TEAM & BOARD

Ambassador Norman Eisen (ret.) is the co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, which has been helping lead the successful national court fights against the Trump administration, helping secure multiple landmark orders against its authoritarian moves. His work in the courts of law is matched by his efforts in the court of public opinion as the co-founder and publisher of The Contrarian. He is also the co-founder and former chair of other major non-profits including CREW and States United.

Virginia Canter is an expert in government ethics with extensive experience working for nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and international institutions. In addition to her work at Democracy Defenders Fund, Canter has served as Associate Counsel for President Obama and President Clinton, Ethics Advisor for the International Monetary Fund, Chief Ethics Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and senior ethics counsel for the Department of the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Susan Corke is the Executive Director of DDF and DDA. For two decades, she has served in senior pro-democracy leadership roles at the Southern Poverty Law Center, German Marshall Fund of the U.S., Freedom House, Human Rights First and the U.S. Department of State. She has testified and spoken at major international and political forums, including testifying on Capitol Hill several times on human rights and democracy issues, at the United Nations, European Union and other official conferences. She has been a regular commentator in American and European broadcast, print, radio and digital media, a lecturer at leading universities, a co-author of The Democracy Playbook and a Webby-nominated podcaster, writer and an editor for numerous research and policy reports that drove democratic progress. She serves on boards for William & Mary and other nonprofits.

Tianna Mays is a seasoned litigator with extensive experience in litigation, policy, and advocacy, including a distinguished tenure as a public defender, where she passionately defended the rights of marginalized communities and upheld the principles of justice and fairness.

Sarah Jackel has deep experience leading organizational compliance, strategic execution, and operations at mission-driven organizations. She previously held executive leadership roles as General Counsel of Vote.org and as COO and General Counsel of Civitech, where she managed nonprofit compliance and legal strategy, while driving cross-functional collaboration to maximize social impact. As a former litigator for over a decade, Sarah also brings a background in advocacy, rule of law issues, and civil and criminal litigation practice.

Steve Jonas joins DDF with 40 years of criminal and civil litigation and trial experience. He was a Deputy Attorney General for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, led the white collar defense practice of a major law firm for over 25 years, and, during the Biden administration, was the Senior Advisor to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, advising Department leadership on major litigation and Congressional oversight and investigations.

Hans has broad experience in finance, operations, and strategy in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. Hans was Deputy CFO for the Biden/Harris and Harris/Walz campaigns for president, overseeing the largest presidential campaign budget in history ($2.2B). Previously, Hans was CFO for a voter registration organization, worked in strategy and consulting for Bain & Company, and worked in financial management in the education sector for KIPP Massachusetts. Hans holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Allison Rice is Chief of Staff at Democracy Defenders Fund. She helps organizations run more efficiently and is passionate about ensuring our democracy serves more people.

Jenice R. Robinson is the communications director at Democracy Defenders Fund. She brings more than two decades of experience shaping communications and narrative strategy for national organizations working to make government policy fairer, the economy more just, and democracy more inclusive.

Lavora Barnes is an American political executive, who just stepped down this month from her successful tenure as the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. She was the first African-American woman elected to the position and the second woman. She was elected to the position in 2019 and stepped down in late 2024. Barnes, a graduate of The College of William and Mary in Virginia, began her political career in her native Virginia. She held various positions in Michigan politics before coming to the MDP in 2015 as the party’s Chief Operating Officer, a post she held until her election to Chair.

Spencer Boyer is a Partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge group, leading the firm’s National Security, Defense and Aerospace practice. He served for nearly 3 years in the Biden administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy. His government service includes senior roles in both terms of the Obama administration, including as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2009-2011. He has also served as a Director, Senior Fellow or Visiting Scholar with numerous think tanks, including the Center for American Progress, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS, the Brookings Institution and the Brennan Center for Justice.

Rahna Epting is the Executive Director of MoveOn, a member-led grassroots progressive organization working to make this country a place where everyone can thrive; she leads both Move Civic Action and MoveOn Political Action, working to both advance progressive policies and social change and elect candidates who are committed to standing up for an inclusive, progressive agenda. Prior to her work at MoveOn, she served as the chief of staff at Every Voice, managing state and national campaigns, and she was the Member Political Programs director of the Service Employees International Union.

Brian Frosh served as Maryland’s 46th Attorney General from 2015 to 2023. During his two terms as Attorney General, Brian Frosh worked to ensure fairness, equality and justice for all Marylanders. Prior to that, he served in the Maryland General Assembly for 28 years, including 12 as chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, where he led the effort to pass gun safety legislation that has been called some of the toughest and most effective in the nation.

Judge Nancy Gertner is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She assumed senior status on May 22, 2011, and retired outright from the federal bench on September 1, 2011. She is now a professor of practice at Harvard Law School. She is a graduate of Barnard College and Yale Law School where she was an editor on The Yale Law Journal. She received her M.A. in Political Science at Yale University. In 2008 she received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association, Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, only the second woman to receive it (Justice Ginsburg was the first).

Bill Kristol is the founding director of Defending Democracy Together, an advocacy organization dedicated to defending America’s democratic norms and institutions. He is also editor-at-large of The Bulwark and hosts the podcast, “Conversations with Bill Kristol,” featuring guests from academia and public life. During the Reagan Administration, he served as chief of staff to Education Secretary William Bennett and as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle during the Bush Administration.

Stephen is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the CEO of Republic Affairs, which provides crisis consulting services to pro-democracy entities and individuals. Previously, Stephen was the elected (Republican) Maricopa County Recorder, responsible for voter registration, early voting administration, and public recordings in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the United States. Stephen received his J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from Tulane University. Stephen has received many awards and recognitions for his commitment to public service and democracy, including being named “Arizonan of the Year” in 2021 by The Arizona Republic, “Leader of the Year” by the Arizona Capitol Times in 2023, and, in 2024, Time Magazine awarded Stephen as a “Defender of Democracy.”

William Joseph Walsh is an American politician, talk radio host, former social worker, and former 2020 Republican Party presidential candidate, who served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois’s 8th congressional district. He attended Grinnell College then earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa in 1985. He completed a Master of Public Policy at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy Studies in 1991.