Neal Morgan
Education
University Of California, Berkeley
B.S. Business Administration 2001
Electoral Organizing
SISTER DISTRICT
Head of Organizing Oct 2019 - Feb 2023
With Co-Founder Lala Wu, built Sister District’s Organizing Program and Organizing Department. Performance at-a-glance: Impact Reports 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Organizing Program
Cultivated & directed 332 volunteer leaders and their 108 teams & affiliates across 26 states
Led collaborative projects with partner orgs to support shared candidates, e.g. $36k event & phonebanks for Sydney Batch ‘22
Led volunteer-facing design, rollout, and integration of year-long team-wide effort to leave legacy systems for Action Network & Mobilize
Designed, managed Volunteer Fundraising Program
$4.2M in volunteer fundraising for candidates in my tenure
Shifted culture, goals & program design toward Early Money; by ‘22, 84% of candidate fundraising delivered to endorsed candidates’ campaigns before Sept 1
Led volunteer leaders to cultivate & sustain high-dollar donors, design/adopt creative grassroots programs & events including 24hr Fundraising Blitzes, Giving Circles, concerts, house parties, collaborations with businesses, and more
By ‘22, 70.9% of our fundraising went to women and gender minority candidates & 62.7% to candidates of color
Designed, managed best-in-class Volunteer Phonebank System
Shifted culture, goals & program design away from postcarding and became the top-performing state-legislative-exclusive phonebank system in the nation
240% increase in dials in my first year as Head of Organizing
By ‘22, 30 weekly virtual phonebanks starting early May, all operating in adherence to our precise model for timing, training, recruitment & retention strategies, using materials designed by me e.g. candidate one-pagers, Guide for Phonebankers
Designed program to optimize for
Early Dials: by ‘22, 43% of total dials were made before Sept 1
Local Volunteer recruitment for endorsed candidates’ campaigns: 1,211 total in ‘22
In ‘22, our volunteers made 74% of our candidates’ campaigns’ total dials
Created National Phonebank Program
Recruited & managed relationships with 28 adopting orgs including Vote Save America, Run for Something, DLCC, South Asians for America, and Swing Left
Coordinated and managed special guests David Cross, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonathan Van Ness, Jason Alexander, Dan Pfeiffer, Piper Perabo and others
Organizing Department
Hired, directed, managed, and evaluated 5 full-time remote Organizing Managers
While running and representing the dept. on internal and external collaborative projects, successfully managed a volunteer organizing portfolio equal to the load I assigned to Organizing Managers
Created department processes & culture to center volunteer experience, quantitative metrics, creativity, and continuous improvement, mirrored by a robust performance evaluation regime of weekly check-ins, quarterly work portfolio balancing + goal recalibration, and annual review
Created Organizing Fellows, Phonebank Fellows, and GOTV Fellows programs; 144 Fellows in my tenure
Met or exceeded all DEI hiring goals
Designed & managed annual team-wide post-election evaluation of program and department functions & continuous improvement of volunteer-facing resources
Organizing Manager Sept 2018 - Oct 2019
97% increase in candidate fundraising for volunteer teams in my portfolio
Coached leaders of 26 teams to improve recruitment & retention, fundraising & phonebanking
Designed, executed Volunteer Leader & Team Growth Strategy for 2019/2020
CONSULTING
Communications Consultant, Erin Mendenhal for Salt Lake City Mayor Summer 2019
Coached speech & debate messaging language and delivery
Helped define policy positions and create public-facing language on major policy areas
Campaign Field Staff Consultant Sept - Nov 2018
Coached volunteer recruitment and retention & best practices in direct voter contact training for
Colorado CD 3 campaign staff, candidates, leaders, and volunteer groups
Jenny Wilson for US Senate, US
Shireen Ghorbani for US Congress, UT
Coaching Director, Western Organizing Workshop Jan - June 2018
Through June 5 primary, coached and supported over 500 activist leaders, volunteers, and campaign staff via remote calls, 30 house-party-style and conference call discussions with small groups (5-50 people), and 5 large workshops in DCCC target and expansion CA congressional districts
Coached college and high school student leaders; campaign field staff and volunteers; Dem party clubs; PACs; Swing Left, Indivisible, Women's March, LGBTQAI+, among other resistance groups
Areas of focus working with small groups, among other aspects of field: Volunteer Recruitment and Retention; Creating Cultures of Growth; Campus Organizing; Best Practices in Training, Modeling and Coaching Volunteers for Effective Direct Voter Contact
Feedback from two Field Organizers on a Democratic congressional primary campaign:
"Neal was able to coach our team through a very difficult moment in our field program - we were struggling to retain and recruit volunteers and team morale was low. With Neal’s help via phone conversations and a morning discussion over coffee with our entire field staff, the average number of doors volunteers completed per shift increased from 27 to 43. Neal's training paved the way for an intensive GOTV program, and his organization fundamentally reshaped my outlook on field organizing. My retention is up, my volunteers are happier, and everyone is feeling more fulfilled with their work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Workshops
May 2018
CA23 DEM WOMEN OF KERN CO. / LABOR COUNCIL / RESISTANCE GROUPS
Presenter, full workshop: Volunteer Recruitment, Building Capacity and Creating Cultures of Growth
Trainer, break-out groups: Volunteer Retention and Sustainability
April 2018
CA25 ACTION COUNCIL / RESISTANCE GROUPS
Presenter, full workshop: Volunteer Recruitment, Building Capacity
Trainer, break-out groups: Volunteer Retention
Dec 2017
CA49, 45, 48, 39 CODE BLUE / OC RESISTANCE GROUPS
Presenter, full workshop: Volunteer Recruitment and Building Capacity
Trainer, break-out groups: Persuasion Conversations
Aug 2017
Los Angeles CODE BLUE
Trainer, break-out groups: Persuasion Conversations and Canvassing Best Practices
June 2017
Los Angeles WOW Weekend Workshop
Facilitator: two days supporting group of 8 participants
Trainer, break-out groups: Persuasion Conversations
OBAMA
Campus Academy Coach, Organizing For Action 2017
One of 16 national coaches for over 70 college students in a semester-long organizer training program
Guide, support organizers-to-be to properly identify a problem/need/opportunity on campus, define goals, develop strategies, and plan, implement, and evaluate tactics
Particular focus on Story of Self/Us/Now and the use of story-telling as the foundation for connecting with and engaging collaborators, stakeholders, and community members
Field Organizer, Youth Vote, Obama For America, University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), Nevada General Election
Organized high-functioning team of 75 college student volunteers and interns
3000 on-campus voters registered in 10 weeks, second-best in the state (UNLV)
Led campaign to turn out over 6000 on-campus voters, beating OFA campaign goal by 20%
2915 volunteer hours scheduled on campus in 12 weeks, second-best in the state
GOTV Volunteer, Ohio General Election
With a team of eight '08 NV organizer colleagues, work resulted in a 73% turnout and 2559 vote margin of victory upset in traditionally GOP stronghold Cuyahoga Falls
10 days on the ground: knocked over 1000 doors made over 1500 calls; trained volunteers and modeled best practices for phone banking; supported Field Organizers cutting turf, routing walks
Created a patronage model to work on behalf of 28 friends and family funders who wanted a more personal connection to the fight for votes on the ground and for 100% of their contribution dollars to go to strengthening the ground game.
Super Volunteer, Primary Season 2007/2008
GOTV/C field volunteer in Creston, IA; Abilene, TX; Reno, NV; Portland, OR; Nevada City, CA
HILLARY FOR AMERICA / NEVADA DEMOCRATS
GOTV Volunteer, Nevada Together General Election 2016
16 days total for last phase of voter registration and Early Vote in Reno, GOTV in Las Vegas
Recruited, trained 20 volunteers, including three first-time vols, modeled best practices in canvassing/phonebanking
Knocked over 1000 doors, made over 800 calls, recruited 6 volunteers while canvassing, phonebanking
Organized a group of 19 friends and family to fund my 16 days in NV and expenses for 2 first-time volunteers who joined our team for GOTV as we worked on behalf of those who couldn't travel to a swing state and wanted 100% of their contributions to go to the ground game: fundraising page here
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Organizer, co-Founder, Musicians for Measure 26-146 Portland Oregon Aug - Nov 2012
Assembled, directing working group modeled after 2011 Move Your Money campaign to assist campaign for an arts tax to benefit school programs and arts non-profits serving kids
Delivered to the campaign public endorsements from 309 musicians, bands, and music-related businesses
Produced campaign promotional video featuring well-loved Portland music figures
Organizer, co-Founder, Move Your Money Portland Oct - Nov 2011
Designed scalable, replicable organizing model for direct contact community advocacy - aimed at closing accounts at big banks
Assembled and directed a four-person working group ( incl Sam Coomes, Rachel Blumberg and Lisa Schonberg) to obtain pledges from over 150 members of the music community to divest from their big banks and bank locally
Provided education and assistance to those divesting, connecting them to staff and resources and our independent research related to community banks and credit unions in the Portland Metro area
Drafted press releases, phone and email script, designed and maintained recruitment tracking database
As publicist succeeding in getting prime coverage in the Oregonian, the Portland weeklies, OPB's Think Out Loud and succeeded in helping to bring attention to the divestment effort in solidarity with other community activists and organizations
sample press: Willamette Week
ARTS & CULTURE
NEAL MORGAN ART FRAMING March 2023 - present
Created small business to increase direct involvement in Portland OR community
Conservation-level custom art framing with clients around the nation
Clients include: Portland Art Museum, Lumber Room, Nationale, artists, private collectors, interior designers
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA)
Program Evaluation Consultant, Olafur Eliasson exhibition fall 2007
Authored IMLS-grant report on visitor experience and usage of in-gallery interpretive offerings
Designed and administered quantitative and qualitative surveys
Collected, analyzed five times data volume requested due to process efficiencies
Provided ten manageable recommendations to enhance awareness, increase usage, and improve functionality of interpretive resources for future exhibitions
Education Resource Specialist, Koret Visitor Education Center 8/10/05 - 12/1/07
Increased visitor awareness and utilization of Center programming by improving signage throughout the Museum and working closely with front-line staff to recommend Center programs
Designed and initiated an informal group discussion education program to engage Center visitors in dialogue about art, highlight works on view, and generate awareness of resources
Interim Intellectual Property Associate 12/4/05 - 7/10/06
Secured permissions for reproductions of copyrighted works with written and verbal proposals; negotiated fees and terms of use; reviewed and edited contracts
Managed requests for reproduction of SFMOMA works; arranged imaging, fulfilled asset loans
Program Evaluation Consultant,Discovery Interface & Spotlight Tour Program 7/10 - 11/4/05
Initiated, designed, and managed evaluation of the Museum's pilot docent tour program and new on-site computer-based interpretive application
Developed custom evaluation databases, designed instruments for quantitative and qualitative research, trained research assistants, analyzed and interpreted data
Authored and presented three comprehensive IMLS-grant reports that included resource-appropriate recommendations to improve the interface and docent programming
Interim Manager, Educational Technologies Audience Services 10/1/04 - 7/25/05
Managed audio tour program including financial forecasting, budgeting, and accounting; development of new initiative proposals; improvement of on-site sales procedure
Re-negotiated audio tour contract, resulting in a net lease fee reduction of 32%
PR and Marketing Assistant 1/7/02 - 6/23/04
Drafted press releases and worked with editors and journalists to secure coverage
Developed direct marketing campaigns for small-budget public programs, exhibitions, events
Managed sfmoma.org/press - responsible for all aspects of press release process including targeted delivery to editors and journalists, image and materials fulfillment, interview scheduling
Wrote, edited, designed, distributed monthly marketing e-news email
Managed, trained over 20 volunteers and interns
Communications Consultant, YU Contemporary, Portland Oregon 2011-2012
Directed strategies to expand donor base, build YU brand, increase membership and attendance
Drafted, distributed press releases, built relationships with editors and journalists to secure coverage
Wrote and edited executive communique to donors, government, and community leaders including the 2011 Year in Review Director's Letter, and Directors State of YU speech fall 2011
Managed public relations for the departure of director Sandra Percival, January 2012
MUSIC
Video, in performance with Bill Callahan at Sala Apollo Barcelona 2010
Drummer/Arranger
Joanna Newsom from 2006, including Have One On Me, 2010
Bill Callahan from 2009, including Apocalypse, 2011
Soundtracks including Netflix documentary series Battered Basterds of Baseball & Wild Wild Country
Songwriter
Five solo albums since 2007, including Sketchbook, 2017 and PAW, 2025
EDUCATOR / TALKS
Why Volunteer? Oakland High School Students, 2020 CONFERENCE
Presented interactive, discussion-based Why Volunteer talk to high school students as an introduction to how electoral field programs function, what volunteers do; told through stories of my own experiences, focusing on my first time volunteering in Iowa for Barack Obama in 2007
Curator of Spoken at Pickathon, 2015 - 2016 spoken word program at OR music festival
Philip Guston Talks Since 2012 lectures/discussions on American painter Philip Guston, including sold-out talk at Portland’s Hollywood Theatre in 2015
Author Talk reading from drumming memoir manuscript at Tell It Slant Reading Series, Portland OR Feb 2014
Spoken Word performances from 2011, on bills with bands or poets including Bill Callahan, Joanna Newsom
see: spoken word album Neal Morgan / Neal Morgan June 2014
sample press: The Oregonian - May 23, 2014
Art Docent, SFMOMA Private Tour Guide of the Museum, collections, and special exhibitions 2003-2004
TRADES
Carpenter's Assistant, Swan Building East Bay Area, CA 2015-2017; 6 residential remodels. Rough framing, finish carpentry, door and window installation
Electrician's Assistant, Bay Area, CA 2016; 5 residential remodels and repairs. New service whole-house re-wiring, basic troubleshooting and remediation
REFERENCES
Lala Wu, Co-Founder, Former Executive Director, Sister District
Taylor Hogeland, Head of Campaigns, Sister District
Mara Helmke, Head of Operations, Sister District
Contact information available on request