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Margaret Kimberley – Keynote Speaker

Margaret Kimberly will be the Green Party’s keynote speaker on Saturday, August 17 at the Green Party 2024 virtual Annual National Meeting and Presidential Nominating Convention

Kimberly is Executive Editor and Senior Columnist of Black Agenda Report and the current host of the Black Agenda Radio podcast. Her book, Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents, was published in 2020 by Steerforth Press.

Margaret is also a member of the State Committee of the Green Party of New York. 

Honorary Co-chairs

Craig Cayetano

Craig Cayetano is currently a co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. Craig is also the Communications Chair of the Green Party of New Jersey where he also served previously as co-chair of his state party. Craig has run for local office several times in Hawthorne, N.J. for town council Ward 3 and council at-large. He received 33% of the vote in his last race in 2023. He worked on numerous Green Party campaigns since joining in 2016.

Craig's commitment to democratizing elections led him to become one of the co-founding members of Voter Choice New Jersey. Craig has served his community through membership on the Hawthorne Green Team and is a Board Member of the Passaic County SPCA. During the pandemic he started Mutual Passaic County to provide assistance and support to neighbors in need. 

Margaret Elisabeth

I was born in Knoxville, TN and was put up for adoption when I was 2. I was adopted by a couple who worked for Esso (Exxon) and we moved to Libya when I was 6. I was raised there until I moved back to the United States during the summer I turned 16. I am grateful for that experience in more ways than I can possibly count yet it was trying and very difficult as well. I grew up without access to television, print media or radio, with only the school library available as any form of diversion and, as boredom will do, I ended up reading every book in the library including the dictionary, twice. Some topics of education were not permissible such as astronomy and human biology and it was against the law to have a telescope so I read a book, took apart a microscope and built my own so I could study the moon for myself. Because of that experience growing up, as an adult I highly value science and the scientific method for acquiring useful knowledge about our world and the universe we find ourselves drifting through.

I've been involved in Green activism for the last 25 years with specific focus upon Leave-No-Trace camping/festivals and non-monetary barter based economies with community policing. My friends and I created an event called Playa del Fuego (Beach of Fire) based off the Burning Man ethos in 1998 and it's been going ever since. I've voted Green ever since Nader ran and I formally joined the National Party in 2016 to help run the 'Washington State for Jill Stein' and 'Jill Stein Dank Meme Stash' pages on Facebook. I've been honored and grateful to receive the support and trust of my peers in the Lavender Caucus, initially representing the Caucus as a National Delegate and, currently, as a Co-Chair and Media Spokesperson. I believe that the Green Party is the best chance we have of making real, substantial change in the United States and I'm proud to be a part of it.

I'm grateful to have been given a chance to earn the honor and trust of my colleagues and comrades and I hope to prove worthy of their faith.

Credentialing Co-Facilitators

Orlando Johnson 

Orlando Johnson, a native of Oakland, California, has been an active participant in civic affairs since 1999 when he registered as a Green. His political journey includes a mayoral candidacy in 2006, a second attempt in 2010 (where he later withdrew to assume the role of campaign manager for Don Macleay), and subsequent involvement with the Oakland Green Party Chapter in 2011.

In 2012, Johnson played a pivotal role in a coalition that successfully established the first Oakland Municipal City I.D. Card, a pioneering achievement at the national level.

Demonstrating his commitment to the Green Party cause, he served as a campaign buddy from 2012 to 2020, offering support to candidates across the spectrum.

His dedication earned him a place on the County Council of the Green Party of Alameda County in 2021 and subsequently, he served as a state delegate from 2021 to 2023.

Building on his growing influence, Orlando Johnson reached new heights in 2023 by becoming a national delegate and securing a position on the Green Party Credentials Committee, further solidifying his impact on both local and national level with the party.

Cassandra Lems

Cassandra Lems (she/her) is Co-Chair of the 2024 Credentials Committee, and while she is looking forward to retiring from that position after the committee submits its final report, she would like to acknowledge that the other committee members have been delightful to work with.

Cassandra also serves as Program Committee Chair for the Green Party of Nassau County, New York, as a New York State Committee member representing Nassau County, as a member at large of the Executive Committee of the Green Party of New York, and as a New York delegate to the National Committee.

She ran for office four times as a Green before disgraced former Governor Cuomo took away our ballot line. Cassandra is a former paralegal specializing in foreign patents, but began her working life as an editor of books, trade magazines, and newsletters. She is a voracious reader, a skilled needleworker, and a pretty good home cook. She sometimes sings with a community choir, and has performed in 11 of the 14 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

Election Administrator

Joey Naham

Joseph Naham is thrilled to serve as the Election Administrator for the Green Party's 2024 Presidential Nominating Convention. A lifelong Green, Joseph's passion for political engagement runs deep, with a unique enthusiasm for Presidential Nominating Conventions that rivals the excitement many find in sporting events. His dedication to the Green Party is rooted in a commitment to environmental justice, social equity, and grassroots democracy.

Beyond his role in the Green Party, Joseph is a devoted father, husband, and son, deeply connected to his community. He brings a wealth of experience in organizing and activism, working tirelessly to ensure that the Green Party's principles are upheld and that the 2024 convention is a true reflection of the party's values.

Election Assistant

Gloria Mattera

Gloria Mattera has been a member of the Green Party since 2001.  Coming to the Green Party through the Nader campaign, Gloria has been involved in building a left, political independent movement since the mid 90's as a leader in the Labor Party New York Metro Chapter.  She has served as a coordinating member of System Change Not Climate Change and is a founding member of Left Elect.

Working in the New York City public hospital system over the years, Gloria experienced firsthand how unjust and inhumane this country's healthcare system is and got involved in the single-payer healthcare movement. She has been a board member of the Physicians for a National Health Program NY Metro Chapter for many years. Gloria soon realized that the two corporate parties in power would never bring a national health program to the U.S. and turned toward independent political party building, initially as a founding member of the Labor Party under Tony Mazzocchi, then NYC coordinator of Labor for Nader in 2000, and finally the Green Party.

Gloria is currently a co-chair of the Green Party of New York and a delegate to the National Committee.

Platform Co-Chairs

Tim Willard

Dustin Young

Budd Dickinson

I was Secretary of the Green Party of the US for 4 years until 2015.  From 2006 to 2009, I was one of 7 Co-chairs of GPUS.

I have a long involvement with the Green Party and the Green Politics Movement that led to it. I was one of the founders of the California Green Party in 1991.

I have extensive election campaign experience.  I helped elect the first black mayor in Newark, NJ, and was the Newark coordinator for the 1972 McGovern for President campaign. I worked in several Berkeley (CA) campaigns and was a candidate for Berkeley City Council in 1998, receiving almost 40% of the vote.    

I was Co-chair of the GP of Hawai’i for about 5 years. I moved to Hawaii from Seattle seven years ago.

I have a Master of Public Administration degree and an MA in Psychology. I am a retired Energy Conservation Engineer with over 30 years in government or semi-public agencies.

I am 81 and have practiced Buddhist meditation for about 25 years.  I have been in and lead several different men’s groups.

Pre-recorded Speakers

Ajamu Baraka 

A human rights defender whose experience spans four decades of domestic and international education and activism, Ajamu Baraka is a veteran grassroots organizer whose roots are in the Black Liberation Movement and anti-apartheid and Central American solidarity struggles. He was the 2016 Vice Presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United States. Baraka is currently the national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace.

Baraka is an internationally recognized leader of the emerging human rights movement in the U.S. and has been at the forefront of efforts to apply the international human rights framework to social justice advocacy in the U.S. for more than 25 years. As such, he has provided human rights trainings for grassroots activists across the country, briefings on human rights to the U.S. Congress, and appeared before and provided statements to various United Nations agencies, including the UN Human Rights Commission (precursor to the current UN Human Rights Council).

He is currently an editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and a writer for Counterpunch.

Austin Bashore 

Hello. My name is Austin Bashore. I am a member of the Central Committee of the Ohio Green Party and a member of the International Committee of the Green Party US. From the polar ice caps to the rainforests of South America, the world in which we live is on fire. Scientists say we now have less than ten years to halt our collision course with climate catastrophe. This emergency requires us to rise up and do our best. This may be our now, but it does not have to be our future.

Never in my life has our future seemed so uncertain. The genocide in Palestine, the climate crisis, and the looming threat of a Cold War with China. But, when people come together and reach for a brighter future, we’ve shown that we can change the course of history. We can change history. We can make big things happen again and we do not have to continue to live like this. We can change our now and our future for the better. We can create a society for us all. We can stop the doomsday clock ticking sooner and sooner to nuclear war. We can stop all foreclosures and evictions. We can see peace on the Korean peninsula once again. We can cancel student debt, we can make healthcare and college free, we can create a welcoming path to citizenship, and we can end systemic racism. All we have to do is try.

In the 2024 election, there is no lesser evil. For the past 20 years, we have been voting blue but seeing red. It has been long past time for that to end. Together, we can break the ping-pong politics trap. This election is the greatest, perhaps our last chance to change course. The Green Party is here and we are ready to tackle the changes our country, and our world, so desperately need.

Children cannot vote. The trees cannot vote. And our planet can not vote. I ask you “If not now, when?”

Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins has been active in movements for civil rights, peace, labor, and the environment since the 1960s. He was the Green Party's 2020 presidential candidate.