Staff
Daniel Mead Smith
President
dmeadsmith@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Dann is the President of Washington Policy Center. Since becoming President in 2001 he has testified by invitation before dozens of legislative committees in Olympia and appeared on numerous radio and TV newscasts and programs around the state promoting the Center's work. He also appeared on the national PBS "Debates Debates" television program. Dann is a member of Seattle Rotary #4, a board member of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, founding board member of the Worker Rights Alliance, and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Washington Advisory Committee. He also served on the Advisory Group of the Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee and the Citizen Performance Audit Oversight Board after being appointed by Gov. Gregoire. Before becoming President of WPC, he worked for the Washington Institute for Policy Studies, was Vice President of the Washington Institute Foundation and worked on two statewide campaigns (for a statewide ballot measure and a candidate for governor). He is a graduate of Western Washington University and lives with his wife and twin daughters in Seattle.
Paul Guppy
Vice President for Research
pguppy@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Paul Guppy is the Vice President for Research at Washington Policy Center. He is a graduate of Seattle University and holds graduate degrees from Claremont Graduate University and the London School of Economics. He worked for 12 years in the U.S. Congress as a Chief of Staff and Legislative Director. As the Vice President for Research, he writes extensively on tax policy, public finance and other issues. He is a frequent commentator on radio and TV news programs, and in newspapers across the state.
David Boze
Communications Director
@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
David Boze is communications director for Washington Policy Center. He has been a long-time fixture in Seattle radio, having hosted morning and afternoon drive shows during his fifteen years on the air. Mr. Boze has been a frequent fill-in for the nationally syndicated Michael Medved show and currently fills in for several Seattle radio programs. His writing has been published by The Seattle Times, The News Tribune of Tacoma, The Olympian, The Weekly Standard, American Spectator and many other publications.
Liv Finne
Director, Center for Education
lfinne@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Liv Finne is the Director of the Center for Education at Washington Policy Center. She is the author of An Option for Learning: An Assessment of Student Achievement in Charter Public Schools, which in 2011 reignited the charter school debate in Washington state. She wrote “Why parents will love charter schools,” “Why teachers will love charter schools,” and many other publications during the 2012 public debate on Initiative 1240, the nation’s first charter school initiative. When charter schools came under attack from the state teachers union, she wrote “Analysis: Why the state supreme court ruling against charter schools is wrong.” She is also the author of Washington Policy Center's widely-read education blog, and of Washington Policy Center’s Education Reform Plan: Eight Practical Ways to Improve Public Schools. Liv holds a law degree from Boston University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College. She retired from civil litigation practice to raise two children and work as business partner for a small business she owns with her husband. Liv is committed to improving public schools by expanding school options for all parents, regardless of their zip code, including charter schools, vouchers, online and other innovations in education.
Todd Myers
Director, Center for the Environment
tmyers@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 963-3409
With nearly two decades in environmental policy, Todd Myers’ experience includes work on a range of environmental issues, including spotted owl habitat, energy policy, old-growth forests and salmon recovery. Currently, he serves as a member of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council and was a member of the executive team at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
Myers is a nationally recognized expert in free-market environmental policy, including issues ranging from energy, climate, forestry and salmon-recovery. He has appeared before the Canadian Parliament, provided Congressional briefings, and worked with legislators from several states and provinces.
Todd’s book, “Eco-Fads: How the rise of trendy environmentalism is harming the environment,” has received national praise. Myers’ writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, National Review, Seattle Times, USA Today, and he has appeared on numerous news networks including CNBC, Fox News, and CNN.
Myers also served as President of the Prescription Drug Assistance Foundation, a charity that assists patients who have difficulty accessing prescription medicines. He previously served as Vice-President of the Northwest Association of Biomedical Research, which promoted ethical research standards and science education. In 2018, he was awarded the NWABR Distinguished Service Award for promotion of science. He is also Vice-President of the Snoqualmie Valley Beekeepers Association.
A former computer programmer, Mr. Myers has a bachelor’s degree in Politics from Whitman College and a master’s degree in Russian/International Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He and his wife Maria live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state with 100,000 honeybees.
Jason Mercier
Director, Center for Government Reform
jmercier@washingtonpolicy.org
(509) 491-3393 (Tri-Cities office)
Jason Mercier is the Director of the Center for Government Reform at Washington Policy Center and is based in the Tri-Cities. He has served on the boards of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and Verify More, and was an advisor to the 2002 Washington State Tax Structure Committee. Jason is an ex-officio member for the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Chamber’s government affairs committee. He worked with lawmakers in 2008 to create the state’s renowned budget transparency website www.fiscal.wa.gov and has been a champion for many of the state’s important budget reform tools including the four-year balanced budget requirement adopted in 2012. In 2010, former Governor Gregoire appointed Jason as WPC’s representative on her Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Panel. Jason is also a member of the State Tax Advisory Board for the Tax Foundation. He has testified numerous times before legislative committees on government reform issues, and his op-eds regularly appear in newspapers around the state, including The Seattle Times and Tri-City Herald. Jason also provides a regular TV update for KVEW (ABC Tri-Cities) and can be heard frequently on several radio stations including KOMO, KVI, KONA, KXLY and KIRO.
Roger Stark, MD
Senior Fellow in Health Care Policy
rstark@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Dr. Roger Stark is a Senior Fellow at Washington Policy Center and served as its Center for Health Care Policy Analyst from 2008 to 2020. A retired physician, he Dr. Stark has authored three books including the just-published Healthcare Policy Simplified: Understanding a Complex Issue, and The Patient-Centered Solution: Our Health Care Crisis, How It Happened, and How We Can Fix It. He has also authored numerous in-depth studies on health care policy for WPC, including The Impact of the Affordable Care Act in Washington State, A Review of the Medicaid Program: Its Impact in Washington State and Efforts at Reform in Other States, What Works and What Doesn’t: A Review of Health Care Reform in the States, and Health Care Reform that Works: An Update on Health Savings Accounts. Over a 12-month period in 2013 and 2014, Dr. Stark testified before three different Congressional committees in Washington DC regarding the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Stark graduated from the University of Nebraska’s College of Medicine and he completed his general surgery residency in Seattle and his cardiothoracic residency at the University of Utah. After practicing in Tacoma he moved to Bellevue and was one of the co-founders of the open-heart surgery program at Overlake Hospital. He has served on the hospital’s governing board. He retired from private practice in 2001 and became actively involved in the hospital’s Foundation, serving as Board Chair and Executive Director. He currently serves on the Board of the Washington Liability Reform Coalition. He and his wife have children and grandchildren in the area.
Susan Cero, MD
Health Care Policy
Research Fellow
Dr. Susan Cero is a Research Fellow at Washington Policy Center. She is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who retired from private practice in 2020. She is past president and chairman of the Board of Proliance Surgeons Inc. and has served as a board member of the Washington State Medical Association. She graduated from medical school in Philadelphia and completed her residency in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Cero practiced medicine for 32 years, specializing in sports medicine surgery and joint replacement. She was affiliated with Valley/UW Medical Center and has served on the medical staff board and various committees. She and her husband have three grown children and love living in the great Northwest.
Mark Harmsworth
Director, Center for Small Business
mharmsworth@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (425) 418-6134
Mark Harmsworth was elected in 2014 to the Washington State House of Representatives where he served two terms. His focus was on transportation and technology, including serving as the ranking member on the House Transportation Committee.
Prior to the legislature, Mark served two terms on the Mill Creek City Council and was elected Mayor Pro-Tem in his last year.
He recently finished serving as a Director on the Everett Community College Foundation Board and currently serves as a Director on the Boys and Girls Club of Snohomish County.
Mark works in the technology industry and is an owner of a small business after completing a long career at Microsoft and Amazon.
Mark and his family live in Mill Creek, Washington.
Elizabeth Hovde
Research Analyst, Center for Health Care and Center for Worker Rights
Email: ehovde@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (360) 241-4653
Elizabeth Hovde grew up in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and political science from Western Washington University. That's where her newspaper career began, writing political opinion columns for The Bellingham Herald.
After graduation, Elizabeth became the communications director for the Washington Family Council, crafting legislative testimony, press releases and articles for various council publications. She was recruited away by The Columbian newspaper in Southwest Washington and spent the next decade as an editorial board member and columnist, winning several Society of Professional Journalists awards. Elizabeth enjoyed another 10 years as a political columnist for The Oregonian.
Elizabeth also has taught journalism, as an adjunct professor at Washington State University Vancouver.
Over the years, her volunteerism has included prison outreach, helping in public schools, writing for her neighborhood association and participating in area cleanups. She shares her Vancouver home with two teenage sons.
Mariya Frost
Director, Coles Center for Transportation
Email: mfrost@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (206) 937-9691
Mariya immigrated to the United States with her family and grew up in Washington state. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in Political Science and has completed courses in accounting and business administration at Saint Martin’s University. She spent ten years working in the private sector and as a staff member at the U.S. House of Representatives and the Washington state senate. Mariya has lived in both Eastern and Western Washington and believes strongly in the freedom of mobility for all Washingtonians. She is on the Board of Directors for the Eastside Transportation Association and a working member of the Washington State Autonomous Vehicle Work Group Subcommittee on Infrastructure & Systems. Mariya is a widely-recognized expert in state transportation policy, and her analysis and online commentary appear regularly in news coverage statewide.
Pam Lewison
Director, Initiative on Agriculture
Email: plewison@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (509) 491-3393
Pam Lewison is the Director for the Washington Policy Center Initiative on Agriculture and is based in the Tri-Cities office. She farms in Eastern Washington and is a tireless advocate for agriculture both in Washington state and around the country. Before entering the public policy world, Pam spent nearly a decade as a journalist in the Northwest and got her feet wet as the coordination clerk for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program. She holds a Master of Science from Texas A&M University (Gig ‘em!) and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When she is not in the office, you can find her helping with irrigation and other work on her family farm, shuttling kids to 4-H meetings, or working as the superintendent for the agriculture building at the Grant County Fair.
Chris Cargill
Eastern Washington Office Director
ccargill@washingtonpolicy.org
(509) 570-2384
Chris Cargill is the Eastern Washington director at Washington Policy Center. A sixth-generation Eastern Washingtonian, Chris graduated from Gonzaga University with a B.A. in broadcast communication studies and political science. Before joining WPC in 2009, he worked in television news for ten years at the FOX and ABC affiliates in Spokane. He has had the opportunity to serve on many community boards, including the Spokane Valley and Tri-City Regional Chambers, as well as the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission. He is the author of numerous policy studies on Eastern Washington issues and is a frequent guest host and commentator on news radio stations throughout the state.
Marissa Gaston
Director, Young Professionals
mgaston@washingtonpolicy.org
(509) 954-2449
Marissa Gaston is the Young Professionals Director at the Washington Policy Center. She interned with WPC in Spring 2020 and graduated from the University of Washington, Seattle, with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Classical Studies. Over the course of her undergraduate career, she was an active staff writer at the UW’s student newspaper, The Daily, and was a YP college club officer. During her sophomore year, Marissa studied abroad at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, Israel, where she was a research intern for Dr. Natan Aridan, editor of the Israel Studies journal. Before graduating, Marissa also interned with the State Department at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, Italy, where she worked in Public Affairs and Political Economy. She completed a post-undergraduate academic residency fellowship at the John Jay Institute before rejoining the WPC team. Marissa believes deeply in the merits of free enterprise and loves working with young professionals across Washington state!
Claire Anderson
Development Operations Coordinator
Email: canderson@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (509) 624-4811
Claire Anderson is the Eastern Washington Office Coordinator and Young Professionals Coordinator for the Washington Policy Center. Claire grew up in a small town in Southern California called Ojai. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Whitworth University in 2020. While in college she interned for Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and the American Enterprise Institute. Before coming to the Washington Policy Center, she served as Finance Coordinator on Cathy McMorris Rodgers 2020 re-election campaign. Some of Claire’s favorite things are going on walks with her dog Winston and spending time with family.
Braden Goodwin
Operations Manager
bgoodwin@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Braden Goodwin is the Operations Manager at Washington Policy Center. He oversees WPC's accounting, government compliance, human resources, and office management. In addition, Braden coordinates WPC's internship program and the Jennifer Dunn Thomson Scholarship. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. When not at the office, Braden enjoys spending time hiking in the mountains. Braden and his family live in Seattle.
Sydney Jansen
Development Director
sjansen@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Sydney Jansen is the Development Director at Washington Policy Center. Sydney graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Political Science and remains a loyal husky fan! She also earned her Certificate in Nonprofit Management from UW. Sydney started at Washington Policy Center as an intern before joining the development team in 2012. Sydney grew up in Bellingham, Washington and currently lives in Seattle. In her spare time, you can find Sydney exploring the San Juan Islands or trying out a new Seattle restaurant.
Tashina Kreilick
Senior Manager, Development Operations
tkreilick@washingtonpolicy.org
(206) 937-9691
Tashina Kreilick is the Development Manager at Washington Policy Center. She holds a degree in business from the University of Puget Sound. After graduating in 2014, Tashina was an intern at the Museum of Glass, which she credits for exposing her to the world of non-profits and inspiring her to join WPC’s Development team. Tashina grew up in Missoula, Montana and currently lives in Seattle.
Donald Kimball
Operations Coordinator
Email: dkimball@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (206) 946-1008
Donald Kimball is the Operations Coordinator at Washington Policy Center. He graduated summa cum laude from Northwest University with a degree in Political Science, where he also served in various leadership roles, including as a part of the debate team and as Student Body Vice President. Other professional experience includes working as an administrator for Advent Anglican, a Culture Guide and Teacher for ESL students, an Assistant Market Research analyst, and working on various political campaigns within Washington State.
Maia Espinoza
Communications Manager
Email: mespinoza@washingtonpolicy.org
In addition to her work as communications manager for WPC, Maia is Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Latino Leadership, a civic-engagement, education-oriented non-profit with a mission to empower, inspire and equip the Latino community of Washington to engage in state and local government.
Maia has served on the Race and Ethnicity Student Data task force at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction as part of the Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, as Legislative Liaison to the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and as a communications associate for the state senate 2014 Majority Coalition Caucus.
She is a mother of three children. She and her family live in Lakewood, Washington.
Michele Fettel
Executive Coordinator
Email: mfettel@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: 206-946-1017
Michele Fettel is the Executive Coordinator for Washington Policy Center and the Executive Assistant to Dann Mead Smith. Michele has been in Washington since the age of 5 and is proud to call the beautiful and diverse PNW her home. Michele has a passion for customer service and serving others. When not working she pursues travel and spending quality time with her family, friends, and her rescue dog Koda.
Robyn Thomas
Eastern Washington and Young Professionals Coordinator
Email: rantoine@washingtonpolicy.org
Phone: (509) 624-4811
Robyn Thomas is the Eastern Washington and Young Professionals Coordinator for the Washington Policy Center. She graduated from Eastern Washington University in the winter of 2021 with two bachelor’s degrees in business administration, one in finance and one in marketing, along with a minor in economics. Robyn was born in Warrington, England and moved to Tri Cities, WA at a young age. In her free time she enjoys going on walks with her dog Oscar, and in May of 2021 she will be getting married and changing her name to Robyn Antoine!