About Us

Yael Bridge is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. Most recently she directed THE BIG SCARY “S” WORD about the history and resurgence of socialism in the US, now streaming on Hulu. She is currently finishing a short film about the UTLA teacher strike of 2019, WHEN WE FIGHT. She proudly serves as the co-chair of the Labor Committee at the Documentary Producers Alliance. She resides in Oakland, where she works as a filmmaker and film educator.

Bianca Cunningham organized with her Verizon wireless co-workers to join Communication Workers of America in 2014. She alongside others bargained the contract for over a year before going out on strike for 49 days in 2016. She was fired for her organizing and went to work in District 1 while her case was pending at the NLRB. The decision that she was illegally fired and should be returned to work was overturned by the DC Circuit Court. She joined Labor Notes as a staff organizer with a focus on training development. Bianca is the co-chair of NYC-DSA and a co-founder of the AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color Caucus.

David Green is a neurologist in private practice in Farmington Hills, MI. He served on DSA’s NPC for many years. He was the Chair of Detroit DSA from 1996-2018; later, became a member of the DSA National Political Committee.

Frank Llewellyn was one of the original incorporators of the Institute for Democratic Socialism which later became the Democratic Socialists of America Fund. A lifelong activist and socialist he served Democratic Socialists of America in New York City since the organization was founded. He served on its National Political Committee and as its National Director for more than ten years. He is currently the Treasurer of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress.

Maxine Phillips is a former national director of DSA, a former NPC member, the former executive editor of Dissent magazine, and the current volunteer editor of Democratic Left. She is a co-editor of the Religious Socialism site. She joined the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in 1977 after hearing about it during a discussion group at church on corporate capitalism. In New York City, she is active with the NYC Religious Socialism Working Group and the New Sanctuary Coalition.

Christine Riddiough was a founding member of DSA. She was an activist in the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, the first and largest of the socialist feminist women’s organizations of the 1970s. She was a member of the New American Movement and has been active in the LGBTQ movement over the last 40 years. She has served as political director of DSA and as a member of the DSA National Committee. She lives in Washington, DC and teaches computer programming and statistics.

James Tierney is treasurer and member of the board of DSA Fund. He is a member of West Suburban IL DSA and previously served as treasurer and steering committee member of Lincoln DSA. He began his volunteering work with DSA Fund helping organize the How We Win series. In his day job as a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law (Illinois Tech), he researches and teaches about the law of capitalism. He has also previously taught law at Nebraska and Rutgers, and before that practiced as an attorney at a federal financial regulatory agency and for a private law firm in Washington DC.

Brandon West is a labor organizer, former voting rights advocate, and previous DSA endorsed candidate for City Council in Brooklyn. Brandon has worked to protect and increase access to the ballot and strengthen the political voice of historically disadvantaged communities. He has organized work places, and built coalitions at the State and National level since 2009.

Gabe began his career organizing tenants and home health care workers with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), then worked on the 2008 Barack Obama campaign before spending a decade managing international development projects. He returned to leftist politics in 2018, helping Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman win upset victories, co-founding a nationwide organizer training program, supporting a slate of leftist candidates in the 2021 New York City elections, and helping to build The People’s Plan advocacy coalition and the Fellows Program of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC). Last year, he managed Congressmember Bowman’s 2024 re-election campaign. Gabe has been involved with DSA since 2018 and a dues-paying member since 2021.

Before joining the DSA Fund staff fulltime, Max began his work with the DSA Fund as an intern while pursuing a Masters in Public Administration. He is a member of Philly DSA.