The Young Democrats of Washington is led by the President, with several Vice Presidents who each lead a Department. They all serve on the Executive Board, along with our National Committee representatives, and WSDCC Representative.
President
Matthew Kanter
Born and raised in Western Washington, Matt Kanter has worn many hats. He’s held a variety of roles at tech giants, large non-profits, political organizations, and small businesses. He currently is the Director of Program, Education, and Outreach at NAMI Washington.
Matt proudly served as the Chair of the King County Young Democrats in 2017 and 2020, and worked with an incredible board to rebuild the organization. He also served on the Seattle Disabilities Commission and currently serves on the Advocacy Committee for the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.
Identifying as a non-traditional student, he originally completed studies in Culinary Arts at the Lake Washington Institute of Technology before completing his B.S. in Business Management recently. He’s completed the Institute for a Democratic Future fellowship; the Get Engaged program with the Accelerator YMCA and the City Seattle Office of the Mayor; People’s Academy for Civic Engagement with the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods; Advanced Leadership Development Program with the Greater Seattle Jewish Federation; and the Glass Leadership Institute with the Anti-Defamation League.
After living in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle for 6 years, Matt moved back to his hometown of Redmond during the pandemic to be near his family. In his freetime he likes to cook, travel, catch Pokémon, and spend time talking to you about the opportunities in store with YDWA!
You can reach Matthew here.
Vice Presidents
Nicholas CastroLang, Executive Vice President
Nicholas is a 32 year old public health worker, husband, and father of a 7 year old daughter and 2 year old son. He’s spent over 10 years in the political world in Spokane and Eastern Washington, working on congressional, legislative, and local races, in addition to statewide initiatives. He also has experience in the nonprofit sector and as a public employee. I’m a proud union member and strong advocate for workers rights!
You can reach Nicholas here.
Winter Cashman, Vice President of Operations
Winter Cashman moved to Seattle from Grand Rapids in 2015 and now lives in Renton. Winter is a founder and vice president of the Renton LGBTQIA+ Community, and also serves on the executive board of the 11th Legislative District Democrats.
You can reach Winter here.
VACANT, Vice President of Membership Engagement
If you’d like to apply to be YDWA’s New Vice President of Membership, click here.
You can reach Vacant here.
Paul Charbonneau, Vice President of Government Affairs
You can reach Paul here.
Stephanie Keen, Vice President of Communications
Stephanie Keen is a 32 year old mom from central Washington but currently residing in Kitsap County. She has lived in every region of the state, and learned a lot from it! Most of Stephanie’s political experience comes from working in Spokane which made her more passionate than she ever imagined. As a mom of two, she is determined to do everything she can to push our country in the right direction, by way of her own actions and how she raises her kids. There’s nothing that makes her happier than helping people and she’s so grateful to be apart of such an amazing opportunity and organization.
You can reach Stephanie here.
Rachid Erekaini, Vice President of Technology
You can reach Rachid here.
Tanya Lavoy, Vice President of Events & Education
You can reach Tanya here.
Party Affairs
The Party Affairs Department is lead by the Executive Vice President, who manages the relationships with the Democratic Party at all levels. All members of this department serve on the YDWA Executive Board.
Shayna Daitch, National Committee Representative
You can reach Shayna here.
Elijah Rakha-Sheketoff, National Committee Representative
You can reach Elijah here.
Nathaniel Block, Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC) Representative
You can reach Nathaniel here.
Natalie Kenoyer, College Democrats of Washington (CDWA) President
You can reach Natalie here.
Waylon Menzia, Washington High School Democrats (WAHSDA) President
You can reach Waylon.
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