 – April 2021). I have also served as the NLGC Alternate Delegate to the National Committee and as one of two Media Spokespeople for the Caucus. Both positions I was elected for in April 2020. Previous to my current positions in the NLGC, I was one of our National Delegates to the National Committee from 2017-2019. I take my obligations to my Caucus seriously and want to bring the same manner of serious mind to the GPWA CC should I win a seat. In those various positions, I’ve reinvigorated our Facebook Group and Community, created our YouTube and Discord Server, modernized, updated and added substantial new content to our website. I facilitate and moderate our Caucus monthly meetings and ensure that our Caucus gets its work done on the National Committees which we have reps on.
I believe in building the change we wish to see in the world. Nobody will build it for us. It’s difficult and time consuming however if we don’t do it, who will? I believe in speaking passionately and with courageous conviction regarding the values which matter to me personally, Social Justice, Non-Violence and Ecological Wisdom and I will do the same in my position on the Coordinating Committee to help our State grow and develop. Our Green ideals and values will be needed more than ever as we move, collectively, into a social milieu which will be dominated by issues of health, climate and social justice.
~Margaret Elisabeth (They/Them)
MOLLY FEATHER (she/her) – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
My name is Molly Feather. Thank you for nominating me as a candidate for National Alternate Delegate for the Green Party. I am part of the South Sound Green Party chapter and have held various positions over the years, and I would like to bring that experience to this position.
I am currently serving as the representative for The South Sound Green Party chapter to the GPWA coordinating council and a liaison to the Olympia Coalition To Abolish Nuclear Weapons. I also just got elected to represent or be seated to be on The Peace Committee in the National Lavender Caucus.
Thank you for the nomination and it would be an honor to represent The Green Party as a National Alternate Delegate.
NOAH MARTIN – CANDIDATE FOR ALTERNATE TO GPUS NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Noah Martin has been a community activist from a young age, when he would accompany his mother to Iraq War protests and “helped” sample frog populations and survey birds to protect local wetlands. After receiving his B.A. from Oberlin College in Politics and Latin American Studies, Noah has worked managing an in-school mentoring program for at-risk youth, as a counselor in a Seattle homeless shelter, as a landscaper, as a caregiver, and even as a geoducker. Today, he works in Olympia as a policy analyst and legislative advocate for Quaker Voice, a faith-based, grassroots organization that advocates for bold ecological action, criminal justice reform, and economic justice. He has worked with a range of organizations in Olympia, including Thurston County Progressives, Just Housing, Olympia IWW, Olympia Assembly, Olympia DSA, and as a founding member of Tenants of the South Sound.
Noah decided to vote for Jill Stein in 2012, his first vote ever cast for president. Noah has been a bonafide member of the Green Party since 2016, serving as the membership coordinator for the South Sound Green Party, as its delegate to the GPWA CC, and as one of GPWA’s delegates to the NC. He has served on the Green Party’s International Committee, and is its newest Youth Delegate to the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas. He also served as volunteer coordinator and field organizer for Renata Rollins’s successful 2017 campaign to put a Green on Olympia City Council.
Noah believes that the Green Party must be built from the ground up as a revolutionary, anti-capitalist alternative to the Democratic-Republican Party, engaging in mutual aid and direct action in addition to electoral politics. He is particularly interested in seeing the national party support these local efforts. If elected, his priorities will be continuing to champion and enforce LGBTQ rights in the party, restructuring the party to better track membership and coordinate nationwide actions, and revising the platform to better match the immediate needs of youth.
RICHARD REDICK – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE
Richard Redick joined the Green Party of the Mid-Columbia and the Green Party of Washington in January 2018 after spending roughly equal portions of his adult life as a Republican and as a Democrat. The events of the 2016 election cycle impelled Richard, as a matter of conscience, to permanently leave the 2-party system. With a degree in economics, and 21 years working for major corporations, he is convinced that, until Big Money is barred from influencing politics, the desires of the people will take a back seat with policy makers.
Deeply concerned, yet optimistic regarding the future, Richard sees a definite role for technology in both developing livable communities, and in linking them together in meaningful ways that are socially and ecologically healthy. He sees the Green Party platform oriented toward that constructive and hopeful end, and he is invigorated by it! Richard resides in Kennewick, Washington; presently sharing his home with 3 of his young adult children, and one playful, tabby cat.
SCOTT THOMPSON – CANDIDATE FOR COORDINATING COUNCIL – TREASURER
Scott grew up in Los Angeles but was very happy to move his family to Northwest Washington in 1993 to raise his kids in a more rural environment. Married over 38 years, he lives in a beautiful and peaceful place a bit up Sumas Mountain (in Whatcom County) enjoying time with his three grandkids. His bachelor’s degree is in Psychology with a Business minor. He worked as a Control Systems Engineer since moving to Washington, then took an early retirement in hopes of reducing his biological footprint. In 2001 he founded the Whatcom County Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee and now facilitates the local Green Party.
Scott admires all the Green Party 10 Key Values. However, he believes that Non-violence is clearly the most urgent… “Most US citizens have been manipulated into redirecting our country’s resources into unconstitutional wars that benefit international corporations and an imperialist agenda, but only harm the other 99%. If we could stop the wasteful practices of the military-industrial-intelligence complex, then we could easily implement the remaining 10 Key Values in our country. Let’s reject the fear-based narrative imposed on us from 9/11 by those that have benefited and work on awakening our fellow citizens to a brighter, sustainable future.”
STARLENE RANKIN – CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT TO COORDINATING COUNCIL – AT-LARGE
I’d like to help our state party grow! I want to help us recruit and train more Green candidates and then win more elections. I want to work to improve our party’s image, strengthen our infrastructure, increase our presence on social media, increase our membership and create an affordable fundraising plan.
Green Party work:
Co-founder of the Iowa Green Party in 1996
Green Party organizing (mostly paid) in Iowa, Massachusetts, Chicago and Northern California from 1996-2002.
Co-founder of the National Lavender Green Caucus in 2003
First Lavender Caucus National Delegate 2003-2007
Co-founder of the National Women’s Caucus
Ran for City Council in 1999 in Ames, Iowa
Clearinghouse Coordinator for G/GPUSA in Lawrence, MA 2000-2001 (paid position)
Staff member of Rebecca Kaplan’s campaign for Oakland City Council in 2000 (paid position)
Staff member of Peter Camejo’s campaign for Governor in 2002 (paid position)
Green National Committee Delegate from GPCA
Lavender Green Caucus Co-Chair
Co-Chair GP Media Committee
GP Social Media Manager
GP-TV Livestream Producer
GPCA Clearinghouse Coordinator (paid position)
GPCA Standing Committee member
County Council member, Sacramento County GP
Previously on the Presidential Campaign Support Committee, Outreach Committee, Diversity Committee and Merchandise Committee
Co-chair of the Strategic Planning Working Group and was one of the writers of the Green Party National Strategic Plan
Fundraising Tech then Virtual Office Manager/Volunteer Coordinator for GPUS from 2015 to the end of 2020. (paid position)
Currently on the National Media Committee and the Annual Meeting Committee, hopefully will soon be on the Coordinated Campaign Committee (CCC)
Currently the Treasurer of the National Lavender Green Caucus and the National Women’s Caucus
Identify as: Senior, Lesbian, Disabled
Activism:
LGBTIQA+ Equality organizing, Food & Childcare coops and alternative schools, Natural childbirth and home birthing, Anti-war and Social Justice organizing, TV/Video Media activism, Arts Council Board member, Land Trust member, Neighborhood Association member, Summer festival organizer.
