Staff:
Andy MacDonald // Executive Director
Andy manages our staff who work on 38 campuses in nine states, as well as training, staff development, volunteer programs, campaign strategy and canvassing. Andy has maintained a funding base for the student chapters, built a pipeline for students and staff to become lifelong activists, and been a part of a variety of social change campaigns. He has held numerous positions within the network, including regional director and assistant national summer canvass director for Fund for the Public Interest. Andy lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his family, and enjoys all outdoor sports, especially running.
Dan Xie // Political Director
Dan began her career in college as a student leader with CALPIRG, where she helped to bring high-speed rail to California. In her current role she directs the national political strategy for the Student PIRGs. She advises staff and students on strategic campaign plans and amplifies our work with coalition partners and at conferences. Dan has managed successful campaigns to cap global warming pollution, fight the high cost of higher education, and make voting more accessible for students. Dan lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she is an avid cyclist and climber.
Manny Rin // New Voters Project Director
Manny began his career in college as a student leader with CALPIRG. Now he works with staff and students to make sure the largest voting block in the country is activated and empowered. Previously the executive director of Change Corps, Manny has extensive experience leading campaigns, including working with MoveOn.org Political Action to get out the vote in swing states in 2014, and with Everytown for Gun Safety to pass gun safety legislation in Oregon. Manny lives in Denver, where he enjoys running, playing pool and trivia with friends.
Michael Basmajian // National Administrator
As the national administrator for the Student PIRGs, Michael oversees the team’s tracking systems, plans national trainings, and provides administrative and web support for Student PIRGs staff across the country. Michael has worked on a number of successful campaigns including helping to persuade major fast food chains, including McDonald’s and Subway, to protect public health and stop serving meat raised on the routine use of medically important antibiotics. Michael lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, where he enjoys playing guitar, going to shows and practicing heavy metal yoga.
Liam Horstick // Recruitment and Digital Director
As recruitment director for the Student PIRGs, Liam works to identify, recruit and empower people looking to make a difference. Before taking his current role, Liam was a campus organizer with CALPRG Students for four years, where he worked to train student leaders to run and win strategic campaigns. Liam has worked on successful campaigns in California to help students register to vote and turn out to the polls, commit the state and the UC system to 100 percent clean electricity, and pass and defend California’s plastic bag ban. Liam was born and raised in California, where he enjoys spending time at the beach or in the ocean, seeing live music and cheering on the Los Angeles Lakers.
National Student Leadership:
Andres Cubillos // Florida PIRG Students
Andres is a 3rd year political science and international affairs double major at Florida State University. Andres helped establish Florida PIRG Students at FSU’s first club in 2020 as the Campaign Coordinator for the New Voters Project Campaign and helped increase FSU precinct voter turnout by 13%. Andres now works as the external affairs and outreach chair focusing on club building and coalition development.
Isabel Rojas // MASSPIRG Students
Isabel is the Statewide Board Treasurer for MASSPIRG. She transferred to UMass Amherst in the fall of 2022 for her junior year and is studying Microbiology. She joined MASSPIRG as an intern for the New Voter’s Project and helped register students to vote and educate them about their voting options in the 2022 midterm elections. She is now the campaign coordinator for the Democracy campaign (previously known as the New Voter’s Project) and is excited to continue to work with the UMass community to get classes off for the next elections in 2024 and gather support for same-day voter registration in Massachusetts to present to legislators in a future lobby day. Outside of MASSPIRG and academics, Isabel enjoys reading, spending time with her dog, and painting with friends. After graduation, Isabel plans to attend medical school and apply what she has learned about advocacy and leadership to her practice of medicine.
Haile Proctor // PennPIRG Campus Action
Haile is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Political Science and Urban Studies and minoring in Legal Studies and Spanish. She is the President of PennPIRG’s Club at Pitt, and first got involved with PennPIRG in 2021 as a student intern on the Zero Hunger Campaign where she worked to pass the Hunger Free Campus Act. She is currently continuing her work on that campaign and hopes to get it passed in the Governor’s budget this year. When she is not studying, working, or making social change, she enjoys reading, spending time with her friends, and traveling.
Sydney Greenway // PIRGIM Campus Action
Sydney is a 2nd-year Urban Studies and Sociology double major at Wayne State University in Michigan. She got involved with PIRGIM in 2021 working to reduce single-use plastic on her campus. As president of PIRGIM Campus Action at WSU, Sydney has worked to further establish PIRGIM on her campus and strengthen relations with PIRG clubs across Michigan. She worked as campaign coordinator for the New Voters Project at WSU ahead of the 2022 Midterm Election and is now leading the Affordable Textbooks campaign.
Clara Castronovo // CALPIRG Students
Clara is a 3rd year student at UCLA, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Classics. She is the State Board Chair of CALPIRG Students, as well as the Chair of CALPIRG’s UCLA Chapter. She got involved with CALPIRG in 2021, working to limit oil drilling in California by expanding buffer zones between drilling sites and homes and schools. Since then, she has worked as campaign coordinator for Beyond Plastics at UCLA, and has organized volunteers to pass local plastic reduction policies, including polystyrene bans and single-use plastic foodware limitations through the LA County Board of Supervisors, and LA City Council. Now, she is working on ocean conservation, and expanding Marine Protected Areas across California’s coastline. As Board Chair, she works to coordinate chapters across the UC system to facilitate statewide action and training.