Administrators
Dan McCool, PhD is the founder and administrator for Blue Revolution. Dan has been teaching American politics and political theory at different colleges, as an adjunct or visiting lecturer, since 2007. His book "Three Frames of Modern Politics: Self, Institutions, and Others" was published by Palgrave-Macmillan Press in fall 2018.
In addition to his teaching career, he is an avid dog-lover, pun-teller, traveller, coffee-drinker (tho trying to quit), meditator, and musician, having played in a number of touring, nationally-recognized bands from New England and NYC over the years.
Janine Buonomo is an administrator for Blue Revolution. She has years of experience in business management, human resources, web & graphic design, marketing and fundraising.
In addition to her work with Blue Revolution, she spends her time with loved ones, petting dogs, propagating plants and creating art. Her artwork has been featured in numerous design publications such as Apartment Therapy, Cloth Magazine, Lowes, Curbly, Decoist, and iVillage.
Moderators
Ben Davidson is a moderator for Blue Revolution. He is a salesman in the staffing industry by trade and a political operator in his spare time. His political interest was sparked while studying Political Science at Mississippi State University. He used to be a Republican, but has apologized profusely many times about that dark time in his life.
In addition to his work with Blue Revolution, he has also been a Director of Field Operations for a state house race, helped run a massive voter registration operation in the north Atlanta suburbs, and has coordinated events between multiple campaigns on both the state and federal level.
Karen Templeton is a moderator for Blue Revolution. Karen has 20 years’ experience in public relations, media strategy, and risk and crisis communications. Her career the last few years has focused on higher education fundraising. She has provided communications and fundraising consulting for state-level candidates, advocacy groups and local nonprofits.
In addition to Blue Rev and her career, she goes on adventures with her husband Brian and their children Joseph and Cora. She has a penchant for travel, cooking, and shelter dogs particularly one she rescued named Phoebe.
Kirsten Alexander is an active volunteer for progressive causes and a Board Member at several Boston area non-profits. Professionally, she leads marketing, editorial, and fundraising efforts for academic, non-profit, and high tech start up organizations. Kirsten has volunteered for political campaigns and get out the vote efforts since childhood, and sent more than 50,000 texts to help elect Blue Revolution candidates and flip the House in the 2018 midterms. She successfully campaigned for marriage equality in MA, and to elect Marty Walsh as Mayor of Boston, Elizabeth Warren as the first MA woman to the US Senate, Sam Yoon as the first Asian-American in the Boston City Council, and Ayanna Pressley as the first Black woman to represent MA in Congress. She thinks it’s ridiculous it took so long for these firsts to happen. After many years in Dorchester, Kirsten now lives North of Boston with her husband, daughter, and extremely photogenic dog.
Brandon Rivas is a moderator and organizer for Blue Revolution. His undergraduate studies were focused on law and government and he currently works for the US Census Bureau. Brandon is originally from Washington, D.C. and moved to Boston five years ago. His government career started with an internship in Congressman Joe Kennedy's (MA04) Newton District Office. Outside of work Brandon is an avid track cyclist, a member of the USA Triathlon National Team and a United States Coast Guard Auxiliarist.
Christa Thompson is a single mom and entrepreneur. In 2013 she founded the travel and lifestyle blog, The Fairytale Traveler and has since become a citizen of the world. As a full time travel writer Christa has grown a deep love and respect for culture, history, adventure and humankind. During the pandemic, unable to travel, she launched Mood 13 Magazine as both Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director. Christa owns a home in Northerm Georgia where she and her son like to hike, camp, and explore as often as possible. She loves pop culture, her two pups, cat, working with her hands to build, design, craft and decorate her home, snd Taylor Swift.
Sarah Andrade is a native of southern California with a B.A. in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara & a degree in Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco. She has been a business owner for over 20 years and currently works in insurance and financial services. She has always been interested in politics but became really active in 2007 when she worked with the Obama campaign. She prides herself on being active in her local community and has served on the board of her local neighborhood council. She currently lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, 2 children, dog, and cat.
Robyn Donaldson is a legally-trained political activist and yoga teacher from Atlanta, GA. She is the co-founder of Paths to Peace and has worked for Obama for America and the Jon Ossoff campaign. Robyn has a passion for civil rights, social justice, peace, and nonviolence.
Andrea Wittchen is a Moderator for Blue Revolution. She is a small business consultant, a fierce advocate for progressive values, and a classically-trained harpist (who has played many a tear-filled virtual concert for Blue Rev volunteers.)
Interns
Urwa Hameed is a Research Assistant for Blue Revolution. She is currently a student of Political Science and International Studies at Boston College. She has served as the Vice President of the Debating Union at her university and is currently serving the head of intersectionality and minority rights in student government. She is the recipient of numerous awards at Boston College including the prestigious Thomas Aquino Social Activism Award. She is currently conducting her own research about women in politics which will showcase original date, in-field research and interviews of female political candidates.
Nicholas Newbold is a Research Assistant for Blue Revolution. He is currently a sophomore at Boston College with a major in Political Science and a minor in Management & Leadership. A child of Boston but a native of Pittsburgh, when not reading and musing about politics, Nicholas can be found with a camera, his dog, and a wisecrack befitting his British ancestry.