Derek Cressman is an award-winning author, voting rights advocate, political strategist and former California secretary of state candidate. He began working professionally to reduce big money in politics in 1995 with such nonpartisan organizations as Common Cause and the Public Interest Research Group. As US PIRG’s democracy program director, he was the first professional advocate in Washington, DC, to support a constitutional amendment to limit campaign spending in 1995. As director of Common Cause’s Amend 2012 campaign, Cressman was the architect behind voter instruction measures in Montana, Colorado, Massachusetts, and California, where voters demanded Congress pass an amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. Drawing inspiration from Upton Sinclair, Cressman combines writing with electoral politics in an effort to raise new ideas and drive social change.