Hello! I'm Charles. I am also a...
Political Advocate
Community Organizer
Group Fundraiser
Effective Communicator
Confident Public Speaker
Social Activist
Civic Leader
Professional Manager
Creative strategist
Media Specialist
Charles F. Rilli, Jr.
Master of Political Management (Fordham University)
Bachelor of Business Administration & Political Science (University of Miami)
Phone:
973-865-3306
Email:
Location:
Based in San Diego, CA
Date of Birth:
January 9, 1998
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
July 2023 -Present
Sierra Club
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Identifying, developing, and managing volunteer leaders to strengthen strategic partnerships and build grassroots power. Manages staff and volunteers to achieve campaign goals and chapter priorities.
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Manages conservation programs by providing and ensuring general and technical guidance; preparing and conducting performance reviews; making salary, hiring and promotion recommendations; assigning work and establishing priorities, ensuring staff training, development and enhancement of employee skills.
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Works closely with the Chapter Director and volunteer leaders to ensure that the message of the Sierra Club is accurately and favorably represented to the media and that the club’s priorities are being achieved.
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Makes presentations and builds strong relationships with community, political, and governmental bodies regarding environmental considerations and Sierra Club positions.
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Co-leader of the San Diego regional 30x30 group which oversees projects and funding opportunities to help protect 30% of all land and coastal water by r 2030. This included organizing for the passage of proposition 4.
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Directed a successful member-driven campaign to advocate for the adoption of a county climate action campaign with a smart growth alternative that will limit future sprawl development in high fire and vehicle mile travel zones.
Conservation Organizing Manager
July 2021 - March 2023
MERIDIAN STRATEGIES
Director of Talent Acquisition | Public Affairs & Campaign Associate
February 2022 - July 2022
Campaign Manager
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Account Executive for various business, non-profit, government agency, union, PAC, political clientele to pitch
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media outlets, run social media campaigns, build websites, fundraise, and communicate for client needs.
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Operations Manager for a team of seven staff members by overseeing timely completion of all projects through
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delegation, follow-up, and managing daily goals.
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Program Director for Dept. of Sanitation composting program by managing interagency communications to
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ensure smooth completion of outreach to over 180,000 doors in 14 community boards.
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Fellowship Coordinator. Built relationships with local universities and created a cohort to teach and train fellows
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to become our next managers
ADAM ROBERTS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY
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Assembled and managed the campaign’s field, finance, communications, and policy departments (and staff).
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Developed and implemented a field plan including: largest volunteer petitioning program gathering 3000 sigs.
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Managed call-time, prospected donors and raised over $210,000.
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Engaged community leaders to gain endorsements and coalesce support around the candidate.
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Mobilized 2,573 voters, won 24.5% of the vote and had a second-place finish in a five-way open primary.
March - June 2021
Political Consultant - General Manager
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ELEVATION STRATEGIES
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Providing strategic consultation by writing and fulfilling field plans, community organizing guides, district deep dives, small business tours and GOTV plans to six candidates in the NYC municipal primary election
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Overseeing basic opposition, policy and demographic research, social media tracking, direct voter contact, data entry, fundraising work and in-person field work for all clients
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Responsible for leading and supervising 100 interns on a given week by communicating daily goals and polishing work for client presentation
November 2020 - March 2021
Deputy Campaign Manager & Finance Director
SEVERINO FOR CITY COUNCIL
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Built campaign operation from ground-up by hiring and onboarding 60+ interns and volunteers
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Mentored the finance team to ensure compliance with NYC Campaign Finance Board regulations by designing a detailed portfolio and formalized all financial documents
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Raised over $30,000 for a first-time candidate, later to unlock $220,000 of matching funds, by leading a fundraising team through call-time and rolodexing existing and prospective networks
October 2020 - March 2021
EDISON RESEARCH
Research Correspondent
September - November 2020
Field Organizer
January 2017 - April 2020
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Reported election results to Edison Research and their election pool of ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC News
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Approached voters to gather exit poll data used for market research and network analysis in order to call elections
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Kept track of data tabulations at polling locations for the 2020 Presidential Election & 2021 NYC races
MISSION FOR ARIZONA
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Improved campaign involvement by canvassing 2,500+ voters and confirming 81 shifts during GOTV
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Canvassed 2,500+ voters in the final three weeks leading up to Election Day
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Motivated local Democratic organizations, committees, and community leaders to engage in the race
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Increased volunteer involvement by 77% ahead of executing a successful GOTV strategy
DELTA SIGMA PI (PROFESSIONAL FRATERNITY)
President
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Directed an 18-person executive board to ensure that all national obligations regarding ritual, community service, and professional programming were fulfilled
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Shaped all aspects of a chapter consisting of 100 members and represented the chapter at the national and regional levels, as well as at the University of Miami
June 2019 - February 2020
ALL IN
Campaign Manager
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Mobilized a campaign of three students and 200+ supporters running on an executive ticket for the University of Miami Student Government
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Initiated an enthusiastic following for the candidates and mobilize the largest voter turnout in University of Miami Student Government history.
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Fostered a platform with 10 key initiatives to improve student life on campus
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Coordinated opportunities for the candidates to speak with numerous student organizations throughout the campaign period
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Communicated campaign rules and strategy and to 200+ supporters to ensure the ticket won
May 2019 - August 2019
Office of the City Manager Intern
BAL HARBOUR VILLAGE
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Merged various departments to help implement advanced policies and strategic solutions to address the challenges of the community
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Transformed the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget by internally reviewing all accounts and departmental requests with the ProSystems software
August 2018 - April 2019
BENDIXEN & AMANDI INTERNATIONAL
Research & Consulting Intern
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Conducted research and developed a customized strategy for a wide variety of clients related to each of their needs
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Constructed and analyzed public opinion polls that portrayed these results in extensive presentations
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Hired by Donna Shalala for Congress to help provide polling, consultation, and grassroots organization for her campaign winning a seat in the US House of Representatives
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Assisted in the production of Strange Days Podcast with Fernand Amandi
January 2017 - May 2019
Chair Policy & Finance Committee
Junior Class Senator
STUDENT GOVERNMENT SENATE
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Served as the Chair of the Policy and Finance Committee by managing the organization’s budget
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Advocated for student concerns to the University of Miami administration in order to navigate the University through multiple scandals
April 2018 - August 2018
Campaign Finance Intern
MATT HAGGMAN FOR CONGRESS
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Conducted extensive research on potential donors, took detailed notes on fundraising calls, and managed all finances in the NGPVan software
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Raised over $1,000,000 in the primary election for Matt Haggman for Congress by working at fundraisers, calling donors, and spreading Matt Haggman’s message in Florida’s 27th congressional district
EDUCATION
Summer 2021
Finance Track
ARENA ACADEMY
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Relevant coursework: Finance, Donations, Fundraising
2017-2020
Master of Political Management
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
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Relevant coursework: American Political Behavior, Finance & Ethics, Earned Media Strategies, Political Institutions & Proceeses, Campaign Management, SPSS, Strategies of Political Communication, American Survey Research
2016-2020
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Bachelor of Business Administration
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Relevant coursework: Introduction to American Government, Organizational Behavior, American Presidency, U.S. Health Care Policy, 2018 U.S. Elections, Political Internship, Intro to Comparative Politics, Government in Metropolitan Areas, Negotiation Strategies, Effective Leadership, “Congress and American Foreign Policy” , Advanced Organizational Behavior, Leading Teams, Conspiracy Theories & Public Opinion
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Honors: Sigma Iota Rho, Dean's List
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2016
Study Abroad Experience
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ROME
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Relevant coursework: Italian
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Activities & Societies: AUR Business Club, Excursions with AUR
2002-2016
High School Diploma
MONTCLAIR KIMBERLEY ACADEMY
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Relevant coursework: Economics
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Activities & Societies: Student Body President, Tutor, Relay for Life, Varsity Soccer, Varsity Tennis
SKILLS
Microsoft Office - Expert
NGPVan - Advanced
Votebuilder - Advanced
LexisNexis - Advanced
NYC CFB C-Smart - Advanced
Callfire (Dialer) - Advanced
Spanish - Proficient
Canva - Advanced
EXPERTISE
POLITICAL ADVOCACY
I have a history of advocating for my beliefs in every community I have been a part of. While in high school and college, I served my student body as Student Body President in high school and as a Senator representing my class at the University of Miami. I always took my peers wants and needs into every meeting with school administrators in order to successfully advocate for better campus life and for more educational tools for UM students. I partnered with small businesses in our town to build long-lasting relationships between our school’s community and our neighboring restaurants and stores. In college, I represented my class in the Student Government Senate, chaired a committee, and managed a campaign for my peers running on an executive ticket to change the culture on campus. I spent years looking for ways to improve our campus life which resulted in co-sponsorships and 10 bills to improve campus life for everyone. However, my true advocacy came when I entered the Political Arena in 2018 and started to work for candidates who I shared common values with. After five cycles and employment with 10+ campaigns, I have learned the true art of what political advocacy is all about. I have pushed my candidates to understand every side of a policy position before adopting their own while utilizing electoral strategies in order for them to understand all sides of an issue. After majority of my candidates have been sworn into office, I have continued to push them to adopt important positions on gun control, voting rights, and other liberal idealizations. Additionally, I have advocated in my own personal communities to gather support for stronger gun control in our country and for comprehensive voting right bills. With the Sierra Club. I am frequently found at City Council and board of Supervisor meetings advocating for biodiversity protection, climate action, and climate equity. We advocated for and helped adopt the County of San Diego's first climate action plan (with a smart growth land-use alternative which limits housing in high fire zones).
FUNDRAISING
Since high school I have been involved in fundraising efforts in many different capacities. I joined my high school’s development office at the end of my senior year to help launch their future-forward campaign. During this time as an alumni ambassador, I helped to create strategic plans and fundraise for the future of the school. In 2018, I became a Call-Time Manager for Matt Haggman’s campaign in Florida’s 27th congressional district. Throughout this campaign, my team and I raised over $1M for Haggman, a low name-recognition candidate. Due to our prominent fundraising efforts, his support from 2% to 17% in the Primary. Moreover, I recently served as the Finance Director for a 21-year-old Gen-Z candidate for NYC City Council. Here I exceeded fundraising goals by raising over $30,000 in two short months. During my time as a Campaign Manager for Adam Roberts, I led our daily fundraising operations, raising over $225,000 despite being the last candidate to enter the race. Finally, I have helped launch Political Action Committees and set up fundraising domains to successfully launch different activism efforts. As a consultation, I helped campaigns create, modify and utilize budgets to ensure proper funding is available through election day.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
In the eight political cycles that I have worked on, organizing and educating has become a substantial part of my career. During the 2018 Midterm Election, I organized at the University of Miami and in the District to help elect Donna Shalala to Congress. During the 2020 cycle, I was an organizer for President Biden's campaign in Arizona. At this role, I helped recruit and confirm over 80 shifts during GOTV leading to thousands of calls and successfully flipping Arizona blue. After that election, I led our organizing efforts in 2021 as the Field Director for Elevation Strategies, specifically assisting Kamillah Hanks' successful campaign in State Island. I managed a State Assembly race, have provide field and media consultation on over two dozen campaigns and understands the impact organizing can have on elections. With the Sierra Club, I organize our 13,000 members in San Diego County to turnout for environmental causes- like the polluted Tijuana River, Climate Action at all levels of government, biodiversity preservation and conservation and lead San Diego's regional effort on protecting 30% of land and water by 2030- 30x30.