Introducing NMV’s New Board Members

Today, I am thrilled to announce four new extraordinary individuals to NMV’s governing body: Dawn Laguens, Eddy Morales, Nile Johnson, and Ross Morales Rocketto.

These new directors are not only long-time allies of NMV but also leaders who challenge the status quo and move society toward meaningful change. Their unapologetic advocacy and bold approach to taking smart risks are exactly what our movement needs in these critical times.

Together, they bring a powerful combination of experiences as entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, campaign strategists and policy experts, narrative specialists and media mavens, and movement and technology leaders. More importantly, they are tireless champions for underserved communities—those with the least access to power and the most vulnerable to disenfranchisement and social immobility. Their collective expertise perfectly reflects NMV’s intersectional approach to democracy and innovation.

As we continue our mission to leverage the power of innovation to build a more inclusive, reflective democracy, we are deeply grateful to have these dynamic new Directors join us in the fight.

Of course, I also want to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to our current Board members—John Schwartz, Sandor Straus, Daaiyah Bilal-Threats, and Cheryl Contee—for their unwavering support and ongoing commitment to cultivating progressive innovation.

Please join me in welcoming our newest directors and celebrating this exciting new chapter for NMV!

MEET THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS 

Dawn Laguens

EVP and Chief of Global Strategy & Innovation at Planned Parenthood 

In her role, Dawn oversees strategy, innovation, insights, digital products, and PP Global. She is an Expert in Residence at IDEO and a co-founder of Billion Girls Co-Lab, a girl-driven global R&D platform to strengthen long-term health and economic outcomes for women and girls. Dawn is a CLIO award-winning writer/director and is regularly recognized as one of America’s most creative and impactful leaders. She has championed the use of emerging technology throughout her career and personally led the production of Across the Line, an award-winning virtual reality experience that was featured at the Sundance Film Festival.

From 2011-2018, Dawn was the Chief Brand Officer of PPFA and PPAF. Her leadership cut across the entirety of the organization—building a world-class women’s healthcare brand alongside overseeing the daily advocacy, communications, policy, litigation, and political work. Under her leadership, PP celebrated its Centennial; trained thousands of young diverse leaders; extended digital products and analytics capabilities; enabled innovative communications and content partnerships; and championed a race equity orientation and intersectional approach to the work. During her tenure, Planned Parenthood was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and their base of supporters grew from 3 million to 12 million people. 

Eddy Morales 

Gresham City Council Member

A small business owner and community organizer, Eddy has spent the last 20 years working for multiple local and national organizations dedicated to community change. He’s served on Gresham City Council since 2019 and was voted council president in 2021 and 2022.

While at the Democracy Alliance, Eddy Morales served as Director of the Latino Engagement Fund, a collaborative effort between over 60 individual philanthropists, progressive institutions, and foundations of all sizes to drive resources and strategies that increase the political power of the growing Latino population. Before that, Eddy was the Deputy Director of Voto Latino and the Deputy Director of Leadership Development at the Center for Community Change, where he launched a development program to recruit and nurture low-income community organizers of color into community-based organizations.

He is the founder and co-chair of the University of Oregon Latino Alumni Association, Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Oregon, founder of East County Rising, and serves on the boards of the Community Catalyst Action Fund, Midwest Academy, Oregon Coalition for Common Sense, Battleground Texas, Code for Progress and Justice Matters Press.

Nile Johnson

Founder, Labyrinth Consulting Lab

Nile currently leads a consulting company designed to tackle challenges related to trust, safety, and technology policy for entrepreneurs, technologists, researchers, and civil society. She began her career as a Team Leader with AmeriCorps, followed by service in the Obama White House, on Capitol Hill, and as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State where she focused on trade and economic policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe.

After joining a political campaign, Nile launched into tech where she worked for ThousandEyes, Inc., a network intelligence company, and for JUUL Labs, Inc. building its first corporate responsibility and trust program. At Google, Nile was a core member of its inaugural Global Elections Integrity team under the Trust and Safety organization where she drove company-wide global elections strategy across a host of product areas. She also initiated the first trust and safety program at the Institute for Security and Technology as the Senior Director for Applied Trust and Safety. Nile has previously held board directorships with Hearken, Inc. and Marketplace Risk. 

Ross Morales Rocketto

Co-Founder, Run for Something

Ross has spent 20 years in electoral politics having worked for candidates from school board to President. He’s spent the last six years scaling Run for Something (RFS), an organization that recruits and supports progressive, diverse, young people running for down-ballot office. Since launching on inauguration day 2017, RFS has worked with over 150,000 potential candidates, made over 3,000 endorsements, and helped elect over 1,000 candidates. 

Ross got his start in electoral politics working for former HUD Secretary Julian Castro's first campaign for Mayor and Congressman Joaquin Castro’s state legislative races. In 2003 he organized in Oklahoma for John Edwards and in the 2008 cycle worked in Iowa for Governor Bill Richardson's presidential campaign. He managed Wendy Carrillo's congressional campaign in California and in 2016 was a senior advisor for digital and technology with For Our Future, a multi-million dollar SuperPAC that does field and organizing work in swing states. Recently, Ross launched the White Dudes for Harris coalition group, leveraging media to organize in critical battleground states.