Resume — Sam Kaplan Pettus

My Resume
Sam Kaplan Pettus
Berkeley, CA he/him sam.kp.tree@gmail.com

Education

UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
BA, Political Science

Concentration in comparative government with significant coursework in conflict resolution, international relations, and political psychology.

Terrain: A National Labor Organizing Strategic Model
Independent Research

An open-source tool evaluating strategic labor leverage across all 3,143 U.S. counties.

Experience

Civic Voice Partners
Civic Voice Partners
Political Strategy & Communications Consultant

Backend and strategic support across five Bay Area campaigns. Coordinated 30+ events, created campaign materials, and directed communications.

Project Super Bloom
Project Super Bloom
Policy and Finance Director

Directed four student fellows on fundraising and statewide policy research. Raised $24,000 through multiple channels and maintained relationships with 30+ California legislators. Sat on the California Working Families Party steering committee.

Cecilia for Berkeley City Council
Cecilia Lunaparra for Berkeley City Council
Fundraising Director · District 7

Executed 20+ fundraising events and raised $37,000 leveraging Berkeley’s public financing program.

City of Berkeley
City of Berkeley Youth Commission
Chair

Led commission expansion throughout the pandemic and established youth representation on environmental commission.

YMCA Youth & Government
YMCA Youth & Government
74th California State Youth Governor

Presided over 3,000-delegate conference. Advocated on public health and nonprofit policy at the state level.

Tools

NationBuilder  ·  QGIS  ·  Canva Pro  ·  CallTime.ai  ·  ActBlue  ·  Meta Ads  ·  Squarespace  ·  Claude Code  ·  GitHub  ·  Supabase  ·  Porkbun  ·  PDI

Expertise

Coalition management  ·  Legislative advocacy  ·  Candidate coaching  ·  PAC operations  ·  Fundraising strategy

Press

Democracy Now!  ·  Apr 2025

“This is the fight to win all fights and we need to show up in a way that is more powerful and more abundant than in the past.”

Berkeleyside  ·  Mar 2023

“One group of residents of our city that has really been left out of policy decisions are youth.”

Berkeley Daily Planet  ·  Oct 2022

“I think a lot of the work that commissions do is symbolic, because City Council doesn’t actually have to listen to us.”

Berkeley High Jacket  ·  Oct 2018

“Every generation has a social and political movement, and this is ours.”