SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (June 28, 2021)—Today, Core Strategic Group’s Executive Vice President for Campaigns and Electoral Research, Jamie Fisfis, spoke as a featured panelist on the subject of “Campaigning in a pandemic and post-truth world,” at the CANVAS Summer Academy for activists and reformers around the world.
“There is no doubt that autocratic governments around the world used the COVID-19 pandemic as a basis for increased citizen monitoring, postponing of scheduled elections, and as an excuse to crack down on freedoms of speech and assembly,” said Fisfis. “Deteriorating democratic situations in places like Ethiopia, Uganda and Hong Kong demonstrate this concerning trend.”
“Yet in the face of these obstacles, human rights reformers around the world have responded with creativity and persistence to actually increase their activism and impact,” said Fisfis. “They have done so by innovating to develop new tactics, communications channels and diverse coalitions that have resulted in more activism than ever. Of course, autocrats seeking to marginalize basic human rights will adapt to gain the advantage as they always do, and reformers will once again need to raise their game.”
The Academy is hosted by CANVAS and its co-founders Nobel Prize nominee Srdja Popovic and Slobodan Djinovic. The Academy brings together a worldwide network of activists, dissidents and students working directly for positive social change both globally and locally.
CANVAS Background
CANVAS [www.canvasopedia.org] provides activists from around the world with the tools for nonviolent revolution based on the success of Otpor! in Serbia in 2000. The Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Struggle [CANVAS] Summer Academy is a program that explores activism and nonviolent movements in modern times, incorporating perspectives from various movements to help prepare them for the unpredictable, post-pandemic future.
Jamie Fisfis’ bio
Jamie Fisfis has served as a campaign, communications and polling consultant for democratic programs and movements around the world, teaching campaign skills to political activists from over 40 countries. He is a guest lecturer at Masaryk University’ Political Communications Master’s Degree Program in Brno, CZ Republic. He is also the co-editor of “A Democracy Builder’s Guide to Focus Groups,” a manual for conducting opinion research in closed societies. Prior to founding Chariot Campaigns, he directed democracy development programs in Serbia and Angola for the International Republican Institute. He remains active supporting democratic activists around the world.
Jamie has over 25 years’ experience in U.S. and international political campaigns. He is the founder of Chariot Campaigns, recipient of six AAPC “Pollie” Awards and three Reed Award nominations for innovative campaigns and strategies. He is now Executive Vice President for Campaigns and Electoral Research for the Core Strategic Group, which has offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, Anaheim, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Austin and Washington, D.C.