David Fischer

Worked as a door to door fundraiser for environmental and consumer protection policy. My second summer I was recognized for my organization and leadership skills and promoted to director of training, a salaried position (so that we could work 50-60 hours a week without overtime). In this capacity I managed and trained a team of ten trainers who ran daily hour long trainings to new onboarded employees. Excelled as part of the directing team of 8 managing a canvass team of ~70. Our summer canvass was a way to teach interpersonal communication skills, grit and perseverance, and the basics of grassroots legislative power to folks just starting or interested in the political sciences. Over the fall, took the best canvassers and started a phone outreach campaign connecting vermonters to their legislators. We would follow up with folks whose information we got during the canvass, and let them know about different pieces of policy, and give them their legislators contact information in a easy to use format. I was responsible for managing the phone bank's schedules, finances, and data, which included using VPIRG's member database and developing systems to update the database with a complete record of who we called, why we called, what the result was and what follow up was needed. In the Spring of 2017, as a team of 10 we contacted over 10,000 Vermonters' about issues such as presidential tax returns, home weatherization initiatives, and carbon pricing.

The summer of 2017 saw the largest grassroots movement in Vermont's history up to this point, in which Vermonters showed a record support for nonprofit advocacy with over $800,000 raised in just under 4 months. We collectively reached every town in the state, camping and on bikes when necessary, to bring progressive issues to Vermonters' doorsteps and ignite political discourse in every household.