Misty Rebik

Misty Rebik

Misty Rebik was an Iowa activist. Now Chief of Staff for Senator Bernie Sanders.

Education

Studied Urban and Regional Planning at University of Iowa. She holds a B.A. in International Studies emphasizing in Latin American Studies with a Spanish Minor and an M.S in Urban & Regional Planning, both from The University of Iowa.

PSOL Meets with American Members of Congress

Fernanda Melchionna Facebook Post Dated August 14, 2023 (L-R) Taliria Petrone, Nydia Velazquez, Celia Xakriaba, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Samia Bomfim and Fernanda Melchionna

On August 14, 2023, Fernanda Melchionna posted an image with Nydia Velazquez, Celia Xakriaba, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Taliria Petrone on Facebook:

"Very important the support of the US congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in defending our mandates. Preliminary reports of the representations against left-wing MPs begin reading on Wednesday at the Ethics Council. Ocasio-Cortez is in Brazil with a delegation of American congressmen who today participated in a technical meeting at the Commission of the Amazon and Native Peoples. She spoke about the need to defeat the extreme right in the world, including defending feminist, left-wing and fighting mandates."

It was reported at The Nation on August 22, 2023 in an article titled "AOC and Democratic Colleagues Learn Lessons From Latin-America’s Resurgent Left" that the tour included Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Representatives Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velazquez of New York, Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar of Texas, and Maxwell Frost of Florida, along with Senator Bernie Sanders’s chief of staff, Misty Rebik. The trip was sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Latin American tour

Sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research:

An 11-member group of lawmakers and staff plan to leave Aug. 14 2023, to meet with officials and civil society groups in the region’s three largest leftist-ruled democracies: Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

“It’s long past time for a realignment of the United States’ relationship to Latin America,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “The U.S. needs to publicly acknowledge the harms we’ve committed through interventionist and extractive policies, and chart a new course based on trust and mutual respect.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, the top Democrat on the influential House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, is also scheduled to join the delegation.

“We have much to learn from our counterparts in these countries, including how to confront disinformation and violent threats to our democracies, how to protect our environment from capitalist pressures, and how to engage in productive truth-and-reconciliation efforts that provide true justice to citizens that have been harmed by their governments,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“The United States shares critical challenges with our friends in Latin America, but we have too often prioritized corporate interests or great power competition in our historical engagement with the region,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said in a statement ahead of the trip, which his chief of staff, Misty Rebik, is joining.

Other participants include Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Nydia Velazquez of New York and Greg Casar of Texas, according to the sponsors of the trip, the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The agenda (which has not yet been made public) is expected to include meetings with Presidents Lula da Silva (Brazil), Gabriel Boric (Chile) and Gustavo Petro (Colombia) and parliamentary representatives. The legislators will also meet with civil society organizations that work “on the frontlines of ecological transitions, democratic transformations and peace negotiations in the countries,” the delegation explains in a joint statement. The trip seeks to “promote a U.S.-Latin American relationship based on mutual respect, understanding and a commitment to cooperation.”

Political career

Misty Rebik joined Bernie Sanders' senate office for the 117th Congress. Before that she was serving as the Executive Director of Friends of Bernie Sanders, the senator’s Political Campaign Committee during the 2020 primary and general election.

Before that Rebik held several leadership positions in the Bernie 2020 campaign, initially as the Iowa State Director and eventually leading the National Organizing Department. She cut her teeth in organizing with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and ran her first electoral campaign as Campaign Manager during the Iowa 2018 primary season for gubernatorial candidate and nurse, Cathy Glasson.

Before entering the electoral arena, Misty served as the Regional Director of Strategic Partnerships & Development of Eastern Iowa with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland where she directed the major donor program and event programs in Eastern Iowa and worked to build a strong network of partnerships and support within the area. While at Planned Parenthood, Rebik spear-headed the development of the transgender care program at the Cedar Rapids health clinic and founded the B.A.R. (Born After Roe) group aimed at engaging millennials in advocacy and fundraising for reproductive and sexual health.

Rebik is the co-founder and former Executive Director for the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa (CWJ). While at CWJ, she helped lead and win campaigns that established the first county minimum wage ordinance in the State of Iowa, established the first-ever Community Identification program in the Midwest, and taught dozens of adult education workshops. Rebik is a board member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and co-founder/co-host of The Political Party Live!, a podcast aimed at engaging millennials in politics through arts & culture and entertainment.

Misty holds a B.A. in International Studies emphasizing in Latin American Studies with a Spanish Minor and an M.S in Urban & Regional Planning, both from The University of Iowa.

Twitter Lock Down

Brooke Adams tweets photo with "top tier organizers" Danielle Hirano and Kyle Jurek

The Washington Examiner reported that Brooke Adams and Misty Rebik locked their Twitter accounts in the wake of the Kyle Jurek comments about burning down cities if Bernie Sanders loses the democratic nomination. Additionally, the Washington Examiner reported that before she locked her account, Brooke Adams tweeted a photo with "top tier organizers" Danielle Hirano and Kyle Jurek:

"Iowa state director Misty Rebik and Iowa co-field director Brooke Adams both locked their Twitter accounts after Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe claimed they hired or worked with Kyle Jurek, who deleted his Twitter account this afternoon. O'Keefe published a Sept. 21 tweet of Adams celebrating with Jurek along with accompanying text that read: "This room is about to hit 20,000 phone calls!! Led by our top-tier organizers @hiranodanielle Danielle Hirano and Kyle Jurek!"

Sanders' 2020 Iowa hires

The Sanders campaign announced the following hires March 2019:

• Misty Rebik, state director. Rebik was campaign manager for Cathy Glasson's primary run for Iowa governor. She previously worked for One Iowa and served as co-founder and founding director of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa.
• Jess Mazour, political director. Mazour was previously lead organizer on the farm and environment team at Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.
• Evan Burger, state caucus director. Burger was a senior organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and previously worked as the Iowa advance director for Sanders' 2016 campaign.
• Pete D'Alessandro, senior advisor. D'Alessandro directed Sanders' 2016 Iowa campaign and went on to work as the Oklahoma state director, Indiana state director, northern California director and the National Convention delegate director.

Rebik's "people"

Misty Rebik February 3, 2018 ·

These are my people! I adore and respect people who put action behind their words! Thank you for your relentless commitment to progressive change! — with Kate Revaux, Cathy Glasson, Damien Williams and Justin LeDuc.

Center for Worker Justice

Misty Rebik May 14, 2014;

Over 70 people gathered with the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa:: Centro de Justicia Laboral to hold Outback accountable to business practices that are stealing people's wages! — with Joshua Hurtado, Kossiwa A. and Marcela Hurtado.

Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa crew

Misty Rebik September 18, 2014.

powerful crew from CWJ, with our adored logo by Fidencio Martinez — with Fidencio Fifield-Perez, Mazahir Salih, Eli Shepherd and Fanylu Galicia.

Bernie supporter

DSA of Iowa public Facebook group

Novemer 26, 2017

In September 2017 Misty Rebik was a member of the Democratic Socialists of Iowa public Facebook group.

Supporting Glasson

September 26, 2017

Iowa City Democratic Socialists of America Meeting Minutes – September 30th, 2017.

Misty Rebik of Glasson gubernatorial campaign presented. Union and labor rights will be at forefront of campaign. Core issues in platform including medicare for all, minimum wage raise, restore/expand union rights, water/ag pollution, free k-12 and tuition.

Q and A session with Rebik.