Acacia Rettich – TL – Orlando, FL
Acacia Rettich joined HeadCount in March 2008 as the Team Leader for the Central Florida area. In addition to volunteering with HeadCount, Acacia is an adjunct faculty member at Brevard Community College (BCC) in the Communications department. She also teaches English at Palm Bay High School. Acacia is originally from Ohio and
received her B.A. in English from Ohio State in 2002. Go Bucks! In 2004, Acacia received a Master of Arts in Teaching Language Arts from Miami University. She now resides in Melbourne with her two dogs, Elly and Charlie. When not working or volunteering, Acacia has an Xbox 360 addiction and loves to read.
Cassie Levine – TL - New York, NY
Cassie recently joined the HeadCount team and thinks that HeadCount's combination of music and politics is a great approach to help secure a better future for our country. This August she will be traveling with the touring Jack Johnson team to help spread our message and get people voting in November! She lives for music, movies, traveling and volunteering. Her passion for music, jam bands and movies comes from her oldest brother Justin, who surrounded her with a wide library of media. When she isn't studying sociology and film at school you can find her creating vegetarian recipes, hitting up concerts, watching movies, playing outside and listening to anything with a little funk. After college she hopes to turn her hobbies into a career at a non-profit or in the music industry.
Will Reyes - TL - Raleigh, NC
Will joined HeadCount in May 2008 as the Raleigh Team Leader. He graduated from NC State University in 2006 with a B.A. in Communication Media and a B.A. in Spanish Language & Literature. As a student, Will was Lead Outreach Manager for the Annual Giving Office, in charge of coordinating fundraising efforts for academic programs for the university.
Will loves to travel, having studied abroad in Vienna, Austria and Lima, Peru, and regularly plans road/camping trips. Upon graduating, he moved to Europe for a year, doing special event planning for organizations in London and then in Valencia, Spain, eventually leading him back to Cambridge where he pushed river tour boats with a pole in the British style of gondolas called Punting.
Will currently works for the NCSU College of Design to fund his more than frequent concert and festival going. Will is also keen on exercise, healthy & spicy food and registering voters, of course!
Michael Simon – TL – Chicago, IL
Michael Simon joined HeadCount in 2008, and is excited to be leading the Chicago, Ill., team. He first became aware of HeadCount in 2004 when he registered to vote at a Phish show in the Midwest. Michael graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in 2006 with a BA in public policy. He is currently working for a local park district in Cincinnati, where he can be found submitting endless grant applications and running soundboard for local cover bands at the park's summer concert series. In his free time, Michael enjoys jamming with friends, traveling, and downhill skiing.
Michelle Stafford – TL - Baltimore, MD
Michelle Stafford began volunteering at local shows with HeadCount in April 2008. Shortly after seeing the effectiveness and widespread influence of the organization first-hand, Michelle decided to take the position of Baltimore Team Leader in hopes of creating a strong and thriving volunteer base in her home community and having an impact at upcoming music festivals.
Michelle works as the Middle School Program Coordinator at Students Sharing Coalition, a grassroots non-profit in Baltimore City whose mission is to promote civic engagement and meaningful service-learning opportunities among inner-city youth. She teaches a service-learning curriculum to seventh graders and facilitates a service oriented after school program. Michelle received her B.A. in English and Creative Writing Poetry certificate from Dickinson College in 2007 and currently lives in Ellicott City, MD.
Spencer Harrison – TL – Los Angeles, CA
Spencer joined HeadCount in 2008 as a volunteer in Chicago and after moving to the west coast in April, became Team Leader for the Los Angeles area where he works for a public relations agency. He graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in communications in 2006. While in school, Spencer worked in marketing and PR for the Office of Arts and Cultural Programs where he helped coordinate the university’s Performing Arts Series and An Appalachian Summer Festival.
Ethan Robbins – Festival Team Leader
Ethan is currently a senior at Oberlin College in Ohio where he double majors in East Asian
Studies and Creative Writing, concentrating in the Chinese Language and poetry, respectively.
He has worked with HeadCount since the summer of 2007, beginning as a volunteer at
Mountain Jam and Gathering of the Vibes, and then as a Touring Representative following the
Dave Matthews Band for the summer of 2008. He also led a team at the Vibes at the end of
the summer. Outside of HeadCount, Ethan's biggest passion is music. Beginning at four
years old, he began to study the classical violin, and at 14, started to teach himself the
guitar. At Oberlin, he is in a number of bands, ranging from an acoustic trio performing
original folk and bluegrass music in coffee houses, to a Grateful Dead cover band that plays
house parties. Ethan hopes to make a career out of his music and has been excited to
explore a second aspect of the music world, as seen through HeadCount.
Elizabeth Ashley – Traveling Team Leader
Liz Ashley was born and raised outside of Chicago. She jumped on the road when she was eighteen years old, and never looked back! She joined HeadCount in 2008, registering voters coast-to-coast as a traveling team leader. She plans to continue to work with HeadCount in 2009, and looks forward to promoting the new campaigns.
Liz graduated in 2007 at the top of her class with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing. She then packed her car and moved out to Philadelphia, and now calls the northeast home. When not on the road, Liz works as a Registered Nurse, specializing in women’s health and home health care. She continues to love the road, and travels wherever the music takes her.
Tim McCormick – TL – Boulder, CO
Tim McCormick joined Headcount in March of 2008 as the Team Leader for Boulder, CO. Originally from Boston, Tim moved out to Colorado in 2006 to with the hope of gaining experience in the music industry. He’s currently an assistant at Madison House, Inc., a Boulder-based music management and booking agency. A 2005 graduate of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, Tim holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Minor in Music. He has had many years of experience with the concert scene and shares his love of all types of music with his family and friends. He is eager to register and involve as many people in the democratic process as possible for the 2008 election.
Lisa Lovedahl – TL – Asheville, NC
Lisa joined Headcount in early 2008 as the Team Leader in Ashville, NC, where she lives with her two daughters. She has an educational background in the Paralegal field and has served as Director of Elections in Jackson County for the past fifteen years in addition to sitting to sitting on the local City Planning Board.
Lisa realizes that past generations have sacrificed to give us the right to vote and it's our responsibility to utilize it to protect the future generations. Excuses like ‘I'm not political,’ ‘I don't have time,’ or ‘my vote doesn't count’ are only excuses with no merit. Lisa encourages everyone to do something great today - register to vote, encourage others to get involved, be informed, and VOTE! She is trying to learn Pilates and enjoys living in the mountains.
Tappan Vickery – TL – San Francisco, CA
Tappan started volunteering with HeadCount in 2004 with her husband, Morgan. She graduated from the University of the South in 2003 with a BA in Philosophy and a concentration in Women’s Studies. She has worked in immigration law and online advertising and is seeking her dream job in green business marketing. Currently she attends Golden Gate University where she is a candidate for an MBA in Marketing. Tappan is passionate about the democratic process, and has found great meaning and purpose integrating her love for the music community with her personal values.
Melissa Brennan – TL – New York, NY
Melissa is a writer working as a freelance theater electrician in New York City. She attended Bradford College, where she studied under David Crouse, and SUNY Purchase, and is an alumna of The Juilliard School's Professional Intern Program. She has also assisted on the successful re-election campaign for then State Senator Bill Finch of Connecticut. It was when working with Finch that Melissa found a passion for working within her community and engaging people in the democratic process, which eventually lead her to HeadCount. Melissa also enjoys live music, kayaking, gardening, crocheting and celebrating her friends.
Tim Arnold – TL – Indianapolis, IN
Tim is originally from the great state of New Jersey and though he now calls Indianapolis home, he misses mountains and trees a great deal. Tim taught high school social studies for six years before committing to a career change midstream. Tim is still committed to civics and education and it is that drive that brought him to Headcount. Currently he is in grad school for interface design. While he's not signing up voters or in class, Tim can be found either on a bike or on his way to a bike race.
Dan Murphy – TL – Burlington, VT
A native of the Pocono Mountain area of PA, Dan got a taste for live music seeing his first phish show at the ripe young age of 14. After graduating high school in 2003, he took some time off to travel and hang out. He started with HeadCount as an assistant TL for Philly winter 2007 and having just transferred to University of Vermont, he's now the TL of Burlington. While not at a show, he can be found hiking or snowboarding throughout New England.
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Lisa Whitaker – TL – Lexington, KY
Lisa joined HeadCount in 2008 as the Team Leader in Kentucky and quickly found HeadCount was the perfect mix of activism and good times. In addition to being an outlet for civic engagement, it serves as a fix for her live music addiction. Lisa's day job is in Employer Relations for the public pension system in Kentucky. Kentucky born and raised, Lisa earned her BA in English at Georgetown College.
Laura Scalet – TL – Seattle, WA
Laura joined HeadCount in 2004 as a field volunteer and is really excited to be a team leader for the Seattle area. After studying art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Laura moved to Denver in 2002 where she received her A.A.S. in Veterinary Technology. After Phish’s Coventry, Laura moved to Washington and is currently finishing up her B.A. in Sustainable Design at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. In addition to school and HeadCount, Laura is a relief ER/ICU vet tech at multiple emergency animal hospitals throughout the Northwest region and also works in the printmaking studio at Evergreen. Laura can be found dancing at the back of the crowd with her clipboard in hand.
Jason Gershuny – TL – Portland, OR
Jason likes to think of himself as a living balance of contrasts. A strong-willed New Yorker by birth, Jason has found his niche in the laid back Pacific Northwest, calling it home for the last six years.
By day he’s a responsible teacher and role model to high school students, but by night he’s a live music fanatic who loves to dance full throttle. He’s a devoted political junkie who’s spent countless hours reading anything and everything with a political angle, but is also a complete nerd when it comes to movies like "The Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars." If you see him out at a show, dance on up next to him and ask him to demonstrate his impressive Wookie yell.
Jason believes that if variety is indeed the spice of life, he’s living a well-seasoned existence.
Kristie Freed – TL – St. Louis, MO
Kristie joined HeadCount in 2008 after learning about HeadCount through the Dave Matthews Warehouse Club when purchasing tickets for the summer tour, and saw an opportunity to get involved in voter registration. She has been employed with a local Chamber of Commerce as their Communications and Events Director for the last five years. She is responsible for creating and maintaining business and community driven events, as well as recruitment and management of their volunteer base. Kristie volunteers her time with many local organizations including Safe Kids St. Charles County, Disabled Athlete Sports Association and currently co-chairs the local “Olde Tyme Picnic” which draws over 40,000 in attendance each year. She enjoys being active in her community and attends concerts as frequently as she can. She met her husband at the local Homegrown Festival in 1996 and has been happily married for ten years and has two children.
John Duffy – TL – Minnesota, MN
John first became involved with HeadCount as a volunteer in 2004 in Illinois. He has since moved to Minnesota and in 2008 he became a Team Leader in his new home state. He is very excited to be working with HeadCount once again.
Scott Kaplan – TL – Carbondale, IL
Before taking on the role of Carbondale team leader, Scott served as a HeadCount volunteer for the 2004 election and Iowa team leader when he moved to Ames, Iowa for graduate school. He has high energy and a pension to canvas the lot for unregistered voters. Currently, Scott is about to embark on his 10th year of the NCAA life and is on track to receive his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Iowa State University. Next year, he will take on the identity of a Saluki, aka an Egyptian running dog known for its speed, by completing an internship year in Carbondale, Illinois to work for Southern Illinois University. He hopes to make it back to Chicago quickly to live on his home turf.
Liz O'Donnell – TL – Boston, MA
Liz joined HeadCount in August of 2008 as the Boston Team Leader. She happened across a HeadCount banner on Pearl Jam's website one day and the rest is history. Liz is going into her third year at Boston University's College of Communications. She is set to graduate with a BA in Public Relations in 2010, and hopes to also minor in Occupational Therapy.
In high school, Liz missed the 2004 election by one year and one day, and since then has been waiting impatiently for her first chance to vote. A huge believer in the power of the youth vote, Liz has lead student government and joined the campaigns of national candidates to stay politically active while she waits for November 4th. In addition to HeadCount, she also works as a full-time Public Relations intern, a part-time sales associate, plays hockey, and rides horses.
Amanda Brewington – TL – Lansing, MI
Amanda recently began working with HeadCount as the Michigan Team Leader after meeting HeadCount's team at the Rothbury Music Festival. She wants to get people in MI out to vote!
A native of Michigan, Amanda now lives in Lansing and graduated from MSU in May of 2008. She spent five years involved with Impact 89 FM, her college's radio station, promoting local music on her show, The Basement. She is currently working as the member services coordinator for the MSU Student Houseing Co-op and working on music licensing and research at a production house in Lansing. She loves to support the local music scene and planning upcoming shows. She hopes to see you out on the dancefloor.
Nicole Slaven – TL – New York, NY
Nicole Slaven joined HeadCount in August '08, in time for the final push in New York to the registration deadline. After many years in California, Colorado, and Utah, interspersed with a year in Asia and a year in Europe -- she found herself back in her hometown of NYC and at tons of live shows. She wondered what she could do to make a positive impact on the community past dancing and hooping: enter HeadCount. She's worked in the food industry since she could vote, and uses her hospitality training and acumen to engage would-be registrants at venues. Though she'd like to continue travelling our country and the world, she's committed to staying in the US through the elections.
Jon Brehm– TL – New Orleans, LA
Jon Brehm, team leader for the Greater New Orleans area, is a native of Wayne, Pennsylvania, but has been in New Orleans since college. Jon graduated from Tulane University (Go Green Wave!) in 2003 with a duel degree in Political Science and Theater, and currently works as an assessor for Tyler Technologies when he isn’t playing a politician at parties. He believes that as a Headcount TL he will be able to mobilize and register voters in the New Orleans’ devoted music community. In his sparse spare time, Jon enjoys listening to Nola music, cooking meat on the grill and yelling while inside the Superdome.
Clay Murray– TL – Richmond, VA
Clay Murray grew up in Southwestern Virginia on a fourth generation family farm in Botetourt County where his family continues to make apple cider and apple juice made from locally grown apples. After graduating from James Madison University in 2004 with a BS in Industrial Design, Clay returned home to work at the family farm and market the local product throughout the South Eastern United States. He frequented the local farmer's market learning the ropes engaging complete strangers about a meaningful topic. Three years later, he tried his hand at a presidential campaign as a field organizer in both South Carolina and Virginia with very positive results. Combining these two life experiences and a natural instinct to root for the underdog, he strives to create more long term opportunities for small farms as our society learns the values of sustainability and the necessity of healthy foods. Clay joined up with Headcount in 2009 and is proud to be able to once again team up two of his other passions, rock-n-roll shows and civic engagement.
Crystal Bryan – TL – Atlanta, GA
Crystal started with HeadCount as a field volunteer in the summer of 2008, and is excited to be the new Atlanta Team Leader. She is graduating from Georgia State University in May 2009 with a B.B.A. in Hospitality Administration and plans to pursue event management with a focus on the live entertainment industry. Crystal also volunteers with the American Liver Foundation helping voice the importance of organ donation as well as interns for Shimon Presents, a publicity, promotions, and grassroots marketing company working with numerous bands and events around the country. She was also recently accepted to the Disney College Program for a concierge role and will be headed to Orlando to work at Disney World from August 2009 through January 2010.
Crystal is enthusiastic and passionate about music, event planning and is actively involved with helping to maintain a clean environment both in her home and community. Since her internship with the Captain Planet Foundation in 2007, she has become a lead event volunteer where she now plays a key role in annual fundraisers, represents the Foundation at festivals and events, and also teaches environmental literacy to youth at leading environmental fairs and expos in the Metro Atlanta area.
Dana Schneider – TL – New Jersey
Dana has been volunteering with HeadCount since December 2007 and became a Team Leader for NJ in 2009. She attends Brandeis University in MA and is studying Politics, but currently lives in NJ. She loves live music and is very enthusiastic about voter registration and participation. Outside of HeadCount, Dana loves to play the guitar, write, and travel. After college she plans on traveling & hiking around Southeast Asia and eventually becoming a teacher. She is thrilled to be part of the HeadCount team.
Liz Funk – TL – Philadelphia, PA
Liz started volunteering with Headcount in July 2008. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2004 with a BS in Psychology and Business. She moved back to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2005 where she immediately immersed herself in the music scene. She learned about Headcount via an online advertisement she spotted when buying some concert tickets. Currently Liz is enjoying the summer in Philadelphia with plans to move to Boston in August where she will study environmental law at the New England School of Law. She is excited and honored to be the Philadelphia Team Leader. In her spare time, Liz enjoys walking through the streets of Brotherly Love, capturing the city through the lens of her camera.
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