Welcome to MHVDSA!

Mid-Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America (MHVDSA) is a regional chapter of the largest socialist organization in the country: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Founded in 2017 as Hudson Valley DSA and later split to be just Mid-Hudson Valley in 2019, we represent over 350 members of the 70,000 DSA members nationwide.

Through priority campaigns, political education, and community-building, we organize to build power for the working class, whether it means fighting for housing justice or democracy at the workplace. Our recent victories are a testament to what small DSA chapters like ours can do when members come together around winning strategies: in 2022, we defeated a 27-year incumbent and elected our comrade Sarahana Shrestha to the NY State Assembly. In 2023, we played a key role in passing the Build Public Renewables Act, the first major piece of Green New Deal legislation to pass in the nation, which positions energy as a public good and empowers the workers who build it.

As a democratic organization, we are guided by bylaws at both the national and local level. A new member like you can plug into existing campaigns or internal organizing, run for leadership positions, attend trainings, help organize and run events, make phone calls, join our book club, show up at our socials, and more!

An onboarding committee member will reach out to you to schedule a one-on-one session with you so we can find out what brought you to DSA, and what we can do to help you find your role in our movement.

We’ll do our best to answer questions and connect you to your areas of interest within the chapter.

Look out for emails from our chapter and join our Slack server to stay updated. Introduce yourself in the #introductions channel and explore other channels to get a sense of what we are up to. Check your welcome email for info on joining our Slack server!

During your introductory call, we’ll get to know you and help recommend some working groups you may want to join, based on your interests: Working groups are like subcommittees that focus on specific topics or campaigns, such as Housing, Political Education, and Electoral. To join a working group, email the working group and ask to join or join the associated Slack channel (e.g. #wg-comms for the communications working group). You can also message the points of contact listed below directly on Slack. If you have general questions, email organize@mhvdsa.org.

• Communications Working Group (comms@mhvdsa.org, co-chairs: Pete C., Peter F.)
• Electoral Working Group (electoral@mhvdsa.org, co-chairs: Pete C., Matt C.)
• Housing Working Group (housing@mhvdsa.org, co-chairs: Naomi D., Andrew H.)
• Mutual Aid Working Group (mutualaid@mhvdsa.org, currently )
• Ecosocialism Working Group (ecosocialism@mhvdsa.org, co-chairs:)
• Culture and Education Working Group (culture@mhvdsa.org, co-chairs: Dino N., Peter F.)
• Labor Working Group (co-chairs: Aidan H., Owen G.)

Our chapter works closely with our own socialist elected, Sarahana Shrestha, as well as other socialist New York State legislators through the DSA’s Socialists in Office (SIO) group. If you are interested in legislative analysis and flagging bills for our state SIOs, get in touch with our chapter’s SIO reps, Sadie B. and Leanna Z.

Regular new member orientations take place every month or two. Your welcome email contains a link to the next session!

Our website has all the contact information you might need. You’ll also find our constitution and calendar of all upcoming events. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.

Chapter decisions are made by our membership. Each year MHVDSA members elect a small group of comrades to serve as Steering Committee Representatives, Officers, County Co-Chairs, Socialists In Office Representatives (SIOs), and Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs). All members are welcome to attend our weekly Steering Committee meetings on Zoom (link can be found in our chapter Slack in the #steeringcommittee channel).

Steering Committee
At-large: Leanna Z.,
Dutchess: Daniel A., Rosemary D.
Orange: Jack C.,
Ulster: Jen B.,

Officers
Engagement Coordinator: [TBD]
Secretary: Peter F.
Treasurer: Niklas M.

County Co-Chairs
Ulster: Jen B., Sebastian P.

Harassment Grievance Officers (HGO)
Deena R., Lisa L.

Socialists in Office (SIO) Committee Reps
Leanna Z., Amanda B..