Robert Becker: Political organizer.
Robert Becker has been managing political campaigns and implementing communication and organizing strategies around the world for three decades. He has worked on numerous U.S. presidential campaigns, including former Sen. Bill Bradley (Iowa 2000), former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson (Iowa 2008), President Barack Obama (Milwaukee, WI, 2012) and most recently Sen. Bernie Sanders’ revolutionary 2016 campaign.
Becker has put his “boots-on-the-ground” organizing and training political activists in countries emerging from repressive regimes like Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Rwanda, Libya, Nigeria and Egypt. He has also responded to natural disasters working logistics in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and Vieques, Puerto Rico aiding in the recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In the United States, Becker has worked on Democratic campaigns in two dozen states and managed several ground-breaking efforts, including Colorado Congressman Jared Polis’ historic 2008 victory.
When Becker was hired to serve as the Iowa state director for the Bernie Sanders campaign in early 2015, polls showed them trailing Hillary Clinton 68-7% in the Hawkeye State. After helping to build an unprecedented statewide organizing team, Sanders battled to a “virtual tie” in the closest presidential caucus in Iowa’s history.
Following Iowa, Becker went on to help guide Sanders to victory in the Michigan primary, a contest FiveThirtyEight dubbed “one of the greatest upsets in modern political history.” He went on to oversea operations in New York and California and ultimately served as the Bernie 2016 convention floor manager for the DNC convention in Philadelphia.
Becker, formerly based in Cairo (now in exile), is one of the foreign nationals convicted in Egypt’s 2011 crackdown on civil society organizations. While standing trial on trumped up political charges for over a year, he, along with several Egyptian political organizers who arose as leaders following the 2011 revolution, formed The Tanzeem Group, a progressive grassroots organizing and communications firm.
Becker has appeared on numerous news programs advocating for civil society and democracy in the Middle East, including Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr, Al Jazeera International, BBC, and CNN International. His decision to stay behind in Egypt and stand trial with his colleagues during the NGO crackdown has been chronicled in Foreign Policy, Newsweek, ThinkProgress, and The Washington Post.
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.
@TanzeemGroup 