Amanda Kathryn Roman
Amanda Kathryn Roman is a game changer, an experienced non-profit executive, a transpartisan free market political strategist and a grassroots activist leader. Roman is currently the President & CEO of Citizens in Charge Foundation & Citizens in Charge the only national organizations dedicated to protecting and expanding the initiative, referendum & recall rights of every American without regard to partisanship or politics. Amanda served as their Executive Director for over three years during which time she designed, managed and implemented the organizations’ successful three-prong approach of building transpartisan grassroots coalitions, effectively tracking legislation & leveraging those coalitions to protect the process and engaging in strategic litigation.
In 2010, Roman co-produced the U.S. Conference on Initiative and Referendum which showcased 80 speakers on initiative, referendum and recall for a two day public event jam packed with transpartisan dialogue, discussion and collaboration that welcomed supporters, skeptics & detractors of the process alike. Featured speakers included John Fund of The Wall Street Journal, Krist Novaselic - the former bassist for Nirvana, Ralph Nader, Ward Connerly, Grover Norquist and Mike Gravel.
Amanda has been making a difference as a political bridgebuilder for the past seventeen years working to awaken the spirit of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. She is a committed grassroots activist leader and partner who has worked from within the political structure and from outside of it. Amanda has 10+ years of experience in executive, leadership and management positions and 16+ years of experience with political campaigns with an active enthusiasm for international political organizations and movements. She was nominated and selected to participate in the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Study Tour through Germany for Young American Political Professionals in 2005; was nominated and selected to build and lead a week long grassroots organization, advocacy & policy development training program in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the International Republican Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advances freedom & democracy worldwide in 2007; and most recently, in 2010, she participated in a Direct Democracy Study Tour through Switzerland with the Initiative and Referendum Institute – Europe.
Roman is a Project Partner with progressive activist leader Joan Blades on www.LivingRoomConversations.org, an open-source grassroots project that brings small groups of people together to get to know one another in a more meaningful way than usual, by talking about issues that are of personal priority and concern to each participant. The purpose is not to debate any issue but rather to be open and curious about all perspectives and see what can be learned from one another and what collaborative action might take place as a result. She is a co-founder of Changing the Game: Power, Politics & Participation, an initiative aimed at shifting the corrosive political power and conflict game to one aimed at fostering constructive and cooperative solutions for our country and our communities.
During her time at the Republican National Committee throughout 2000-2003, Amanda led the Precinct Data Department during the development stage of the Voter Vault software and worked with precinct level administrators throughout the country. In 2002, she led the team that organized the youth field operation for the Republican Party of Minnesota. Her coalition building efforts directly led to the election of the 51st Republican U.S. Senator, a Republican Governor, a Republican Secretary of State and secured Republican majorities in both the state Senate and House earning her the Best Field Representative Award.
Amanda’s innate ability to pound the street and build center-right coalitions in all 50 of the states is unmatched. While working for Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) from 2003-2005, she collaborated directly with leaders in the conservative center-right movement nationwide creating a network that she personally crisscrossed the country to assemble and that remains a vital part of ATR’s operations a decade later. These state-wide coalitions regularly bring together various stakeholders like academics, activist groups, think tanks, corporate representation, community members and government officials.
From 2005-2007, Roman served as the Executive Director for the College Republican National Committee, a national 527 with over a quarter of a million members and 1,850+ local chapters. It was named one of the top five most successful 527s on the right side of the aisle during her tenure. Amanda engineered a 180-degree turnaround for the financially distressed operation; under her leadership, the Committee achieved its highest fundraising total in an off-election year of $3 million through direct mail, telemarketing and major donor program initiatives. She also developed a marketing strategy that led to appearances in The Washington Times, The Washington Post, The Herald Daily, MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal. Roman brought the organization to new heights by training and deploying 68 full-time Field Representatives whose joint effort recruited over 81,400 new members, registered 50,000+ new voters and launched 320 chapters. For her successes, Amanda was recognized by Campaigns and Elections magazine as a Rising Star.
As the Director of Policy Development for Reason Foundation, Amanda managed the marketing strategies for the policy work produced by staff members that were experts in their issue areas. She also served as the project director for the government transparency project and as a key advocate for the Bob Galvin Mobility Project to End Congestion. One effort that Amanda spearheaded sponsored the “Oath of Presidential Transparency” for which she constructed a large, overarching coalition of 36 organizations nationwide which called on all 2008 presidential candidates to sign the oath; 7 candidates signed including then Senator Barack Obama. Related commentary was featured in The New York Post, The Washington Post and The Washington Examiner.
The broad-based coalitions that Roman has fostered over the years at the local, statewide & national levels have organized numerous campaigns bringing non-traditional allies together by helping them identify common ground while often straddling traditional political divides through education and one-on-one interaction.
Since 2000, Amanda has been honored when the Amanda Hydro Award is presented annually in recognition of her contributions in her home state of New Jersey to someone who exhibits outstanding leadership & community service by the Somerset County Youth Services Commission, of which she is a former member. Roman is a member of the National Rifle Association, the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, the Poker Players Alliance, the Tipping Point Network, the BAM Project Nevada County Tapestry, the Nevada County Republican Party Central Committee and serves as a Delegate to the California Republican Party for Nevada County. Amanda and her husband Dave live in Nevada City, CA with their daughter Kathryn and their two four-legged boys – an Australian Shepherd named Yogi and a black cat named Boo-Boo.