2010 haiti

Robert Becker has been managing political campaigns and implementing communication strategies around the world for twenty-five years. He has worked on five US presidential campaigns — including former US Senator Bill Bradley’s 2000 bid and former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson’s 2008 campaign.

Becker has put his “boots-on-the-ground” organizing and training political activists in countries emerging from repressive regimes like Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Indonesia, Rwanda, Haiti, Libya, Nigeria and Egypt.

In the United States, Becker has worked on Democratic Party campaigns in twenty states and managed several ground-breaking efforts, including Colorado Congressman Jared Polis’historic 2008 victory. In 2012 he worked with Grassroots Solutions to help execute the largest paid Get-Out-the-Vote operation on behalf of President Barack Obama and Senator Tammy Baldwin, achieving “record breaking” voter turnout in Milwaukee, WI. His organizing team won two prestigious campaign awards: “Best GOTV” & “Best Use of New Technology.”

screen-capture-6Becker, based in Cairo (now in exile), is one of the foreign nationals convicted in Egypt’s 2011 crackdown on civil society organizations.

A Los Angeles Times profile described his work around the world as having “instilled a keen sense for sound bites, plotting strategy and, in countries such as Egypt, guiding activists and fledgling politicians emerging from decades of repression.”

grab2Becker has appeared on numerous news programs advocating for civil society and democracy in the Middle East, includingAl Jazeera Mubasher Misr, Al Jazeera International, BBC, and CNN International. His decision to stay behind in Egypt and stand trail with his colleagues during the NGO crackdown has been chronicled inForeign Policy, Newsweek, ThinkProgress, and The Washington Post.

431389_10151346145230612_705478186_nHe is a founder and “Organizer” with The Tanzeem Group, a Cairo-based progressive grassroots organizing and communications firm.

When he grows up, Becker wants to sing in a band and play the mandolin. To date he has accomplished the singing part… the mandolin, not so much.

Follow him on Twitter @rbecker51.