Who We Are
The Fair Elections Project is working to change how politics works in the United States and help end the partisan gridlock that grips the nation. When elections don’t really matter because the district lines determine which party will be in control, the people don’t have a voice. This is contrary both to our historical tradition of fairness and the Constitutional requirement that all voters are equal citizens.Our Work
The Fair Elections Project is fighting for fair redistricting around the country by inspiring and supporting litigation, legislation, and public advocacy to stop partisan gerrymandering. The goal is to end map-rigging, so that instead of politicians choosing their voters, voters can choose their elected officials, and elections will again be meaningful.
Meet the Team
Sachin Chheda
Director and Co-Founder | sachin@fairelectionsproject.org
Sachin is the director of the Fair Elections Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan campaign to make American elections meaningful again.
Sachin is a nationally-recognized expert in the fight to end political gerrymandering. He founded the Fair Elections Project, and was a key organizer in launching the Whitford case in which a federal district court ruled Wisconsin’s legislative maps unconstitutional for being a partisan gerrymander, the first such ruling in American history. That case eventually reached the US Supreme Court. Sachin was also a cofounder, and currently serves as chair, of the WI Fair Maps Coalition, and he is a frequently sought-after speaker on redistricting, where he explains the insidious practice of drawing map lines to negate the effects of elections and the legal history of partisan gerrymandering.
In addition to directing the Fair Elections Project, Sachin is a partner at Nation Consulting, a boutique firm that serves nonprofit, candidate, and corporate clients in Wisconsin and across the country. His clients include the Economic Security Project, the WI AFL CIO, and Community Shares of Greater Milwaukee. Sachin and his wife Angela are raising their four children on MIlwaukee’s east side.
Carlene Bechen
Organizing Director | carlene@fairmapswi.com
Carlene Bechen is a retired educator who became involved in the movement to End Gerrymandering after testifying before the Joint Finance Committee in support of public education for several biennial budget cycles and realizing that her words were falling on deaf ears. Legislators are unaccountable to their constituents, and it’s clear that they are not listening on issues ranging from public education and Medicare expansion to gun violence prevention and legalization of cannabis.
Carlene has been engaged in grassroots activism since she was a child canvassing with her dad in her SE North Carolina community. She is a founding member of the Oregon Area Progressives, which organized the Fair Maps for Wisconsin Summit for grassroots activists in the fall of 2019. From that work, Carlene was hired as Organizing Director with the Fair Maps Coalition.
Jacob Malinowski
Communications Director | jacob@fairmapswi.com
Jacob is the communications director of the Fair Elections Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan campaign to make American elections meaningful again.
Jacob has a background in political campaigning and advocacy work, previously assisting local campaigns in New Haven and congressional campaigns across the country. He ran as a state legislative candidate in 2020 and experienced first-hand how gerrymandering can decide elections before they’ve even happened. Jacob also works as the Communications Director for the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, a group working diligently to fix Wisconsin’s redistricting problem — often called “the worst gerrymander in the nation.”
Jacob is a Wisconsin native and serves as the secretary for his local county party. Outside of politics, he spends his time exploring Milwaukee and enjoying his role as an uncle for his 1 year-old niece.
Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition
The Fair Elections Project is a member organization of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, whose mission is to advocate for and enact, in law and practice, an independent and nonpartisan redistricting method in Wisconsin, and to educate and engage the public in the process of adopting and implementing nonpartisan maps. Learn more about the Coalition and our work together in Wisconsin here.