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Kelsey Deporte

  • event management
  • communication
  • campaign
  • youth engagement
  • facilitation
  • training
  • Type of expert

    Trainer, Facilitator, Consultant

  • Age

    31 years

  • Country of residence

    Finland

  • Languages

    Dutch, English

  • Gender

    Female

  • Availability

    Anytime

About me

I worked as a campaign manager for the Federation of Young European Greens and European Greens on building a youth-focused campaign for the EU elections in 2019. Then I developed the programme and managed a week-long seminar as a joint project with the Council of Europe’s Youth Department on grass-roots activism and advocacy. After that, I worked as FYEG’s communications officer and as a freelance mobiliser, graphic designer, and communications and campaigns specialist.

Since then, I have managed campaigns for grass-roots climate organisations and NGOs, such as the Gastivists, Shell Must Fall, Transnational Institute and, most recently, I have managed the public-facing campaign of a court case on the climate against the UK government (Paid to Pollute).

Previously, I worked as a band coach and camp coordinator for a feminist and LGBTQI+ youth advocacy organisation, the US Carolina Youth Action Project, in South Carolina. I worked as an internship coordinator and graphic designer for the Office of Sustainability at the college I attended (College of Charleston, USA). I was also an educator at the college’s Office of Diversity, worked with younger children at a charter school, and helped launch and initiate protests and actions like a divestment campaign on Charleston College’s campus.

Finally, one year I worked as a back-office manager, managing the books, inventory, bookings and events for a microbrewery and craft-beer bar in The Hague, the Netherlands.

My skills

Communications and campaign management and consulting, Grassroots activism, Graphic design, Non-Formal education, Project management, Event management, Youth work and advocacy, Mobilisation, Volunteer management, Change management, Crisis counseling (I've worked for a suicide hotline), Brand management (developing a visual identity, etc.)

Why you should work with me

I started community organising after attending a facilitation training for 350.org’s campaign against the Keystone Pipeline in the USA. I have also attended many facilitation, anti-racist, and feminist training courses during my work at the FYEG, and when I lived in the USA (2011-2015).

I think I bring a different perspective to events and organising spaces, having started my work as an organiser in America’s Deep South where racism and anti-racist, migrant, social, and climate justice movements have thrived, albeit out of a necessity and the lack of structural support. However, they set the bar very high for movements in Europe to look to for best practices:

  • Setting clear expectations, aims and objectives

  • Setting ground rules/group agreements and doing this together

  • Leaving enough room for involvement and knowledge sharing -- intercultural learning, and a mix of traditional set-ups (lecture style, Q&A), to more participative methods so that everyone's learning style is accommodated

  • 50%+ gender balance at events, monitoring speaking time and ensuring it is balanced across different gender identities and backgrounds so that everyone is represented

  • Actively recruiting and seeking BIPOC, LGBTQI+ folx and people with a migration background, rather than simply stating the goal to make more ‘diverse’ events – finding out what media they are engaging with and what resonates with them

    • My work experiences

    Mentioned in detail above but more info available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseydeporte/

    My education & training

  • Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Major in Sociology, Minor in Environmental Studies from the College of Charleston, South Carolina, United States (2015)
  • Certified Course Director, Youth Seminar, Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Youth Engagement, Grassroots Activism and the Future of Democracy, Youth Department Council of Europe (2019)
  • Applied Suicide Intervention Counselor, Trident United Way (2013)
  • Certified Voter Registration Organiser, South Carolina Democratic Party, United States (2014-2015)
  • Certified Assistant Poll Manager, U.S. Municipal Elections, South Carolina (2010)

    • My references

    Özgecan Kara- Secretary General FYEG +32 4 95 12 96 01 office@fyeg.org

    Teo Comet- Former Secretary General FYEG- Current Campaigner at European Green Party for Tilt! +358 40 219 2197 teo.comet@europeangreens.eu