Town Hall Meetings with Senator Michael Brown & Cohost Kathleen Gomez
The Real Michael D. Brown
Michael D. Brown has been involved in national and local politics for 35 years.
Starting in 1980, Michael worked for the Democratic National Committee where he served on staff for four years with such political luminaries as Ron Brown who became Chairman of the DNC and latter Secretary of Commerce; Terry McAuliffe, the current Governor of Virginia and United States Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). He then went on to become the Administrative Director of one of the City's most prestigious non-profit organizations, The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
After leaving the Center in 1985, he started his own consulting firm which served national political and non-profit organizations for 25 years. He built Horizon Communications Corporation into a successful business that billed out over a million dollars a year. Horizon was a vendor to the National Democratic party for more than 20 years and worked on dozens of national and local political campaigns, including four presidential campaigns. In addition, he has served in many capacities at the past 10 national conventions of the Democratic Party, including being an Obama Super-Delegate twice.
President Jimmy Carter thanked him personally for his "dedication and hard work."
Barack Obama said that "Even without a vote, Senator Brown has always been a strong advocate for the rights of DC residents ".
In addition to his national service, he has been elected three times in the District of Columbia. First as an ANC Commissioner in ANC 3-E in the mid 1990's and twice as the United States (shadow) Senator for the District serving in that capacity for the past eight years. In 2012 he received 207,000 votes citywide for this office in the general election. In addition he has been a community activist working on transportation issues in ward three, President of the Western Avenue Citizens Association and a member of the Vestry (Board of Directors) and a Youth Group leader at Saint David's Church in Northwest Washington. He has also been elected twice as a delegate to the Ward Three Democrats.
Michael is the founder and Director of the DC based national non-profit, Teach Democracy DC, which helps social studies teachers nationwide integrate lessons about the District's disenfranchised status into their government and high school civics curriculums. He also hosts an hour long radio show, Shadow Politics, which deals with issues ranging from Statehood for the District, to national and international affairs. The show has aired every Sunday for the past 18 months on the BBS Internet Radio Network and on community radio every weekday morning in the northeast.
He has trained political candidates through the organization, INDN'S List and is on the Advisory Board of the Leadership Development Council here in the District, which trains potential candidates in civic leadership. Michael has received an award for his leadership in the movement to attain DC Statehood from a coalition of statehood groups including the local ACLU. He was also given an award in recognition of his years of service to The Government Accountability Project and recognized as an outstanding trainer by INDN'S List. In 2014 a local Veterans service organization gave him an award for his dedication to DC Veterans and their families. Michael worked his way through College and Graduate school (he was orphaned at the age of 16) and holds a BA in Government and an MA in Public Policy from the University of Maryland. He has lived in Washington for more than 30 years and has been married to his wife Pat, a DC public school librarian, for the past 23 years. Together they have raised three wonderful children, all who have attended only DC public schools. Two are now in college and the third is a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest Washington.
Kathleen Gomez is the founder of Candidates Platform, an internet platform that will assist citizens to run for local offices and in turn will help voters become educated on their vote. For the past 40 years, Kathleen has been involved in local, state and national political campaigns and has worked for various congressional offices in Washington D.C. as well as in the private sector.
Her start began as a young child growing up in her Grandfathers mercantile store (Gomez Grocery) in a copper mining town on the Mexico/Arizona border. The store was full of local citizens who would gather in the back of the store to discuss politics and where any candidate who wanted to win their respective election would visit Gomez Grocery seeking an endorsement. Her Grandfather and Father were both prominent leaders in the Mexican American border community.
Kathleen finished her studies at The American University in Washington D.C. where she worked for the Democratic Party, the DNC, and for several congressional offices. As a legislative aide to Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, Kathleen was instrumental in passing key legislation. These included The Military Family Act, which established an office in the Pentagon for Military Families, dental health care for armed forces personnel, and provided a multitude of other benefits for military personnel and their families.
While working in New York City for 20 years, Kathleen worked on Wall Street, for the Shopping Center Industry and for Political Action Committees. Kathleen became involved in NYC education concerns as a volunteer PTA President where she lobbied for smaller class sizes. Additionally, she also served on the Chancellors Education Committee, organizing grassroots lobbyist events in Albany which aimed at bringing students of all ages to the state capital. Shortly Before moving to Arizona, Kathleen worked for the Hispanic Federation and was appointed as the Director of New Yorkers for Smaller Class Sizes.
Returning to Arizona and her community, Kathleen worked for a small rural hospital as its lobbyist, public information officer, and strategist. Upon the hospitals closing Kathleen returned to D.C. to work on several campaigns. She then moved to Kansas City where she worked for H&R Block’s Political Action Committee.
Kathleen has returned to her home state of Arizona to concentrate on starting up Candidates Platform, a mission to help candidates run for local and state office as well as simplifying the process for voters to educate themselves on the many important elected positions that are held every year.
Over the past 33 years Senator Brown has been involved in many national and local political campaigns, including six Presidential campaigns. He has also been involved in the past ten consecutive Democratic National Conventions including being an Obama super-delegate in 2008 and 2012. Last November he was reelected with 207,000 votes, that's more votes than eight other United States Senators who are now serving in congress. In addition, he was on the staff of the Democratic National Committee and was a community activists and neighborhood commissioner in his hometown of Washington, DC. Senator Brown is a graduate of the University of Maryland. In 2008 Barack Obama said that, Even without a vote, Senator Brown has always been a strong advocate for the rights of DC residents. As a shadow senator, Brown receives no pay from the government, receives no budget from the government, and cannot vote on matters before the Senate. While he does not have an office in the United States Senate, the Government of the District provides him with an office in City Hall. His office is totally funded by contributions from DC taxpayers. Brown lobbies the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives on behalf of the citizens of the District in their attempt to gain full representation in Congress, self-determination, and eventually admittance to the union as a state. As shadow senator, Brown also works with the District's delegate, mayor, and council to advance the interest of local residents on Federal issues. Brown is a member of the Democratic Party.
