Who Is Gillian?
My journey to politics and the labor movement was anything but a straight line. After high school, I spent two years at Penn State Beaver, only to discover that my family and I couldn't make the finances work for me to continue. Nevertheless, I moved with my friends to State College, PA, because I wanted to get out into the world. My time in State College was spent working in customer service, working hard to make ends meet in low-paying jobs. The shining light of my time there was the community of lifelong friends I had made and my fantastic spouse.
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After several years of moving around, my family moved to Altoona, PA, which I still call home. While my child was very small, I stayed home because there simply weren't jobs that would pay a worthwhile amount of money after the cost of childcare. Once my child was off to first grade, I finally found the courage, after more than ten years out of school, to finish my Bachelor's at Penn State Altoona. Thanks to the amazing Blair County Democratic community that I had by then become a part of, I decided to major in Political Science.
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In the midst of finishing that degree, I was elected Chair of the Blair County Democratic Committee, a role I still proudly hold. My experience over the last decade, including joining the labor movement with SEIU HCPA and finishing my Master's Degree in Political Management, working as the Deputy Director of Better PA, as well as consulting with candidates and committees across the state, has solidified my passion for progressive activism.
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In addition to being Chair of the Blair Dems, Chair of the Rural Caucus of the PA Dems, and Chair of the North Central Caucus of the PA Dems, I co-host and produce three podcasts. My first podcast is Sisters of the Night Caucus, a pod by and about women in politics. The second is Warhammer & Sickle, which talks about the intersection of fantasy and sci-fi universes and politics, and just recently, Battlefield Appalachia, the official podcast of the PA Dems Rural Caucus.
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What do I do in my spare time? I love Korean and Chinese dramas and cozy farm games. A girl's gotta relax sometimes!
