Ali Akın Kurnaz

University of Central Florida

Creative Digital Strategist

Orlando, Florida, United States

Amare Public Affairs

Vice President

- Defined and led implementation of digital strategy across several elections and advocacy campaigns.
-  Oversaw digital engagement, social media strategy, email fundraising, digital voter contact, SMS texting program, graphic design, web design, photography, videos, printed ads, and digital ads during the 2018 midterm elections and 2020 general elections.
-  Crafted and implemented a permanent organizational rebrand.
-  Launched, managed, and designed merchandise store and all apparel, stickers, signs, and buttons.
-  Hired and led a 7-person full-time specialized digital team for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitch, YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, and associated creative.
-  Trained and provided expert digital support for thousands of campaign staff, volunteers, party leaders, candidates, and elected officials beginning before the COVID-19 pandemic.
-  Produced over 5,000 digital ads, 200 live streams, and 2,000 graphics with over 79 million organic reach and consistent virality during the 2020 election cycle.
-  Developed & launched state-of-the-art party website with voter tools including online voter registration & data capture, online VBM enrollment for every county, and personalized Democratic voting guide with ballot recommendations for every race that had a Democrat running.
-  Moved from third-party vendor tools for SMS texting to in-house system saving nearly $1,500,000.
-  Grew the Florida Democratic Party's digital footprint by more than 500% with creative and interactive campaigns during the 2018 and 2020 elections.
-  Creative work highlighted in multiple national news outlets as game-changing, including a full story in Time Magazine and several work featured on HBO's Axios.

Florida Democratic Party

Creative Director

Digital Director

Orange County Government

Nuisance Abatement Board Member

- Serving the people of Senate District 13 at the office of Senator Linda Stewart.
-  Drafted, analyzed, and negotiated bills and policies that proliferates the welfare of Florida's most vulnerable citizens.
-  Handled all special projects, appropriations, and budget items on behalf of the Senator, concluding two legislative sessions with over $56 million in funding for the people of Central Florida.
-  Acted as an official representative of the Senator to assist in resolving any constituent concerns.

The Florida Senate

Legislative Aide

- Managed and won a political campaign for Florida's first LGBTQ Latino State Representative.
-  Developed and executed strategies for branding, social media, video production, and web content.

Carlos Guillermo Smith for Florida House

Deputy Campaign Manager

- Managed an upstart political campaign against three established candidates in a primary election.
-  Supervised senior staff for all departments and handled new hires and volunteer recruitment.
-  Spearheaded the development and actualization of game changing campaign strategies for field, finance, and communications.

Chuck O'Neal for Florida Senate

Campaign Manager

Organizing Central Florida for Sen. Bernie Sanders, our next President of the United States.

Progressive Democrats of America

We Want Bernie Team Leader

- Managed all external communications with the media and with the public including communications with hundreds of members statewide.
-  Developed a media list of over 1,500 national and statewide contacts to send drafted press statements.
-  Established a unique brand and maintained it across various social media websites.

Florida Young Democrats

Communications Director

Responsible for overseeing all aspects of CAIR Florida's communications initiatives statewide and maintaining relationships with other nonprofit organizations, government entities, and the media.

CAIR Florida

Communications Coordinator

- Built young professional interest for involvement in the Democratic Party through actions and events.
-  Assisted the President in preparing press releases and in social media.
-  Organized debates between a dozen State Senate and State House candidates contending in Democratic primary elections.
-  Deployed the first ever MMS countywide mass broadcast of voting information and Young Democrats endorsements to registered Democratic voters.

Young Democrats of Orange County

- Drafted press releases and conducted media outreach.
-  Maintained contact with candidates and composed entries for the local party website and social media.

Orange County Democratic Party

Communications / Public Relations Chair

State Committeeperson

- Fostered relationships with local communities to build an interest in civic engagement.
-  Organized the annual banquet event to raise general organization funds.
-  Wrote and received grants towards a statewide voter engagement program.
-  Led local volunteer-based grassroots voter engagement program leading into the 2014 elections.
-  Conducted education workshops and enrollment events for Marketplace health coverage through the Affordable Care Act.

Emgage USA

Central Florida Regional Director

- Built youth interest for involvement in the Orange County Democratic Party.

Young Democrats Chair

- Designed promotional and professional materials for print and online use.
-  Worked with outreach team to maintain various online outlets including Facebook page and website.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Inc.

Digital Marketing Intern

- Built a searchable online database for showcasing candidate information in the 2012 elections.
-  Assisted Public Relations Chair in preparing press releases and in media outreach.
-  Drafted fundraising and action alert emails.

Public Relations Vice Chair

- Organized organization trips, conferences, and service initiatives for a membership of 100+.
-  Prepared and executed agenda and presentation for weekly general meetings.
-  Conducted monthly audits of a $10,000 organization budget.

College Democrats at UCF

- Raised awareness on student and community issues as a contributor to the Central Florida Future opinions section.

Central Florida Future

Guest Columnist

- Established professional brand standards by implementing quality guidelines.
-  Communicated to thousands of students using mass e-mail, text, and voice broadcasting software.
-  Utilized new media strategies to mobilize thousands of students and supporters.
-  Initiated the organization’s first policies and procedures for an email and record management system.

Multimedia Committee Chair

- Streamlined constituent outreach by implementing best practices for Salsa data management software.
-  Integrated website and social media to develop an expanded constituent relationship.
-  Assisted in staffing and coordinating events.

Office of State Representative Scott Randolph

Communications Intern

Keep PBS In Orlando was a campaign started by Anna V. Eskamani and myself to preserve the existence of a flagship PBS station in Orlando, Florida. We worked through different forms of media to launch a letter writing campaign to the FCC, which stalled the transition of our local PBS station into a religious station. From that point forward, we worked with UCF to rally students behind the creation of Orlando's new PBS station, WUCF TV. Keep PBS In Orlando and the work of UCF brought national attention.

Ali Kurnaz