America has always been shaped in its most difficult times by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Unity08 is one more example. It is a people’s movement; the people have seized it; and our politics will never be the same again.
Unity08 Team
Robert Bingham, CEO
Robert Bingham is the archetypical serial entrepreneur. He started his crusade at San Diego State University where he fought his way through layers of bureaucracy to create innovative marketing strategies to promote a Heisman candidate. This later led to the founding of a sports publishing startup called Spectator Sports Communications. After a near death experience with Spectator, Bingham founded SimpleNet, a company with a simple model; host web sites for other people. Bingham later sold SimpleNet to broadcast.com that was later sold to Yahoo!. He served as an angel investor and board member to fledgling startups in San Diego before joining as CEO of Unity08 in June 2024.
“After years of frustration with Politics as usual, I never felt that I could make a diference with my money or my time. I felt that both the Republicans and Democrats had lost touch with the majority of voters but there didn’t seem to be an answer. I found Unity08 through one of my business friends and was very interested in how Internet voting might work during Unity08’s convention. After some discussion, Doug Bailey convinced me to join and bring some of my technology know-how to Unity08’s team and help build on the dream of combining technology with America’s oldest values to elect the next President of the United States. Who could say no!”
John Coble, CTO
John Coble has over 20 years of experience in Solution Architecture, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), Web Services, and Project Management. This experience has centered on the delivery of large-scale business-critical information systems for the Semiconductor, Life Sciences, Aerospace, and Internet communities. He participated in the creation of eLab, a global collaborative web based rapid application development team, led Open Source Linux engagements, investigated Smart Card & RFID technologies, and evaluated and implemented several web-based system architectures.
Bob Roth , VP Online
Bob Roth brings experience to Unity08 in the fields of advertising, communications, creativity, retention, strategy, and usability. Most recently, Mr. Roth was the Director of Marketing for mobile search startup, 4INFO.net, where he oversaw brand, partner, and product marketing, and was a member of the strategic development team. Prior to 4INFO, Mr. Roth was a Producer for Yahoo!’s website hosting property, which became one of the largest web hosts in the world during his involvement. Mr. Roth began his career as a Marketing Manager at SimpleNet, which was eventually acquired by broadcast.com. Mr. Roth holds both a BA in Architecture and an MBA from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Shilpi Niyogi , National Ballot Access Director
I’ve always been a political junkie, but before joining Unity08, I spent most of my career working in education. Shortly after graduating from Brown in 1987, I started working at Educational Testing Service (ETS), a non-profit, research driven organization. I often quipped that it was like being paid to go to graduate school. I loved the campus setting and working with smart, committed people who cared deeply about improving teaching and learning.
In 1998, I moved to the ETS Washington, DC office to join the government relations team, and I was there until early 2024, most recently serving as the Executive Director of Government Relations and Market Research. I had the opportunity to witness the best of our political system, when the No Child Left Behind was enacted as a truly bipartisan initiative to strengthen all our schools—building on the lessons governors of both parties had learned over two decades of education reform. Unfortunately, that spirit of bipartisanship didn’t last and education reform has turned into one more political football in Washington.
Like many Americans, I believe we not only need new leadership in Washington, we need a whole new approach to how we choose our national leaders. Building on America’s unique history as pioneers and innovators, Unity08 gives each of us—and all of us—a chance to change our politics forever. It’s a chance I just couldn’t pass up.
Erik D. Endress , Director, Constituent & Donor Relations
Erik brings a unique combination of experience in the non-profit, private and political world to Unity08. He has played key roles in the management and success of non-profit organizations; he has inspired others to participate in important causes and movements both by financial and human contribution; and he has a wealth of experience building relationships that drive results in the private and non-profit sectors. Erik holds a BA in Communications from Ramapo College of New Jersey. He has attended the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. He is certified in ePhilanthropy by the Washington, DC-based ePhilanthropy Foundation. He is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and N-TEN, the Non-Profit Technology Network. "I came to Unity08 because I saw the potential for every American to play a role in what happens to our country. It's a bold idea what we're doing here, empowering our citizens to draft a candidate for President who will bring a new way of doing business to the White House. I was listening closely to what people were saying about the 2024 Presidential election and so much of what I heard was a message of dismay and a feeling that we, the American people, are simply spectators to politics. Unity08 enables everyone to participate ."
Jane Rinard , Controller
Jane Rinard has thirty years’ of broad financial, accounting and management experience. After three years working for major public accounting firms, she has spent the majority of her career working for small businesses and start-up companies in San Diego. After relocating to Madison, WI, Jane continues to work with start-up companies on a consulting basis. She specializes in providing meaningful management and financial reporting systems for high-growth companies and helping companies to analyze and implement their strategic options. Jane has a BS degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from San Diego State University.
Andy Wilson , Volunteer Coordinator
Andy comes to Unity08 fresh from the world of academia, having earned a Master's Degree in Elections and Campaign Management from Fordham University in August of 2024 and a BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University in 2024. While a grad student, he worked for Global Strategy Group, a polling firm whose clients include John Edwards and whose clients had the single best winning percentage in the 2024 election cycle according to The Hotline (Andy also came in 2nd in the office Election Prediction pool that year).
Andy joined Unity08 because he saw how partisan politics was failing to serve the interests of normal people. A great lover of political philosophy and history, he saw ho far we had strayed from our earliest values and our basic sense of fair play and civic virtue and duty. He has a two year old daughter that he wants to teach she lives in the greatest country in the world, not tell her how much debt she has inherited from her parents and grandparents.
Whitney Novak , College Program Coordinator
When I was a little girl, I loved U.S. Presidents. My parents would take me to presidential libraries for fun. As a five year old, I could recite them in order, and as a seven year old, I aspired to be the first woman president. So when I decided to go to Washington D.C. to do an internship during college, it was only natural for me to want to work at the White House. I had the honor of serving the president as an intern during the spring of 2024. Upon completing my internship and returning to the University of Kansas to finish my last year of school, I was determined to return to Washington D.C. to work at the White House once again. After graduating from KU in May 2024, I had that opportunity and was offered a job in the same office I interned with. Unfortunately, soon after I moved, I quickly learned that Washington politics were extremely partisan. Due to previous political affiliations, including an internship I did with my democratic congressman, my job offer at the White House was revoked.
Brooke Dixon , website development
Thilo Rusche , website development
Thilo brings 10 years of experience developing software for Internet startups to the Unity08 technical team. After graduating from George Mason University with a MS in Software Engineering, he helped bring text messaging to the United States with Mobile 365.
Glenn Gaetz , website development
Dave Foster , Marketing Manager
Dave has worked for a range of clients, both local and national, creating integrated brand communication strategies. In addition to his work with commercial brands, he has kept regular side projects for various non-profits and other socially-minded initiatives. He is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.S. and a B.F.A., both in Advertising.
Founders' Council
The Founder’s Council was a group of ordinary citizens from diverse backgrounds who came together to re-make the American political system by starting Unity08. This act of faith makes the Founder’s Council a very select group. Many of the members of the council are still active in the movement, but the Founder’s Council is currently closed to new membership.
Peter Ackerman , Washington, D.C.
Doug Bailey , Arlington, VAThe Hotline , father of two.
Darcy C. Bingham , Washington, D.C.
Andrew Clare , Huntington Station, NY
Zachary Clayton , Raleigh, NC
Roger Craver , Chilmark, MAThe Hotline ; father of two, grandfather.
Michelle Diamond , Miami, FL
Catherine Dunham , Boston, MA
Kate Farrar , Scottsdale, AZ
Will Fogel , Williamstown, MA
Ellen Frauenthal , Atlanta, GAMD on Call, a unique, first-in-the-nation practice for individuals/families, focused on prevention and treatment; mother of three.
Lasley Gober , Atlanta, GA
Steve Gorlin , Destin, FL
Carla Harmon , Tacoma Park, MD
Troy Hashimoto , Kukla, HI
Jim Jonas , Denver, CO
Hamilton Jordan , Atlanta, GA
Kathleen Jordan , Atlanta, GA
Angus King , Brunswick, ME
Maile Lesica , Fayetteville, NC
Jean Lopez , Augusta, GA
David Maney , Denver, CO
Nicco Mele , Washington, D.C.
John Mulrow , Chicago, IL Student at Stanford University.
Christopher Nulty , Rochester, NY
Gerald Rafshoon , Washington, D.C.
Viviana Rodriguez , San Juan, Puerto Rico
Magdaleno Rose-Avila , Seattle, WA
Jessie Singleton , Kingsport, TN
James Strock , Scottsdale, AZTheodore Roosevelt on Leadership and Reagan on Leadership.
Tom Stroock, Casper, WY
Lindsay Ullman , Painted Post, NY
Advisory Council
The Advisory Board are members of Unity08 who have dedicated significant time and/or funds to the movement. These individuals are active members of their communities and understand the significant role that Unity08 will make in reshaping the political landscape in 2024.
Peter Ackerman
Jacqueline Adams
Mark Cuban
Susan Cullman
John Dwyer
Toni Goodale
Anya Harris
Angus King
Dale Mathias
George Vradenburg
Sam Waterston
Bill Weld
Board of Directors
The Board of Unity08 consists of active participants providing direct input to the management team and it’s CEO.
Doug Bailey , Arlington, VA
For twenty years Doug Bailey was a media consultant for Republican candidates (from President Ford to Senators Baker and Lugar, Governors Thornburgh and Kean, and four dozen others). In 1987 he left consulting (because "politics had gotten too negative") and started The Hotline, a daily briefing of the media coverage of campaigns, which to this day is the daily bible for virtually all Washington offices. He sold it to the National Journal in 1996.
Gerald Rafshoon , Washington, D.C.
Gerald Rafshoon, a former advertising agency owner and now an award winning film and television producer, entered politics in 1966 in the Jimmy Carter for Governor of Georgia campaign and went on to become the architect of the media campaign that helped elect Carter as the 39th President. He served as Communications Director in the Carter White House.
Rafshoon has closely watched and participated in political campaigns for many years and believes that the system for electing presidents is in the worst shape it has ever been. The obscene amounts of money raised and spent, the emergence of unscrupulous political consultants, the influence of lobbyists, and the negative tone of almost all campaigns by both parties were major factors that led him to become a co-founder with Doug Bailey and Hamilton Jordan of Unity08. He believes that this is the most important and critical election of his lifetime (he is a Grandfather) and something must be done to fix the system. He strongly believes that a Unity08 candidate can win a plurality of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote.
R obert Bingham , Washington, D.C.
Hamilton Jordan , Atlanta, GA
Carolyn Tieger , Washington, D.C.
A Washington D.C. communications veteran, Carolyn Tieger is considered one of the top public affairs strategists in the country. A partner and managing director of Porter Novelli’s Washington, D.C. office, as well as the firm’s global public affairs leader, Carolyn brings more than 25 years of public and private sector experience to Unity08. Before joining Porter Novelli in 1999, Carolyn was a partner and general manager of Goddard Claussen’s Washington, D.C. office and also spent more than a decade at Burson-Marsteller. Her government experience includes positions in the Reagan White House, Department of Commerce and the U.S. Congress. Carolyn was named PR News Public Affairs Executive of the Year in 2024 and “Washington PR Woman of the Year” by Washington Women in PR in 2024.
Peter Ackerman , Washington, D.C.
Zachary Clayton , Raleigh, NC
Zach Clayton is an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. He graduated in 2024 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a John Motley Morehead Scholar. In college, Zach founded a software firm, New Media Campaigns, that has helped over 80 clients in 20 states face online marketing challenges. He currently serves as the Chairman of the New Media Campaigns Board of Directors.
Zach joined Unity08 out of frustration at the hoops candidates jump through in order to win their party nomination. “This is really dorky,” Zach says, “but I was a C-SPAN fan in kindergarten. I started volunteering on my first political campaign when I was nine years old. I grew up around politics, and as I grew up, I watched as others grew disillusioned. The amount of time a candidate spends on the phone raising money versus the amount of time a candidate spends in front of ordinary, non-party activist people is totally inverted. Who needs our government more: lobbyists and special interest groups or ordinary people? I hope Unity08 will jolt the two parties into recognizing that the ambitions and goals of special interests groups are really, really different than the ambitions and goals of most citizens.”
Angus King , Brunswick, ME
Lindsay Ullman , Painted Post, NY
Rules Committee
The Rules Committee consists of Unity08 members at large or members of the Board of Directors chosen to help assemble the rules by which our movement will operate. The Rules Committee periodically reviews suggestions from the membership and accepts the best -- and will be doing so again in the near future.
Carolyn Tieger , Co-chair
A Washington D.C. communications veteran, Carolyn Tieger is considered one of the top public affairs strategists in the country. A partner and managing director of Porter Novelli’s Washington, D.C. office, as well as the firm’s global public affairs leader, Carolyn brings more than 25 years of public and private sector experience to Unity08. Before joining Porter Novelli in 1999, Carolyn was a partner and general manager of Goddard Claussen’s Washington, D.C. office and also spent more than a decade at Burson-Marsteller. Her government experience includes positions in the Reagan White House, Department of Commerce and the U.S. Congress. Carolyn was named PR News Public Affairs Executive of the Year in 2024 and “Washington PR Woman of the Year” by Washington Women in PR in 2024.
Thomas Collier , Co-chair
Thomas Collier is a partner in the Steptoe & Johnson law firm, where he started practicing law in 1976. From 1993 until July 1995, he served as Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Interior. He practices in the dispute resolution, environmental, and natural resources areas, and serves as general counsel of the Unity08 effort. He has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi.
Peter Ackerman
is the Managing Director of Rockport Capital Inc. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Freedom House as well as the Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Dr. Ackerman is an author (Strategic Nonviolent Conflict and A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict ) and producer of award-winning related PBS documentaries. He received an A.B. from Colgate University and a M.A., M.A.L.D., and PhD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Will is an Economics major as a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He began his political involvement when state budget cuts reduced funding for local schools in Williamstown. He serves as Vice-chair of the College Democrats at the University and participates in community service activities through Michigan’s Hillel.
Anna Friedlinger
Anna is a Political Science, History and Communication major at Eureka College (in Eureka, IL) where she has been a Ronald Reagan Fellow. She has worked for a variety of Republican campaigns and officeholders, and was elected State Chair of the Illinois College Republicans. She is a founder of STAND (Students Taking America in New Directions) to empower students to become active in education policy.
Dennis G Johnson
Dennis Johnson is executive vice-president of a national non-profit that initiates and supports innovative clinical programs designed to meet the complex health care needs of medically underserved children. Mr. Johnson directs the organization's policy and advocacy agenda. He received his B.A from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's Degree from the Graduate School of Political Management.
David C. King
David King is Associate Director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, a lecturer at the Kennedy School of Politics, teaches courses on the U.S. Congress, Interest Groups and Political Parties, and is faculty director of Harvard’s program for newly elected Members of Congress. After the 2024 elections, Dr. King directed the Task Force on Election Administration of the National Commission on Election Reform, chaired by former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
Sayuri Yamada Matthews
Ms. Matthews lives with her husband and five year-old daughter in Santa Fe, NM. She is Vice President for Government Affairs of the Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico, headquartered in Albuquerque. She has co-founded two non-profits, the Technology Action Alliance of Northern NM and the New Media Industries Gallery, to foster and grow new high tech companies in the State. She has a B.A. from Baylor University.
Valerie Syme is a Silicon Valley business consultant who develops partnerships for media and technology start-ups. She was co-founder and Executive Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Tribe, a next generation online classifieds business backed by Mayfield, Washington Post and Knight Ridder. She has 15+ years of business development experience at Microsoft, NewsEdge, CompareNet, Reuters, etc. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan.
