Education Finance Fellows Class of 2018 Bios Colorado John Hess Senator Kevin Priola Michigan Representative Jeff Bridges Senator Martin Knollenberg Brita Darling Representative Aaron Miller Connecticut Mary Guerriero Representative John Hampton Mississippi Delaware Representative Richard Bennett Senator David Sokola David Pray Representative Debra Heffernan Montana Meredith Seitz Senator Mark Blasdel Carling Ryan Representative Don Jones Idaho Pad McCracken Senator Chuck Windor New Jersey Representative Wendy Horman Liz Mahn Illinois Ohio Senator Kimberly Lightford Marcus Benjamin Representative Will Davis Utah Kansas Senator Howard Stephenson Representative Brenda Dietrich Edward Penner Colorado and fishing as well, and he and his family are avid skiers and snowboarders. Senator Kevin Priola Kevin attended the University of Colorado at Boulder Kevin Priola was born and raised in Adams County, where he graduated with a Business degree. While at Colorado. He attended Brighton public schools grow- CU, he joined in the Ralphie Handlers Program – the ing up, including both Regis Jesuit and Horizon High group of college students who train and tend to one of Schools. Since he was young, he has enjoyed baseball, America’s most well-loved mascots, Ralphie. Kevin was football and running. Kevin is now a big fan of hunting also active in politics at CU as a member of the College 2017 – 2018 1 Republicans. He spent much of his time hosting cau- OLLS acts as general counsel for the General Assem- cuses and bringing awareness of political issues to his bly, reviews all executive branch rulemaking, and annu- fellow students. ally publishes the Colorado Revised Statutes. In her 11 sessions with the General Assembly, Brita has drafted Kevin’s business background includes 15 years of busi- bills in her drafting team's subject-matter areas, includ- ness experience at Priola Greenhouses and CAP Prop- ing criminal justice, family law, human services, educa- erty Management. He serves as vice-president and treas- tion, and public benefits. Her primary drafting areas are urer for both businesses. He currently is President of Medicaid and education, K-12 and higher education, Priola Real Estate & Investment. and Brita has drafted Colorado's K-12 school finance bill for the past 3 years. Through community organizations, Kevin helps meet local and international needs and continues to actively Email: [email protected] support the community at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2008, he received The Denver Chapter Buff Club’s Most Valuable Buff award for his work with the university. Shortly after college, he became an active Connecticut member of Rotary International, an organization that Representative John Hampton allows him to continue to give back to the community. John Kennedy Hampton was elected to the Connecti- In 2010, Kevin received the Greenco Legislator of the cut General Assembly in November, 2012, representing Year award for his work on green industry issues at the the 16th Assembly District, Simsbury. Capitol. He serves on the Aging Committee, the Banking Com- In 1996, Kevin married his high school sweetheart, mittee, the Planning and Development Committee, and Michelle Osif. Michelle is a 5th grade teacher and mom as Vice Chair on the Committee on Children. He also to their son and three daughters. Kevin and Michelle serves as an Assistant Majority Leader. love to spend time teaching their children about the great outdoors. Whenever the family gets a day off to- Prior to his election to the state legislature, Hampton gether, you can usually find them hiking, camping or served on the Simsbury Board of Selectmen from 2003- skiing. Kevin, Michelle and their children attend Im- 2012, including five years as Deputy First Selectman. maculate Heart of Mary Church in Northglenn. During his tenure, Hampton was a strong advocate for Email: [email protected] transparency in government, environmental steward- ship, and support programs for senior citizens and vet- Representative Jeff Bridges erans. Email: [email protected] Highlights of Hampton's accomplishments include cre- ating the Clean Energy Task Force, starting the Sims- bury Volunteer Expo, partnering on the Martin Luther Brita Darling King in Simsbury documentary and celebration, and in- Brita Darling is a Senior Attorney with the Office of itiating the Town of Simsbury Annual Holiday Collec- Legislative Legal Services for the Colorado General As- tion for the Veterans Home In Rocky Hill. sembly. The Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) is a nonpartisan legislative staff agency charged In 2011, Hampton convened the first-ever Simsbury with drafting all bills and resolutions introduced in the Senior Summit in an effort to raise the visibility of aging General Assembly. In addition to bill drafting, the issues and seek meaningful measures to improve the 2017 – 2018 2 lives of senior citizens. Representative Debra Heffernan Debra was elected State Representative for the 6th Dis- For his work on behalf of veterans, Hampton was hon- trict in 2010. Debra serves as chair of the House Natu- ored by the Abigail Phelps Chapter of the National So- ral Resources Committee and vice-chair of the House ciety Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Health and Human Development Committee. Debra with the Essential Piece Award in 2011. also serves on the Energy and Education Committees as well as the Joint Finance and Appropriations Com- As chair of the Simsbury Public Safety Subcommittee, mittees. As State Representative, Debra has champi- Hampton worked with police, fire and emergency per- oned efforts to improve quality of life for people with sonnel on town wide emergency preparation and re- special needs by sponsoring and passing the People sponse. John was also a member of the Personnel Sub- First Act and the Employment First Act. Debra also led committee and served as liaison to the Aging and Disa- the efforts in Delaware to ensure continuation of the bility Commission and the Simsbury Farms Complex Brownfields Remediation Act to clean up contaminated Committee. and underutilized properties. Debra has also continued to focus her efforts on improving education in Dela- Hampton has also served on the Zoning Board of Ap- ware by sponsoring and passing legislation to hire peals, the Aging & Disability Commission and is a Jus- teachers earlier and expand early childhood education. tice of the Peace. Before being elected to the Delaware House of Repre- Hampton's community involvement extends beyond sentatives, Debra served for over five years on the Town Hall. A life-long town resident, he is active in the Brandywine School Board, including two years as board Tariffville Village Association, the Farmington River president. During her time on the board, the district re- Watershed Association and the Simsbury Main Street duced administrative costs while boosting the high Partnership. school graduation rate and including greater numbers of students with special needs into regular education Hampton is a 1984 graduate of Northwest Catholic classrooms. High School & and received a BA degree in English from the University of Hartford in 1990. Hampton is a Debra was a founding member of the Brandywine Spe- former staff member of the House Democratic caucus, cial Needs PTA, the first group of its kind in Delaware, serving as Clerk of the Joint Committee on Executive and has been PTA co-president at the Bush Early Edu- & Legislative Nominations from 2000-2004. cation Center. In 2010, she was honored by Parenting magazine as Delaware’s Outstanding Mom Advocate Representative Hampton is a non-profit strategist, for Education and represented the state at the inaugural providing marketing, fundraising, and advocacy ser- Mom Congress in Washington, D.C. vices to charitable organizations. Debra is an environmental toxicologist with more than 25 years of experience, having worked in private indus- Email: [email protected] try and as a consultant for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. She serves on the state’s Hazardous Substance Advisory Delaware Committee, formerly the Brownfields Advisory Com- mittee. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology Senator David Sokola from the University of Delaware and a master of sci- ence degree in environmental toxicology from Duke Email: [email protected] University. 2017 – 2018 3 Debra lives in Edgewood Hills with her husband, Pat, dog. and their three children. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Idaho Meredith Seitz Meredith currently serves as the Policy Analyst for the Senator Chuck Windor House Majority Caucus in Delaware. After graduating Email: [email protected] college in 2009 with a B.A. in Political Science and His- tory from the University of Vermont, Meredith re- Representative Wendy Horman turned home to pursue a Master of Public Administra- Wendy served as a member of the Bonneville School tion degree from the University of Delaware. While she Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2013, including seven was working on her MPA, she served as a Research As- years as Treasurer. Public schools account for almost sistant at the Institute for Public Administration and 50% of the Idaho state budget and Wendy invested sig- helped create and lead the School of Public Policy and nificant effort into understanding the complex school Administration’s first undergraduate winter session funding system in order to be a responsible steward of program in Washington, DC. After graduating in 2012, taxpayer dollars. That knowledge is assisting her today Meredith worked as the Finance Director for the State in her duties as Co-Chair of a Legislative Interim Com- Democratic Party before accepting a position as a Leg- mittee charged with overhauling the state's funding for- islative Aide with the House Majority Caucus in 2014. mula for public schools. Previous to her board service, In March 2017, she was promoted to the position of she spent many years as a school volunteer and tutor.