Patrick Schmitt is the former Executive Director of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur

Students Taking Action Now: Darfur

STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition is an organization which seeks to raise awareness about the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, raise relief funds for those affected by the conflict, and advocate for political action....

 and was a candidate for state senate in Westerly, Rhode Island during the 2006 election.

Schmitt was born on June 12, 1984 to John Patrick Schmitt and Sylvia Picard Schmitt as the second of four children. He graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory High School

Don Bosco Preparatory High School

Don Bosco Preparatory High School is a private, Roman Catholic secondary school for young men, grades 9 through 12. Founded by the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order of priests and brothers, the school is situated on a campus in Ramsey, New Jersey, United States...

 in 2002 before going on to Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in International Politics, with a focus on international law and ethics, in 2006. Patrick lived in Westerly and is a sixth generation Rhode Islander. After spending a few years working for MoveOn.org and Organizing For America

Organizing for America

Organizing for America is a community organizing project of the Democratic National Committee. Founded after the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, the group seeks to mobilize supporters in favor of Obama's legislative priorities.-History:...

, Patrick became the Director of Global Campaigns at Change.org

Change.org

Change.org is an online platform for social change launched on February 7, 2007 by current CEO Ben Rattray and Mark Dimas, and certified as a B Corporation in January, 2011. Its stated mission is to "empower anyone, anywhere to start, join, and win campaigns for social change."...

.

In 2005, Schmitt became the Executive Director of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, a student group dedicated to ending the genocide

Genocide

Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

 in Darfur

Darfur

Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

 with over 400 chapters nationwide. During his tenure as Executive Director, the organization more than doubled its number of chapters. It also raised roughly $1 million for relief efforts in DarfurFast in October 2005, along with lobbying congressional representatives to co-sponsor legislation dedicated to ending the genocide and attempting to raise public awareness about the genocide. As part of these efforts, Schmitt testified before the Rhode Island State House of Representatives Finance Committee in favor of divestment

Divestment

In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...

 from companies doing business in Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 and briefed congressional aides on the situation in Darfur.

Schmitt ran for Rhode Island's 38th District State Senate seat as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 against incumbent Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 State Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere. Algiere had run unopposed since 1992 until Schmitt's 2006 run.