Skip to content Skip to footer

Olivia Owens

Olivia Owens

Erie County Young Democrats President

Brandon Gonzalez

Brandon Gonzalez (he/him) is a senior at SUNY New Paltz majoring in Political Science. Brandon has experience in political campaigning, legislation, and organizing. Brandon serves as the Political Director for the New Paltz College Democrats and volunteers with the Ulster County Democratic Party. He has also worked in Albany as an Assembly session intern for Assemblymember Chris Eachus (Assembly 99th district) during the 2023 legislative session. During the 2022 elections, Brandon worked as a working fellow for Pat Ryan’s congressional campaign (NY-18). Brandon has a deep passion for getting Gen-Z invested in their democracy and is excited to serve as President of CDNY.

Jared Goerke

Jared Goerke (He/Him) is currently a fundraising consultant at Dynamic SRG as well as a senior political advisor to Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, a role he has held since 2018. Jared is also currently the Vice-President of the Nassau County Young Democrats, prior to that serving as Treasurer. Jared holds a master’s degree in government and politics from St. John’s University and is actively involved as a committeeman on the Nassau County Democratic Committee. Jared is a long believer that the next generation of political leaders must start taking their place in the political system but actively getting involved at all levels of government, and in that vein, is proud to be the New York State Young Democrats Jewish Caucus Chair.

Kenny Burr

Kenny Burr

Kenny Burr is the Chair of the New York State Disability Issues Caucus. He is also the Chair of the Westchester Young Democrats Disability Caucus. Nationally, he is a member of the DNC Youth Disability Council. He is also a Democratic District Leader in the City of White Plains. Kenny has volunteered for a variety of political campaigns throughout the state. Kenny believes that people with disabilities deserve to have a voice when it comes to policy making.

Rachel Bruce

Rachel Bruce

Rachel Bruce is a young professional, public servant, community activist, and Democratic strategist born and raised in the Hudson Valley. She currently serves as Chair of the Labor Caucus for New York State Young Democrats.

The daughter of two union members, Rachel developed an early passion for public service and improving her community. She currently works in state government and previously served as Policy Advisor for Economic Development and Housing under the Executive Chamber where she oversaw and carried out major economic development initiatives under the Governor’s Office, authored State of the State policy, and helped draft the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection act of 2019. Within NYSYD, Rachel also serves as Vice Chair of the Women’s Caucus and at home serves as Policy Chair of the Young Democrats of Orange County, which she co-founded and helped recharter in 2021.

Rachel has served on various local, state, and federal campaigns including as a volunteer regional organizer for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign as well as Social Media Director and Internship Coordinator for Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick’s 2020 campaign. She has also served as a longtime intern and volunteer for Senator James Skoufis. She is a member of the Orange County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee as well as her town’s Democratic committee. She is heavily involved causes surrounding environmental protection, transportation access, land preservation, the arts, and sustainability, serving as Co-Chair of her Village’s Land Preservation Committee.

Rachel is a 2018 graduate of Bryn Mawr College where she majored in the Growth and Structure of Cities and was elected to the highest level of her college’s Self-Government Association. She is currently pursuing her Master of City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania where she is concentrating in Community and Economic Development. In her free time, she enjoys playing and performing music, cooking, drawing, and biking with friends and family.