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CPL Ohio's New Leaders Fellowship identifies and recruits talented, diverse youth and links them to paid positions at leading progressive organizations from June to November. CPL also provides intensive leadership and skills training, as well as mentorship and networking opportunities over the course of the program.
This year's class includes:
 DaMareo Cooper
Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative
My name is DaMareo Cooper. I’m from Akron, Ohio. I am twenty eight years old. My major concerns center around the distribution of power in our world and how that affects the realities of the powerless. I believe that we have to be active change agents in our society if we are going to create and sustain a society based on true ideals of democracy and freedom. Believing that tolerance is essential to attaining true democracy and freedom, I support any attempts made by any person or organization that is committed to bringing about positive social change.
I have worked with the NAACP, Urban League, Students against Racist Action, and the Black United Students organization at Kent State University – the latter of which I was the president of for two years. Due to my association with the Center for Progressive Leadership New Leaders Fellowship program I will be working with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, an organization committed to building power in lower income and urban areas in Northeastern Ohio. I am exited about being a fellow in the program and look forward to working with everyone involved!
CPL Mentor: Anton Farmby, SEIU Local 3 Vice President Cleveland/Toledo
 Kelan Craig
Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO)
Kelan Craig has been with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio since August 2006 and now serves as an associate working with COHHIO’s state and federal advocacy team and with the Ohio Federal Budget Coalition. Kelan’s passion is being an advocate for basic social services like shelter, housing, nutrition and healthcare.
Prior to his arrival at COHHIO, he worked as a housing specialist at Freedom House, a homeless veteran's shelter in Portage County, and as a Community Development Intern with the Portage County Regional Planning Commission. He also completed two years of AmeriCorps service working closely with individuals served by the Portage County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Kelan received a dual degree in Political Science and Economics from Kent State University and is now in his final quarter of a dual Master’s degree program in City & Regional Planning and Public Policy & Management at Ohio State University.
CPL Mentor: TBD
 Reggie Harris
Working America
My name is Reggie Harris of downtown Cincinnati by way of Washington D.C.. I've been a resident here for about a year and a half and have really come to love and care for the city and the people in it. I have previously been employed by the Hilton downtown as the Honors bartender but have recently left to become active with Working America. I am very exited about the opportunity that has been created by The Center for Progressive Leadership.
My hobby is international travel and I am very passionate about helping those who may not know how to help themselves. I am very committed to seeing this program through and am at anyone’s disposal if there is anything I can do to assist you.
CPL Mentor: Margaret Priebe, Communications Director Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council
 Daniel Ortiz
Ohio Youth Voices
Daniel G. Ortiz is the media and outreach specialist for Ohio Youth Voices. Daniel has worked as an educator, organizer, and public relations staff for a nonprofit start-up. His work experience is focused on the principles of clear communication and building relationships to accomplish goals together within communities. At Ohio Youth Voices he works as advocate through initiatives involving education policy, class & race relations, and civic leadership & involvement.
Ortiz holds his B.A. from Oberlin College where he majored in Religion and Latin American Studies and received a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship with specific research on the topic of Liberation Theology. Ortiz has worked as a teacher with Lorain City Schools and continues to volunteer in community organizing efforts with the Industrial Areas Foundation through Reclaim Lorain (Lorain, OH). Daniel has a deep passion for working in multiple forms of media and has completed four documentary films, as well as developed and implemented the curriculum for a film project to engage youth on issues of community and identity.
CPL Mentor: TBD
 Sasha Parker
Empowering and Strenthening Ohio’s People (ESOP)
Sasha Parker graduated from Kent State University on May 11, 2008 with her bachelor's in Magazine Journalism. Born and raised in Warren, Ohio, Sasha developed a love for politics and civil rights at a very early age.
As a child, her dad used to make her read two books focusing on social uprisings or civil rights each summer, and write a book report on them. By the age of 8, she had already finished Mao Tse Tung's Little Red Book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Miseducation of the Negro. In college, she got involved with an advocacy group called Black United Students and helped make major legislation changes on campus for minority students. She's very passionate about civil rights, higher education amongst minorities, public policy and gentrification in major cities. From protesting to writing academic policy to fighting for the little guy, she's done it all, and has no plan to stop any time soon.
CPL Mentor: Inez Killingswort, ESOP Board President
 Sarah Saheb
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 3
Sarah Saheb has lived and worked all over the Midwest. She was born in Michigan, grew up in Chicago, studied in Missouri, and is now living in Ohio. She attended Truman State University and graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and Political Science. She worked for Rock the Vote for 5 years, starting as a community street team leader and eventually became the Midwest Regional Director in 2004. Her passion for the labor movement began when she interned for the Service Employees International Union Local 3 in Cincinnati, where she spent a majority of her time organizing the Latino community. That experience inspired her to spend a year teaching in Honduras and traveling throughout Central America.
Currently she is employed with the S.E.I.U. Local 3 and working as an internal organizer in Cincinnati. She views the labor movement as a vehicle for mobilizing the working class to become leaders not only in their workshops, but also in their communities. Right now she is working on developing member programs concerning immigrant rights, environmental justice, as well as a statewide education fund.
CPL Mentor: Bridget Doherty, Chief of Staff – County Commissioner David Pepper’s office
 Gina Tyus
AFSCME Ohio Council 8 Local 232
My passion lies in helping people organize for fair treatment with the hopes to improve the community. As of 2005 I was elected Treasurer for AFSCME Ohio Council 8 Local 232 representing over 1500 members with in the Cincinnati Public Schools. I've work as management in the schools and in previous jobs for over 9 years. These positions have given me the opportunity to organize, train, recruit, learn/implement rules and laws.
This election year I find myself more passionate than ever to work with diverse groups to change Ohio and the Country. This summer, I also worked with America Votes as the Southwest Ohio Field Organizer.
CPL Mentor: CJ Prentiss, ex-Ohio State Senate Minority Leader, currently serving as the Governor’s Special Representative for Closing the Achievement Gap
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