DemocracyForAmerica.com » Netroots Nation Scholarships

Home » Netroots Nation Scholarships » Rosi Efthim

Scholarship Application Public Information

Rosi Efthim

Name:	Rosi Efthim
Location:	Flemington, NJ

My personal volunteering highlight:

2006: Linda Stender was a DFA-List candidate for Congress (NJ-7). I live in the vast, Republican-dominant western half of that district. Campaign resources are not allocated here. But people were so ready for change. My Hunterdon DFA commandeered the local Democratic HQ (with their OK) and mobilized a field campaign on our own. Seniors were calling seniors, teenagers calling new voters, and veterans direct-calling other vets to talk about how she'd stand behind both ending the war, and taking better care of returning soldiers. So great.

Wonderful people streamed through the doors. Happy, tough Democrats, and fully-engaged independents, even Republicans. Hunterdon's uptick in votes from the previous congressional race ('04) to Stender's was highest in the whole district - 9% - and she almost won the seat (lost by 1%).

In 2008, Stender all but ignored grassroots infrastructure. Ran a top-down organization that barely took phone calls from outside he campaign bubble. Result? Lost big: 10%.

Moral of story: Trust grassroots organizing, and empower it with access. Or lose big.

More about my volunteering with DFA:

Hunterdon DFA - leader
DFA-NJ (NJ state DFA) - co-Chair

I just look for ways we can all make things happen. I have a lot of confidence in the people I work with.

More about my volunteering with progressive organizations:

Garden State Equality is the movement in this state for marriage equality. I'm proud to be given the opportunity, as a straight person, to advocate for a state recognition of gay families. It's a position I came to relatively late, and I think I understand those who oppose it. But I think most of them are approachable on the subject of fairness and equity.

More about my work on current campaigns and issues:

I believe in building a bench first and foremost, so I'm working with two (superb!) local candidates running an uphill municipal race - Marianne Rampulla and Chan Leung, both recent DFA Training grads.

What motivates me:

I get a charge out of watching people figure out how powerful and effective they can be. I never get tired of it.

How I try to motivate others:

I tell them they're my champions. It's usually true.

Where I see myself in five years:

Watching a progressive uprising in my very old NJ Democratic Party structure, with a big smile on my face.

My suggested bumper sticker slogan for the Stand with Dr. Dean campaign:

We all do better when we all feel well.

Blogging

I run/manage these blogs:
Blue Jersey

I contribute posts to these blogs:
Blue Jersey

Check out my writing sample(s):
http://bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11167
http://bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4028

I read these blogs often:
Open Left
The Albany Project

Participation in the blogosphere is important because...

Because you never know who's reading, and how what you write gives them confidence. Boom.

A Little Bit About Rosi Efthim

Run my local DFA as a permanent progressive community in a place it's least expected - a crimson corner of blue NJ. Also help run DFA-NJ. And edit Blue Jersey, my homeblog.

But what I'd really want you to know about me is that I believe politics is a noble calling (yes, really). Have faith in community organizing, sound strategy that respects where people really are (see Alinsky, Saul). Frustrated with people who consider only their tiny slice of the electorate pure, who respect only those bouncing around their own echo chamber. Won't make an enemy out of everyone who doesn't agree with me in lockstep. Approach everybody and meeting them where they are, I say. I think you're crazy if you don't listen to students. And old people. I'm for triangles - the Wellstone Triangle and the Daou Triangle. And permanent progressive infrastructure - including blogs.

Why I Deserve a Scholarship to Attend

I’m no more deserving than many people I read about here, the variety in whom just knocks me out. I can only say that if DFA chooses to send me to Netroots Nation, I’ll work my tush off, enjoy and learn from the wild ride of ideas there, and bring it all home to both Blue Jersey, and DFA-NJ.

There’s a lot I want to know. I take something away from every conversation I’ve ever had with another political blogger. Can't imagine what it's like to be in a convention setting crammed with bloggers. There’s a lot I can do to improve the blog I work on, and to serve the bloggers I work with better as an editor.

So, I'm asking for your vote.

Nominate This Person

Voting has closed for this years Netroots Nation Scholarship Competition

Grassroots Supporters

Add your support

Show all Supporters: Showing: 10 of 38

Jessica Falker
Tom Wyka
Rosi's great!
Joseph Osborne
Rosi is the heart of progressive politics, she's the best!
Katherine Joyce
Rosi - growing leaders for as long as I can remember...
Jeff Gardner
Not sending Rosi to Netroots Nation would be insanity.
Denise Williams
Blue Jersey rocks because of Rosi!
Elizabeth Kaplan
Rosi is an extremely loyal and dedicated activist, whose organizing and political skills make her ideal and deserving of a DFA S
Will Rosenthal
Rosi deserves our support on this - she is a definte standard bearer of what DFA is all about, and she has the energy to keep us
JR Cohen
Gordon Sell
Rosi is the best. She will get more out of this and blog it back to her fans in Blue Jersey. Go Rosi!!!