Press Release: 5/5/2025

Common Cause Expands Leadership Team to Build Power & Protect Democracy

 

Published: May 2, 2025

Common Cause announced the addition of three new staff hires as the organization adjusts its work to combat the attacks on voting and civil rights under the Trump administration.  

MEDIA CONTACT

David Vance

National Media Strategist 

dvance@commoncause.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Common Cause announced the addition of three new staff hires as the organization adjusts its work to combat the attacks on voting and civil rights under the Trump administration.

Alma Couverthie will serve as Senior Vice President of the Campaigns and Organizing Department. She will lead the work to build political power by organizing Common Cause’s membership, partners, and community members and develop and execute campaigns that will inspire defiance against the current authoritarian government. The new organizing and campaigns team will focus on long-term power building as well as short-term disruption. Couverthie comes to Common Cause from the League of Women Voters where she served as Chief of Programs and led the organization’s modernization of organizing and voter empowerment initiatives.

 

Omar H. Noureldin will serve as Senior Vice President of Common Cause’s Policy & Litigation Department.  He will lead Common Cause’s legislative, policy, and litigation efforts to advance core democracy issues at the national, federal, and state levels—specifically in the areas of voting and fair representation, anti-corruption and accountability, media and technology, and civil rights and civil liberties. These efforts are designed to strengthen our democracy and expand people-powered governance, with a strategic focus on inclusion and ensuring that the leadership and lived experiences of impacted communities help drive reform. His team includes experienced policy strategists and litigators dedicated to building a democracy that is representative, responsive, and resilient. Noureldin most recently, served as a presidential political appointee in the Biden-Harris administration, as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, guiding the Civil Rights Division’s expansive initiatives to uphold core liberties and safeguard democratic institutions.

 

Marilyn Carpinteyro, a Common Cause veteran, will transition to the role of Senior Vice President of Impact & Strategy. She will serve as a key partner across departments, helping to drive strategic alignment and strengthen the overall impact of Common Cause’s work. She will work closely with the President & CEO and alongside the executive team to support the strategic execution of the organization’s mission.

 

“Alma, Omar and Marilyn are gifted leaders and strategists who are precisely the leaders this moment demands both in Washington and in the states,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause. “President Trump is attacking any and everyone who isn’t unfailingly loyal as he destroys communities and causes long-term harm to the people Alma and Omar will help steer Common Cause’s work to hold power accountable at this critical moment and to advance reforms to make our government – at every level – work for all of us.”

 

“Now is a moment when the American people must make their voices heard in the streets and the halls of power,” Alma Couverthie said. “Since its founding, Common Cause has been known as ‘the people’s lobby,’ and it is an honor to help lead its campaigns and organizing work at such a pivotal moment. Common Cause and our 1.5 million members will be heard and we will help ensure that the from Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, we will have governments of the people, by the people, for ALL people.”

 

“For more than 50 years, Common Cause has been at the forefront of the biggest fights for our democracy—from advancing constitutional amendments to shaping landmark Supreme Court decisions and I’m honored to join this incredible team at a time when the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Omar Noureldin said. “As threats to democratic institutions grow more complex and urgent, I’m committed to ensuring our work not only meets the moment, but also builds toward the inclusive, multiracial democracy that lives up to our nation’s highest ideals—where every voice counts, every vote matters, and power truly rests with the people.”

 

“We are facing serious threats today, but at this moment we also see great opportunities to bring the power of the people, and our 1.5 million members, to bear to create a government that works for everyone – not just those with the fattest wallets,” said Marilyn Carpinteyro. “I am excited to be a part of this new senior leadership team as we chart a new path forward to bring about real and lasting change.”

 

Noureldin is a democracy fellow at the University of Chicago Center for Effective Government and has served as vice president and general counsel of a national Muslim civil rights nonprofit and a leadership fellow with Equality California, where he championed the rights of marginalized communities. His commitment to civic and political engagement has included advisory roles in the Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden presidential campaigns. A Georgetown University graduate, Noureldin earned his J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and later clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Previously, Couverthie served as Deputy Field Director at Community Change, managing a national immigration reform campaign and partnering with 48 organizations across 33 states. Her career in the US began mobilizing immigrant workers with UNITE, followed by roles advancing equitable housing, movement building, and budget reform with Lawrence CommunityWorks, and workforce development and immigrant organizing at CASA, where she organized 100,000+ members for immigrant and worker justice. She received her BA in Labor and Industrial Relations from Universidad de Puerto Rico.

Carpinteyro has been with Common Cause for more than a decade serving in multiple roles, including Acting Co-President after the death of former President Karen Hobert Flynn. She has working knowledge of and experience in every corner of the organization, from policy and advocacy, to fundraising, to state operations, including overseeing the organization’s massive election protection program. She received her B.A. in Political Science and Government from Seton Hall University