As CVI’s Senior Field Coordinator, Tess manages our field efforts – keeping voters informed about the legislative session, conservation champions, and opportunities to get involved. She supports and executes advocacy campaigns, plans field work, and manages the Voter Outreach Team.

My Story

I’m a conservation voter because we deserve better. We all should be able to live in communities that sustain themselves, with safe drinking water and access to the great outdoors. In Idaho we have the best the wild can offer in our backyards, but we still have a lot of work to do to protect these places and preserve a healthy environment for future generations.

I grew up in a sleepy town in rural IL, where my parents instilled in me the values of land stewardship, the importance of voting, and sticking up for the little guy. We rode bikes and went kayaking frequently in the Kankakee river.

My hometown struggled with keeping businesses open, most people drove to larger cities each day for work, and our drinking water was frequently put under a boil order because it had “unhealthy” levels of arsenic in it. I know what it means for hardworking people to get sick and not be able to afford the healthcare that they need. These experiences inform my values of people-focused environmentalism. Clean water is linked to healthcare, and transportation is linked to thriving local economies.

After graduating college I moved to Boise in 2016 and quickly learned how special this place is. Natural beauty is everywhere, and Idahoans have a strong sense of pride in their state. I started volunteering to protect the affordable care act, and crossed paths with folks at Conservation Voters for Idaho who were running a campaign to learn what issues Idahoans really care about.

I joined the Voter Outreach Team at CVI and quickly realized I have a knack for talking to people and finding common ground. In the last 4 years I have now had thousands of conversations with Idahoans knocking on doors and over the phone, and that rare opportunity has afforded me a real understanding of what folks in Idaho struggle with and what might make things better.

I am proud to now be CVI’s Field Associate where I get to organize and mobilize campaigns helping people to realize their power and protect quality of life for the future.

Background

• Graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree, emphasis in Music
• 2017 Fellow for the Idaho Institute for Organizing and Action
• Held position of Voter Outreach Specialist, Voter Engagement Manager, Field Organizer, and now Field Associate at CVI
• Board Director of Northwest Abortion Access Fund

Interests

Songwriting, festivals, volunteering, starting new creative projects (embroidery currently!), and snuggling with my cats Dwayne and Pepper.