Board of Advisors

Josie Amendola is a junior at Fairfield University, majoring in Economics with a minor in Politics. She has been involved with the Fairfield U College Republicans since her freshman year and currently serves as President. She has spent time volunteering on numerous campaigns throughout Fairfield County, most notably for Congressman Shays in 2008. She is honored to become a leader among Our CT GYP and is looking forward to working with young Republicans across the state in the development of the organization. She plans to work hard toward a future of strengthened young Republicans and create an open dialogue about the issues facing the future leaders of the party.

Jason Gould is a Senior Accounting Major at the University of Connecticut.  Jason is currently in his second term as State Chairman of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans.  He also currently serves as a board member for the College Republican National Committee.  Jason has been involved in politics since 2006 when he joined the UConn College Republicans and volunteered for Rob Simmons’s re-election campaign.   After the tough campaign, Jason wanted continue to fight for the GOP and has volunteered on many campaigns since including Sean Sullivan’s Congressional Campaign, David Cappiello’s Congressional Campaign, and John McCain’s Presidential Campaign.  Jason is excited to work with the CTGYP and looks forward to discussions and debate with the GOP of Connecticut.

Elissa begin getting involved in the youth movement of the Republican party when she was elected at the Vice-President of the Clarkson University chapter of the NY College Republicans in 2006. When she later transferred to Western CT State University in 2007 she became the founder of the WCSU College Republicans and was elected President of the club for the next 2 years. She made her CR chapter a force for conservative principles on campus - creating a conservative column in the school newspaper, a talk show on the campus radio station, bringing in high profile speakers, and providing volunteers for local, state, and federal campaigns. In 2009 she was elected State Vice-Chairwoman of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans, as well as being elected as the National Committeewoman of the Connecticut Young Republicans. Elissa began working on Connecticut campaigns as in intern during the 2006 U.S. Senate race, and went on to be staffed as the Volunteer Director for the Cappiello for U.S. Congress campaign in 2008. She spent most of 2009 interning for our state legislature in the House Minority Leader's Office, Representative Larry Cafero, before joining the staff of former Congressman Rob Simmons as a field representative on his campaign for United States Senate.

Christopher Kito is a senior at Quinnipiac University majoring in Business Management. He has been involved with the Quinnipiac College Republicans since his freshman year and during his sophomore year he was elected to the state level College Republican board serving as Secretary, which he still holds. Christopher is currently working on Rob Merkle’s campaign for Congress in Fairfield County. He is thrilled at the opportunity to work with party leaders on behave of Our CT GYP and engage the younger voters, while helping facilitate communication throughout the state at all levels. He believes this is a pivotal time for the Republican Party and they must get back to their founding principles and grass roots organizing.

Mytheos Holt is a senior at Wesleyan University, majoring in American Government and Intellectual History, and currently working on an honors thesis detailing potential paths to reconciliation within the conservative movement. He has been a member of the College Republicans since his freshman year and currently works as a District Communications Associate for the Rob Merkle for Congress Campaign, a contributing web editor at the California Independent Voters' Network and as the Vice Chairman for Communications of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans (CUCR). Prior to serving on the CUCR Executive Board, Mytheos helped found both the Wesleyan College Republicans (in which he served as Secretary and Vice President) and Wesleyan's new conservative opinion magazine, the Wesleyan Witness, of which he was also the first editor-in-chief. He is honored to be a part of OUR CT GYP, and looks forward to applying his knowledge of youth voter messaging/marketing toward the betterment of the State party.