Not all Democrats are the same.
-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
About us
Welcome to our caucus
We are brand new and the FIRST progressive caucus to form within the Ohio Democratic Party. Sign up today, and join us for our upcoming events.
We welcome all to work on improving the lives of Ohioans together!
Learn moreOur team
Kim McCarthy
Chair
Kim became politically engaged through the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011, later advocating on issues like corporate accountability and GMO labeling before turning her focus to local politics after the 2016 election. Using her accounting background, she challenged ineffective representation in Greene County, running strong grassroots campaigns in 2018 and 2020 that significantly shifted vote margins and broke fundraising records. She was elected Chair of the Greene County Democratic Party in 2022, where she works to rebuild the party around progressive values. An immigrant from Australia and a mother of three, Kim supports universal healthcare, a living wage, paid leave, environmental stewardship, and removing billionaire influence from politics.
Will Petrik
Vice chair
Will Petrik believes all of us deserve peace of mind and the freedom to follow our dreams, and he’s committed to making life better and more affordable in Ohio. Will played a leading role in the campaign to expand Medicaid to over 750,000 Ohioans and helped win paid parental leave for Cleveland municipal workers. More recently, he launched guaranteed income pilots in Central Ohio, strengthening the economic security of children and families. As Vice Chair of the Ohio Progressive Caucus, he’s focused on building a Democratic Party that fights for working people and delivers real material changes in people’s lives.
Amana Koeller
Secretary
Amana Koeller graduated summa cum laude in December 2025 from Wright State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a minor in Legal Studies, and a certificate in Spanish. She currently serves as Operations Director for the Greene County Democratic Party and as Secretary of the Ohio Progressive Democratic Caucus. As a young leader, Amana is deeply committed to encouraging and empowering other young people to become more involved in their communities and to advance progressive messaging and policies.
April Childers
vice Chair: Communications
April is a lifetime Democrat and the daughter of two civil rights crusaders who worked tirelessly to teach her the importance of social justice. Born in Wheeling, WV, she is a married mother of three who owns the oldest bookstore in West Virginia and she has more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor. April is heavily involved in organizing efforts within the local community and in addition to her role with the ODPPC, she also serves as the Co-Chair of the Communications Committee for the Belmont County NAACP and is a Precinct Captain for the Belmont County Democratic Party here in Ohio.
Ryan Wynia
Vice chair: Policy
Bio coming soon.
Stefannie Pace
vice Chair: Membership
Stefannie is a mom, an aspiring author, and her past experiences are best described as a little bit of everything — except politics. She studied Biochemistry and Religion in college, with internships in Communications and Marketing. After college, she spent nearly a decade working in test preparation as the Assistant Director of the company’s Northeast Ohio office. There, she handled marketing, staffing, teaching and event planning. While home with her children, she has volunteered in leadership roles in local groups and started a small home business baking bread from freshly milled flour. As a newcomer to electoral politics, she brings a methodical and systematic approach to reaching OPDC’s goals and a people-centric management style to the Membership Committee.
Erick Detweiler
vice Chair: Rules & Bylaws
Erick Detweiler is a Dungeons & Dragons nerd and 3L law student studying intellectual property. He was raised in Tipp City, earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Dayton, and got married in Columbus to his college sweetheart (who is a Clevelander). After undergraduate school he became a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent Office during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed him to remain in Ohio as a full-time remote worker.
Erick believes every Ohioan deserves dignified living conditions and is excited to help the OPDC make that happen. He is determined to triage root causes of antidemocratic Ohio policy so his friends can get back to playing D&D.
