Jo Comerford

Jo joined the National Priorities Project staff in 2008 bringing with her two decades of work as a community organizer, and a strong background in nonprofit administration. Most recently, Jo served as Director of Programs at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Prior to The Food Bank, Jo directed the American Friends Service Committee's western Massachusetts office. Jo travels extensively for NPP, offering budget talks and facilitating participatory workshops. She is a frequent media contributor with pieces appearing in outlets such as The Nation, TomDispatch, The Huffington Post, Salon.com, Mother Jones and Dollars and Sense. Jo holds an MSW in community organizing from Hunter College School of Social Work and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Smith College School of Social Work.

Samantha Dana

Samantha is a recent recipient of a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts. Her work focused on women and the environment in the modern Middle East. A native of Nevada, Sam has worked previously both on political campaigns and for select state-level ballot measures.

Kris Elinevsky

Kris has been with NPP since 1997. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego and a Masters Degree in Public Administration for Non-Profit Management from the University of San Francisco. She has worked in education, activist and non-profit settings for over 30 years.

Anders Fremstad

Anders completed his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Sheila Heady

Sheila is a recent graduate of University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she completed a double major in Music and Political Science. Before joining NPP, she was the outreach director for WMUA 91.1 FM, the student-run radio station at UMass.

Chris Hellman

Chris joined NPP after serving as a military policy analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focused on national security spending, military planning and policy, base closures, major weapons systems, trends in the defense industry, global military spending, and homeland security. Prior to joining the Center, Chris spent six years as a Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Defense Information. He also worked for two years as a military budget specialist at Physicians for Social Responsibility. Previously, Chris spent ten years on Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer working on national security and foreign policy issues. He is a frequent media commentator on military planning, policy, and budgetary issues and is the author of numerous reports and articles. He holds a Bachelors Degree from Middlebury College in Vermont

Osman Keshawarz

Osman recently completed his MA in Economics from the University of Connecticut, from where he has also received a BA in Philosophy. His research focus was in Urban Economics and macroeconometric modeling. He is a native of Hartford, Connecticut.

Mattea Kramer

Mattea brings to NPP her experience in food policy, public health, and political campaigns. Her recent endeavors include serving as a consultant to the Wholesome Wave Foundation, where she examined policy alternatives to improve nutrition for food stamp recipients; and working as a journalist in Washington, where she was reporting on federal funding for food safety. Mattea holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Amherst College and a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Harvard.

Abby Rusk

Abby is an Ada Comstock scholar at Smith College studying Sociology. She is a graduate of Harold Washington College in Media Studies where she was editor-in-chief of The Herald. Abby hails from Texas by way of Chicago.

Sara Silvia

Sara has over twenty-five years of non-profit experience working to improve the well being of individuals and communities. Her work has encompassed administration, fundraising, human rights, training, diversity and finance. Prior to NPP, Sara worked with the Sisters of Providence Health Care System, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) and the Center for Human Development and Behavioral Health Network. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Organizational Development

Brendan Smith

Brendan has extremely diverse skills and expertise in the field of IT. He has worked in infrastructure and development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and for various web design and development firms. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston

Becky Sweger

Becky hails from Pennsylvania and spent 15 years doing a wide range of technology jobs in Philadelphia. She comes to NPP from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as a technical liaison between the student body and the IT department. She also served on Wharton’s Learning Lab team, developing web-based games and simulations used in the classroom. Prior to Wharton, Becky was a founding member of Cooper University Hospital’s Business Intelligence division. With the goal of liberating the organization’s data and making it useful, she designed and implemented Cooper’s first data marts and oversaw their rollout to users throughout the health system. Becky loves blogging and is passionate about technology that empowers people. She holds a Bachelors Degree in English from James Madison University and a Masters Degree in Information Systems from Drexel University.

Ann Werboff

After earning a Bachelors Degree in International Studies from American University, Ann worked for over fifteen years in the American labor movement, with both industrial and public sector unions. Her work focused on organizing and educating workers, building community coalitions and lobbying. Ann is currently pursuing her PhD in Economics at the University of Massachusetts.