William Rinehart
William Rinehart is the Founder and Director of Blue Uprising. Before launching the PAC, Billy ran a consulting firm serving clients including Save the Waves, Sustainable Coastlines, Parsonii Watches and select ocean-minded political candidates. After receiving his B.S. from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, he accepted an offer at the Surfrider Foundation in Australia. As his career progressed, Billy had the honor of helping an unknown law professor from Illinois become the President of the United States. He and his wife, Abby Wakefield, currently live in California, but can often be found chasing waves in Hawaii, helping conscious candidates win elections, or taking friends out for a sunset sail.
Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett is the 2020 "I Surf. I Vote." Campaign Producer for Blue Uprising. As Founder and CEO of SwellMinded, Sam build brands and partnerships that prioritize people and the planet. Born and raised on Hawaii Island, Sam received his Business Management and Marketing degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, developed localized grassroots marketing strategies for Red Bull North America, and led global marketing and entertainment experiences for GoPro Inc. Now, Sam is SwellMinded, creating sustainable and socially responsible collaborations.
Christen Vidanovic
Director of Communications, Christen Vidanovic has a background as colorful as her personality. She brings a background in journalism, writing and photography, and marries it with her love of storytelling, along with a deep care for the well-being of all individuals, to lead communications at Blue Uprising. She is responsible for all of Blue Uprising's outgoing marketing and communications, and believes in being a champion for good. Christen has a BA in Journalism from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. When she isn't mitigating potential face-palms, she can be found cooking beautiful meals from local produce, practicing yoga, hiking, volunteering, instigating impromptu beach trash pick-up competitions, traveling internationally and camping in some of the worlds most exciting and scenic locations.
Jacob McCafferty
As a beach lifeguard in his youth, Jacob McCafferty was dismantled and reshaped by the ocean’s energy like a helpless sandbar. After graduating from Duke University, he spent a decade in entertainment before getting caught in a rip current to ad copywriting where he helps brands and causes tell their stories. With Blue Uprising, Jacob aspires to help find the right words to coax ocean lovers into giving enough of a shit about the ocean to vote for its survival. So yes, he guesses you could say that while he used to protect people from the ocean, he now strives to protect the ocean from people.
Lyndsey Mull
Born and raised in Southern California, Blue Uprising Social Media Manager Lyndsey Mull grew up on the beaches of the South Bay. Lyndsey competed in collegiate Cross Country and Track at both UCLA and Loyola Marymount University where she studied journalism and digital marketing. After battling years of running injuries, she harnessed the healing properties of the sea and fell in love with surfing. Today she lives on the North Shore of Oahu where she works as the Volcom Hawaii Women's Rep and manages social media for non-profit organizations such as The Community Compost Movement and Changing Tides Foundation. You can find her surfing or bodysurfing Rocky Point on any day there are waves breaking!
Saj Reshamwala
Saj is the acting designer for Blue Uprising’s brand and website. When not supporting the cause, Saj works as an interaction designer at Google and plays bad hip hop covers on his Yamaha Keyboard.
Diya Tahiliani
Director of Technology (and Blue Uprising's resident tech-guru), Diya Tahiliani, is a software engineer with more than a decade in the technology industry. Her experience as a high school math teacher specializing in classroom technology integration, Data Analytics for local political campaigns and organizations, Big Data marketing, and low cost domestic sourcing economic development serve along with her role as a marketing consultant in Big Data and data analyst for local political campaigns, serve to inspire and her inform her pivotal role at Blue Uprising. Diya holds a BS in Applied Mathematics from UC Davis, and is a champion for women, the environment, and the under-represented. When she's not helping the rest of the Blue Uprising team avoid blowing up the website, Diya loves running, cooking and mountain biking.
Maude
As Blue Uprisings Chief Comfort Pawfficer, Maude brings seven years of cuddling experience and nothing but good vibes to our team. A fearless leader, she will sit in your lap and calm your nerves through the most frightening of tweets. While she technically can’t vote (yet), the beach is her top destination for a good run and a game of fetch. You might recognize her sweet face as she is a frequent guest star on the Blue Uprising instagram stories.