Kevin Lawrie was born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York, where he still works and resides today. By day Kevin is a successful entrepreneur, traversing the worlds of information technology, marketing and business and project management. By night, Kevin is a pragmatic and driven political operative, who founded the Niagara County Chapter of the Young Dems and is currently developing two others in Western New York.

Kevin's passion for politics began in approximately 2006 when he began volunteering for the Niagara County Democratic Party, creating a new website that implemented an automated email and marketing newsletter system. In the past election cycles, Modern Imagination has produced dozens of literature including palm cards, direct mail pieces, and campaign-signage.

During the last six years, Kevin has been able to use his entrepreneurial talent in conjunction with his interest in government and politics. Lawrie has successfully guided three technology-based companies through the venture capital phase, startup phase and finally into day-to-day operations. The companies operate in highly diverse and specialized fields of Business Application Development and Software-as-a-Service B2B solutions.

Just prior to his run for President of NYSYD, Lawrie redesigned the NYSYD website with tools for chapters and caucuses that allow for an easier dissemination of information.

Kevin has four half brothers and two half sisters. He is also the youngest individual to ever file for a business license in Niagara County. Lawrie was elected President of the NYS Young Democrats at the 2010 Convention in Queens.

Matthew Peter has been a resident of Albany County for six years. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from SUNY Albany with a Bachelors' and Masters' degree in Political Science.

He was an Arthur J. Sist International Fellow where he spent three months in the Middle East with the SUNY Center for International Development, working with the Jordanian Government. He has been employed in state government for three years in various policy making positions. Currently Matthew works as a Fiscal Analyst on the Finance Committee for the Democratic Senate Majority. He is a committeeman in the 11th ward in the city of Albany. He is the current President of the Albany County Young Democrats and previously the Capitol Region Vice President.

Julienne Verdi, a lifelong Staten Islander, is a student at Brooklyn Law School. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Special Honors with a minor in English from CUNY Hunter College, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Ms. Verdi is the Chair of the Youth Committee of the Democratic Committee of Richmond County and the Chair/Founder of the Women's Committee of the Young Democrats of Richmond County. Ms. Verdi is also on the Board of several non-profit organizations including; Fearless Females and Community Health Action of Staten Island. Since first becoming involved in politics in 2004, Ms. Verdi has been a tireless advocate for reproductive justice issues and for issues involving the advancement of women in politics. She has worked as a consultant for several political campaigns and pro-choice groups, as well as worked as a researcher for the Office of the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. She has interned for Planned Parenthood of NYC, the Office of Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.

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Chelsea is a graduate of the University of Vermont where she majored in Environmental Science and minored in Political Science. While at school, Chelsea interned in the Vermont House of Representatives as well as with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Chelsea is the President of the Westchester County Young Dems and currently works for New York State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer as a Legislative Assistant.

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Jenni Royer has been a life long resident of Broome County. Jenni graduated from Windsor High School in 2001 and went on to graduate from college at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey in 2005. At Drew, Jenni earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts with Religions, Middle Eastern Studied and Sociology, as well as working in the Faculty IT Lab. She also interned at the United Methodist Office for the United Nations.

Jenni became involved in the Young Democrats around 4 years ago when the Broome County Chapter started. At the county young dems level she was Vice President in 06-07, President in 07-08, and is currently Secretary. Within NYSYD, Jenni was the Communications director during 08-09. Jenni has been the Vice Chair of the NYSYD Women's Caucus and is currently the Northeast Regional Representative to the Young Democrats of America Women's Caucus. Jenni is also a graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute which is a political entrepreneurship training program for young professionals.

Presently, Jenni is finishing her Masters in Public Administration at Binghamton University and working full time as the Second Deputy Clerk of the Broome County Legislature.

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Benjamin J. Kallos is an attorney admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. whose diverse backgrounds in law, politics, public policy, and technology, has resulted in countless roles as an attorney, politician, public policy maker and advisor, and civic space developer. His past includes distinguished service as Director of Public for Former Public Advocate Mark Green and Chief of Staff to Assembly Member Jonathan L. Bing. Some of Mr. Kallos' civic projects include VoterSearch.org where any New Yorker can verify their voter registration, OpenLegislation.org where you may look up the voting records in the New York City Council and New York State Legislature, or the NYCPoliticalCalendar.com a crowd-sourced political calendar for New York City. In addition to those projects Mr. Kallos also serves as Statewide Coordination Chair and HAVA Committee Co-Chair of the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, Member of the New York City Bar's Election Law Committee, Executive Board Member of the Lexington Democratic Club, and New York County Democratic Committee Member.