Dorian Warren — who’s called himself "a Black kid from the south side of Chicago" — is co-president of Washington, D.C.-based Community Change, which works with about 100 grassroots organisations on improving the lot of low-income people, and especially those of colour.
He’s also co-founder of Economic Security Project, a prominent media commentator on public affairs and a scholar.
Warren met his wife-to-be, Queenstown-born and raised Jourdan Williams, along with her mum, local screen production doyenne Barbara Williams, at a party in his then New York apartment in 2017.
"A mutual friend of ours who had come to Queenstown to visit Jourdan brought her to my party.
"And Barbara was there which was great so I met my future mother-in-law on the same night.
"Barbara and I were having a drink, looking over the balcony, and she says ‘my daughter was conceived a block away’."
Warren visited Queenstown at the end of that year and, apart from one Covid year, has been coming back every Christmas holidays since.
The couple married in 2019 and nowadays have offspring aged four and 14 months.
He says New Zealand and Queenstown, his main experience of NZ, feel much more community-oriented than his home country.
"Whenever I’m here, people just stop by unannounced — in America we schedule when we can see each other."
He’s envious NZ has "many things you take for granted that we’re still fighting for, like healthcare or student allowances or child allowances".
"We’re the richest country in the history of the world, yet 2024 saw the highest rates of homelessness.
"It’s absurd."
Warren says Trump’s triumph took him by surprise — "anyone that tells you they weren’t surprised is lying" — but adds his winning margin would have been heaps more if President Joe Biden hadn’t stepped aside for Kamala Harris.
He’s been reported saying he expects Trump’s second term will be "worse than we can evenimagine".
"[We’ll have to] improvise, be creative and, frankly, take a bit more risk [than during Trump’s first term] in terms of civil disobedience and disruption to really block the harmful things coming our way."
"It’s going to be a stormy time," he tells Mountain Scene.
However, he notes there’s already been infighting between Trumpites and tech billionaires like Elon Musk over immigration, "so maybe my job will be easier".
Meanwhile, Jourdan has also made her presence felt in Washington, D.C. where she works for the Africa-America Institute.
She’s also president of the board of a daycare centre where childcare workers’ salaries are boosted by a pay equity fund.
That funding was threatened by the city’s mayor to subsidise a huge sports stadium.
Jourdan organised a campaign by parents and the mayor gave in.
"D.C.’s lovely, but Queenstown’s always home," she says.
She and Dorian note their children have NZ as well as US passports.
Dorian: "I have to think about their safety, and in the worse-case scenario I would ship them over — it’s a great option to have."
