My name is Matt Hand and I am running for Secretary of the Green Party of the United States. Thank you to Andy Ellis, Delegate from my home state of Maryland, for nominating me for this important position on the Steering Committee. I also thank Regina Stone-Grover, Delegate from Michigan, and Margery Hanson, Delegate from Nevada, for Seconding and Thirding my nomination. And, I was thrilled to learn that Mike Gamms, Delegate from New York, gave a Fourth on my nomination as well. Your display of support is much appreciated, thank you all.

Please bookmark my professional portfolio website https://MattHand.com which I am leveraging for my campaign for Secretary. That is where I will be publishing campaign news and my candidate statement, biography, photo and video testimonial. You can also find me on Twitter @MattHandCom where you can ask me anything #AMA.

I see the Secretary position primarily as an administrative function. One that is in service to the Steering Committee and National Committee. Some of the Secretary's responsibilities are managing the steering committee meetings calendar, generating meeting minutes and sharing them transparently, onboarding delegates for their committee assignments, and interpreting bylaws and rules. My life and work experience, as well as my Green Party experience, has prepared me well to take on these duties.

With over a decade of experience as a Web Developer and Project Manager, I am already a seasoned professional for these types of administrative responsibilities. I maintain events calendars and project timelines. I am a diligent note-taker so all verbal communication can be saved in an official record for stakeholders that are not present at meetings to be fully aware of issues and progress. As a programmer, I have a refined understanding of using Logic to define systems, just like how our Bylaws and rules define how the Green Party operates. I also participate in a Quality Assurance process similar to the function of the steering committee where incoming changes are reviewed for quality and compatibility with the overall system. My programming experience directly applies to interpreting bylaws to judge whether a proposal is ready for a floor vote.

I have well-trained interpersonal skills that will mean incoming delegates and committee members feel welcome and well-served during the committee assignment process. I'm also adept at streamlining repetitive processes, knowing what steps can be more automated with say a web form, versus what needs to be a personal interaction.

I do have a track record of supporting the Green Party. I registered Green after I moved to Maryland in 2010. Before that I lived in Virginia where party registration is not a thing, but for sure I felt like a Green. I volunteered my design skills for the Bob Auerbach for Congress 2012 campaign and made him a logo and yard sign that had the look of a classic hand-painted sign, just as he requested. As a side-note, it was Bob Auerbach who taught me to thank every voter for their vote. And who shared essays written by Howie Hawkins that heavily influenced my worldview. More recently, I volunteered for the Franca Muller Paz campaign for Baltimore City Council in 2020. Currently, I give technical support to the Nevada Green Party to support their membership growth and ballot access push. And, I developed the website for the Delilah Barrios for Texas Governor 2022 campaign.

I promise you I will be a dedicated and effective Secretary. I will be transparent. I will be coachable. I will always be seeking consensus. I maintain a zero tolerance policy for discrimination. I listen to my peers and colleagues. I respect the experience of and seek guidance from people that represent marginalized communities. I am responsive so incoming communications get replies. I am emphatic about meeting deadlines, especially the 72 hour rule for sharing feedback on unapproved proposals.

Why am I seeking the Secretary position? One big reason is because I have two wonderful children that deserve a future planet that is healthy, just like all of you and your children. How can I recognize that our ecology is collapsing into a Climate Catastrophe and continue to do the busy-work of building websites that study people's lack of access to health insurance? Our children deserve better than this! The Green Party was literally made for this moment in human history so I must dedicate myself, my skills and hard work to supporting the mission of the Green Party.

The other big reason I seek the Secretary position is because of you. All of you. All of the beautiful people that make up the Green Party. I want to live in service to you. I want to support your goals. Your hopes. Your dreams. I want to work with you to do better and be better. Together we can accomplish what we set our hearts and minds to. Together we can heal Mother Earth.

If you want a Secretary that will encourage making bold statements in support of our Four Pillars and 10 Key Values, then vote for me... Matt Hand for Secretary. If you want a Secretary that has the technical expertise to make informed recommendations on ways to upgrade our communications systems and better connect our membership, then vote for me... Matt Hand for Secretary. If you want a Secretary that understands the Steering Committee’s role is in service to the National Committee and will work within the Bylaws to leverage our robust committee structure for all decision-making, then vote for me ... Matt Hand for Secretary.

I will be available for the candidate forum and open to questions at any time. I'm open to interviews, just email me using my personal contact form. You can literally Ask Me Anything and I will be candid as a candidate should be

Please vote for me, Matt Hand, for Secretary of Green Party US. I will be sure to thank you for your vote!

Bio

Matt Hand is a political organizing force who empowers electoral activists by volunteering his technical and creative skills in service to their cause and in dedication to raising their platform. Hand has over ten years of professional work experience as a Web Developer, with major contributions to Federal Health websites like millionhearts.hhs.gov, womenshealth.gov, allofus.nih.gov and salud.nih.gov. Previously, Hand gained eight years of work experience as a Graphic Designer creating logos and signs. Hand supports the Open Source Software movement and contributes code to the Drupal project. He is an enthusiastic power-user of the Linux operating system.

Matt Hand registered for Green Party membership soon after he became a resident of Riverdale Park, Maryland in Prince George’s County in 2010. Hand is a founding member of the Prince George’s County Green Party and currently serves as an Observer to the Maryland Green Party Coordinating Committee. He designed the logo and yard sign graphic for the Bob Auerbach for Congress Campaign 2012. Bob Auerbach trained Hand to “Thank every voter for their vote.” Hand worked to live up to the spirit of Bob’s training when he personally thanked over 300 Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker voters in 2020 via social media. He was a reliable text-banking volunteer for the Franca Muller Paz campaign for Baltimore City Council 2020. Hand currently volunteers for the Delilah Barrios campaign for Texas Governor 2022 providing website and graphics support.

Matt Hand is a responsible and loving husband and father. A sense of fatherly duty is driving Hand to confront the challenges he sees ahead for his children. Hand’s activism grew from witnessing the Earth’s collapsing Ecology descend into a Climate Catastrophe. The understanding that working on Health websites does not contribute to the cause of Universal Healthcare gave Matt Hand the motivation that he needed to move beyond performing busy-work and dedicate himself more in service to the Green Party to ensure the maturing Eco-Socialist Green Movement is empowered to heal Mother Earth.