Advisory Board

The Changing The Conversation Advisory Board is a group of leaders, stakeholders, and issue experts who support the work of CTC.

Andrea Koplove was a co-founder and Organizing Director of Turn PA Blue, an organization focused on electing Democrats up and down the ballot in Pennsylvania. In her six years as Organizing Director, she trained and mobilized thousands of volunteers and built a supportive and inclusive community in which people could take meaningful action to protect our democracy. Andrea has launched hundreds of canvasses, loves knocking doors, and deeply believes in the power of conversations to move us toward progress.

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy is Co-Executive Director/Executive Editor of The Philadelphia Citizen, a nonprofit media outlet focused on solutions to problems and on increasing civic engagement in Philadelphia, with the goal of reviving democracy in the American city where it was born. Roxanne is passionate about Philadelphia, a city she loves and worries over in equal measure.

Micah L. Sifry is the author of The Big Disconnect: Why the Internet Hasn’t Transformed Politics (Yet). His writing has been published in The Nation, The American Prospect, The New Republic, the NY Times and his own newsletter: The Connector, about politics, technology, and social movements. His piece about CTC was published in The American Prospect in 2020.

Marya Stark has been a leader in electoral politics for more than 20 years. She co-founded and led Emerge America as founding Executive Director and Board Chair for eight years. Emerge America is the premier training program for women who want to run for public office. Its 5,500 alumnae include eight Congresswomen, the first Native American woman in the US Cabinet, Deb Haaland, and more than 1,200 state and local officeholders, including mayors of San Francisco, Oakland and Boston.

Anim Steel is a Board Director of the Hau’oli Mau Loa Foundation and co-founded the Real Food Generation, an organization harnessing the power of youth and universities to build a fair and sustainable food system. Anim has led national initiatives at The Food Project in Boston, consulted with Economic Development Assistance Consortium, and developed employment training programs at the Bowery Residents Committee. Anim, who was born in Ghana and grew up in West Africa and Washington, D.C., has been a volunteer canvasser with CTC since 2018.

James Wright, a Southwest Philly native, is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Major Gifts at HopePHL (formerly People’s Emergency Center- PEC), a social services and economic development non-profit located in West Philadelphia. James has 18 years of experience in neighborhood planning, economic and real estate development, and galvanizing multiple stakeholders to leverage community assets.