Home › Progressive Leadership Award

Progressive Leadership Award

An Award presented for outstanding contributions to the progressive community.

2010 Progressive Leadership recipients are:

 Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO and Jon Youngdahl, SEIU

To purchase a ticket(s) or sponsorship click here

 Mike Podhorzer

Mr. Podhorzer is Deputy Political Director of the AFL-CIO. He oversees the Federation’s campaign targeting and strategic planning as well as the execution of membership contact programs across the country.   He has been with the Federation since 1997. Mr. Podhorzer is also a leader in the field of data driven politics. He is founding Chair of the Analyst Institute, and on the Catalist Board of Directors. Mr. Podhorzer has worked in politics for the last thirty five years.  As Associate Director of Citizen Action, he managed the organization's extensive electoral and legislative activities.

Jon Youngdahl

A successful graduate of the Midwest Academy’s week long training, a former member of the infamous Midwest Academy choir, and a seven-year Executive Director of Minnesota COACT (the Citizen Action affiliate), Jon’s a product of years of nurturing and training by Heather, Jackie, Steve, Kim and others.

Since February 2007, Jon Youngdahl has been the National Political Director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) with responsibility for coordinating SEIU's electoral and legislative field campaign operations.

During 2008-2010, he oversaw SEIU’s Change That Works campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (okay, not so successful) and healthcare reform (finally!). In 2008 he directed all of SEIU’s independent expenditure and state ballot initiative campaigns.

Before joining SEIU's national staff at the beginning of 2007, Youngdahl was the Executive Director of the Minnesota State Council of the SEIU. He also served for a number of years as an Int’l Corporate Campaign Director for the United Steelworkers of America.

An experienced veteran of Minnesota politics, Youngdahl was the Campaign Manager for the Hatch for Governor Campaign in the fall of 2006 (who would have won if he hadn’t called a reporter a “Republican @&#!!” the week of the General Election), directed the Minnesota Labor 2004 campaign for the national AFL-CIO, and founded and co-chaired Workers for Wellstone in 2002. In 1996 he served on the Wellstone campaign’s field advisory committee and was the successful campaign manager for the top targeted state house race in Minnesota.

He is married to Cherie Parker (a full-time mom and freelance writer) and they have two young kids—Serena (age 8) and James (age 4). His biggest fear is hitting sixty, passing out on the couch when his kids become teenagers and not knowing what time they return with the family car.