I know how they feel. I’m also a Chicago Election Loser (CEL). I have a lot of friends who are CELs. If you read this on Wednesday, February 27, and think “Crap, she means me!” I say, “Welcome to the club.” I may be biased, but I think you are in good company.

I became a CEL on February 25, 2015, when I lost my aldermanic race. Due to some absentee ballot counting and a lawsuit, the race wasn’t called until much later, but since I was in 3rd place, I had the pleasure of losing on election night.

I ran against a Machine candidate (the daughter in a Chicago dynasty) and a teacher’s union-supported candidate. I was the nobody, nobody sent. I am a community organizer, with a degree in public affairs, twenty years’ experience in community development around the world, and I know five of the 45+ languages spoken in the ward. And yes, based on that statement, I obviously thought I was the best person for the job. You have to believe you are the best candidate… or you are a bad candidate.
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After my loss, there were the “expected” responses, which the 95 new CELs will be hearing over and over in the next couple weeks.

I’m a “passionate geek” about advocacy. A citizen’s right to tell her elected officials what she wants is, to me, an essential part of democracy. Google any political or social issue and you will find someone who advocates for or against it. The environment. The second amendment. Education. Foreign Affairs. Public Safety. Infrastructure. Animal Rights.

Advocacy is voting intensified. It’s freedom of speech. If you're in a group, it's freedom of assembly and association. It’s how we tell the government to spend money and shape policy to better reflect our values.

And I love it.

I have been lucky enough to work with community organizers and politicians throughout the Midwest, as well as in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and South Sudan.  As a result, I have helped craft and implement to a wide variety of community development initiatives from the “usual” (building roads and schools, providing health care, fostering employment opportunities for youth) to the “surreal” (addressing python infestation currently tops the list).   Part of the process in developing countries is teaching people about key principles for civic education and engagement, which is something Americans all know about, but we sometimes forget. The Chicago Tribune recently asked readers to submit ideas about a plan for Chicago, and while drafting my plan to address crime and violence, I put together some ideas about civic engagement and government, and how we can re-engage in city decision-making.