Leo Burnett has over a decade of experience as a political communications professional with a deep background in Maine politics and civic technology. Getting their start as a field organizer for the Maine Dems in 2012, Leo quickly built a niche as a digitally-savvy organizer. They began advocating for the effective and transparent use of technology in government in 2013 and founded the civic technology group OpenMaine, the start of a decades-long quest to advocate for more effective, transparent technology in government.
Leo’s work as a digital communications professional took them to California, where they managed and implemented digital strategy for some of the largest US Senate, House and governors’ races in the country. They came home to Maine in 2016 and Leo’s work has since touched nearly every type of campaign in the state, from working on voter education campaigns about ranked choice voting implementation in 2018 to managing communications for a variety of state House and Senate races, launching a US Senate race and managing the communications and strategy for Portland mayoral, city council, and other local races.
In addition to working on political campaigns, Leo writes, works on open source software initiatives, starts (and sometimes finishes) DIY projects and creates community organizing projects and schemes of all shapes and sizes.