Future of Work Task Force Members

Senator Mona Das

Senator Das elected to the Washington State Senate in 2018 and is serving her first term for the 47th District.

Mona graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and earned a MBA in sustainable business from Pinchot University. She also attended the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University. For the last 13 years, Mona has operated her own mortgage business, MOXY Money.

Mona was born in India, and moved to the United States with her family when she was eight months old. She spent her childhood moving around because of her father’s job, living in eight states and three countries. She currently lives in Kent.

She loves the outdoors, hiking, biking, paddle boarding and camping in her free time. Mona loves to travel, and has visited 34 countries. She has a dog named Cleveland, and is a proud auntie to two nephews.

Senator Hans Zeiger

Senator Hans Zeiger began representing Pierce County residents in 2011, serving three terms in the state House of Representatives before 25th District voters elected him to the Washington State Senate in 2016. Hans represents the communities of Puyallup, Fife, Midland, Parkland, South Hill, Summit and Waller.

Hans serves as ranking member of the Housing Stability & Affordability Committee and State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee. He is also a member of the Transportation Committee and Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee.

Hans holds a bachelor’s degree from Hillsdale College and a master’s in public policy from Pepperdine University. He undertook further graduate studies in political science from Claremont Graduate University.

Hans and his wife Erin have a daughter Clara. Hans also has two stepsons, Cullen and Kannen. Hans and Erin enjoy hiking throughout Washington.

Representative Vandana Slatter

Rep. Vandana Slatter represents the 48th Legislative district, including parts of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and all of Clyde Hill, Medina, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point. She currently serves on the Education Committee, the Health Care and Wellness Committee and the Technology and Economic Development Committee.

Vandana is a health care professional with over 20 years of experience in clinical pharmacy and the biotech industry, with four years on the Washington State Board of Pharmacy.

Vandana holds a Pharm. D. and M.P.A. from the University of Washington. She and her family, her husband Greg and their son, have called Bellevue home since 2003.

Representative Larry Hoff

Rep. Larry Hoff is serving his first term representing Southwest Washington’s 18th Legislative District, where he has lived for more than 40 years. He is currently the assistant ranking member of the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee, and also serves on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee.

Larry served as interim CEO for Columbia Credit Union (CCU). After serving at CCU for more than 12 years, he became CEO of Electra Central Credit Union. Seven years later, he was hired as CEO of the Fibre Federal Credit Union, an institution he grew from $400 million to $1 billion before retiring in January 2017.

Larry holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota. He currently lives in Vancouver with his wife Renee. They have one son and one grandson.

Business Representatives

Amy Anderson, Association of Washington Business

Amy K. Anderson is Association of Washington Business’ director of government affairs for education, workforce development, health care and federal issues. She also oversees the work of the AWB Institute, AWB’s research, workforce and economic development arm.

Before joining AWB’s government affairs team, Amy was a strategic consultant for the AWB Institute for almost four years, bringing more than 10 years of policy analysis and advocacy experience to the position.

She began her career working with the Washington State Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee as well as the Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board as a policy analyst. She also spent seven years heading up the policy and workforce efforts at Greater Spokane Incorporated. She has also worked as Oregon and Alaska legislative director at Premera Blue Cross. Amy has also taught graduate health policy and law classes for Washington State University Spokane and Kaplan University.

Amy holds a law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law, a graduate degree in Health Policy and Administration from Washington State University Spokane, a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Colorado and a B.A. in Government and History from California State University Sacramento.

Machelle Johnson, Pearson Packaging

Machelle Johnson joined Spokane’s Pearson Packaging Systems in 2003 as the Director of Human Resources. Prior to working at Pearson, she was the Director of Human Resources for Egghead Software, Esurg Corp, and Key Tronic. Throughout 25 years working at the executive level, Machelle led the human resource function through mergers, acquisitions and venture capital startups. She further serves as the current Chair for the Spokane Workforce Council as well as a member of the Education Committee for the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI). Prior to that, Machelle chaired the Youth Employment and Career Readiness Network for Spokane County and received the Champion of Youth award in 2016 by the Chase Youth Commission.

Machelle graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hospitality Business Management from Washington State University and received her PHR certification in 2001.

Rich Rhodes, New York Life Insurance Company

Rich Rhodes is originally from Long Island, New York. He moved to Tacoma in October of 2013.

Rich joined New York Life at the start of 2019. His previous 14 years of experience has been with various departments at State Farm Insurance and Bank. Serving in a variety of roles for State Farm, Rich could always be counted to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to any challenge. His most recent team received 12 patents for their ideas. He has also spent several years in roles involving data analysis and metric development. Rich was also a member of the Association of Washington Business’ 2016-17 Leadership Washington program.

Rich is looking forward to bringing these skills and experiences to the Future of Work Task Force.

Lisa Perry, Sierra Pacific

Lisa Perry is the Community Relations Manager for Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) in Washington. She is based in Shelton Washington but covers SPI properties from the northern end of Clark County to the Canadian border. Previous to her employment at SPI she worked on workforce and employment recruitment in the Natural Resource fields for both Humboldt State University and the California Forest Products Commission.

She earned a B.S. in Social Science and a California Teaching Credential from Sacramento State University.

Mark Smith, Providence

Mark Smith is Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for the Washington-Montana Region of Providence St. Joseph Health. He has been with Providence for 15 years, the last 12 years in Spokane. Prior to this assignment, Mark served as the Director of Human Resources for Providence Health Care. He has held a number of positions with Providence, including Organizational Development Director and System Organizational Development Programs Director. In his professional career, Mark has focused on helping businesses create great places to work, where individuals learn, grow and contribute to the organization’s success.

Mark is a graduate of Central Washington University with degrees in English and Business Administration. He has a Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational psychology from Capella University.

Stephanie Beers, Microsoft Corporation

Stephanie Beers is an attorney for Employment Policy and Society at Microsoft Corporation.  Ms. Beers advises on public policy matters that impact employees, workforce development, and income equality.  Her work focuses on diversity and inclusion in tech, changing labor trends, and the impact of automation and AI on skills and employability.

Stephanie earned a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, and graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in psychology and public policy.

Labor Representatives

Joe Kendo, Washington State Labor Council

Joe Kendo joined the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, lobbying team in October 2013. In May 2015, he was named the Government Affairs Director. In this position, Joe helps develop the WSLC’s legislative agenda, serves on several internal and external policy committees, and works with affiliated unions and community partners to improve the lives of Washington’s working families.

As Government Affairs Director, Kendo represents the WSLC on the L&I Workers’ Compensation Advisory Committee, the Paid Family and Medical Leave Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board, the Employment Security Advisory Council, and the External Advisory Committee to the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.

Prior to joining the WSLC, Kendo served as a Council Representative for the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28. In that position, he did internal organizing in support of contract negotiations and better working conditions, trained shop stewards, and recruited members for WFSE political activities and leadership positions on the council. Prior to that, during the 2008 legislative session, Kendo served as the WSLC’s Legislative Intern.

He lives in Bellevue with his wife, Becca, and their three boys.

April Sims, Washington State Labor Council

April was appointed the Washington State Labor Council’s Political and Strategic Campaign Director in November, 2017, where she works to develop shared agendas with labor and community partners, to advance strategic organizing campaigns (raising wages, naturalization, revenue reform, etc.), and to recruit, train and elect political champions for working people.

Prior to joining the WSLC in 2015, Sims served as the Legislative and Political Action Field Coordinator for the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE), where she was responsible for member education, communication, and mobilization around legislative issues and political campaigns. She was a WFSE member, shop steward, elected union officer, and union staffer from 2002-15.

A native of Tacoma, April lives with her husband, two daughters, and 100-pound chocolate lab.

Rebecca Smith, National Employment Law Project

Rebecca Smith is the director of the Work Structures Portfolio at NELP. She joined NELP in 2000, after nearly 20 years advocating for migrant farm workers in Washington State.

At NELP, Rebecca has worked with local, state, and national groups to advance the rights of immigrant and low-wage workers and the unemployed. She has worked to apply international human rights laws to help protect immigrant workers in the United States, and with immigrant worker organizing groups to enforce U.S. labor laws.
More recently, Rebecca’s work has centered on domestic outsourcing (the corporate use of franchise and temp and staffing arrangements, subcontracting, or labeling workers freelancers, self-employed or “1099s”) as a key driver of eroding labor standards, rising income, and wealth inequality; persistent structural racism; and occupational segregation and the shifting of power away from workers and towards corporations.

She champions innovative approaches to building worker power and increasing labor standards and accountability in so-called “alternative” work structures. She has researched and written extensively on these issues, testified before local, state, and national legislatures, litigated significant cases, and is a frequent commentator in the media, including publications as diverse as Fortune, Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Hill, Quartz, CNBC, Buzzfeed, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. She regularly speaks at legal and policy conferences addressing worker rights in the “on-demand” or “gig” economy. Outside of NELP, she is an avid sea kayaker in the waters of her native Washington State.

Becki has received the United Farm Workers of America’s Aztec Eagle Award, in addition to the Golden Door Award from Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project and special recognition by the Foreign Minister of Mexico for her work on behalf of undocumented workers before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Rebecca is a graduate of Washington State University and the University of Washington, and also has a law degree from the University of Washington Law School.

Annette Bernhardt, UC Berkeley Labor Center

Annette Bernhardt is director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, as well as a senior researcher at the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. She recently was visiting professor in the UC Berkeley sociology department, as well as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Previously she was policy co-director of the National Employment Law Project, where she coordinated policy analysis and research support for campaigns around living wage jobs, enforcement of workers’ rights, and accountable development. A leading scholar of low-wage work, Dr. Bernhardt has helped develop and analyze innovative policy responses to economic restructuring in the United States. She was one of the principal investigators of the landmark study Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, which documented high rates of minimum wage, overtime, and other workplace violations in the low- wage labor market. She has also been a leader in collaborating with immigrant worker centers and unions to develop innovative models of community-based research. Her current research focuses on domestic outsourcing, the gig economy, and the impact of new technologies on low- wage work. Dr. Bernhardt’s most recent book is the co-edited The Gloves-Off Economy: Workplace Standards at the Bottom of America’s Labor Market. She has also published widely in journals such as the American Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review, and the Journal of Labor Economics, among others.

Dr. Bernhardt received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1993.

Marcus Courtney, President Emeritus WashTech/CWA Local 37083

Marcus Courtney brings more than 15 years worth of experience on the intersection between labor and technology. In 1998, he co-founded the first union for technology workers in the U.S., while working as a temporary worker at Microsoft. The union, WashTech was affiliated with the Communications workers of America. Marcus has been widely quoted in the media by the New York Times, NPR, Seattle Times, and network TV as a recognized expert on technology labor related issues. In 2008, Marcus took a job as the Director of Telecommunications and Technology for UNI Global Union an international trade union federation based in Nyon, Switzerland. At UNI, he coordinated international activities on behalf of national unions, negotiated with global-telecom employers for improving working conditions in the America’s, Africa, Asia and Europe. In 2013, Marcus accepted a position working for the AFL-CIO as the Senior Field Representative in the North West covering AK, OR and WA. In 2016, Marcus was a candidate for the state legislature in Seattle and has worked for the Washington Education Association. Currently, Marcus is an independent consultant in public affairs focusing on the intersection between technology, labor, legislative and the media relations.

Stan Sorscher, Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace

Stan Sorscher is Labor Representative at the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), a union representing scientists, engineers, pilots, technical and professional employees in the aerospace industry. He represented organized labor on the Washington State Economic Development Commission, the Puget Sound Regional Council, and the Export Finance Assistance Center of Washington. Stan is active in public policies regarding global trade, the aerospace industry, health care, and high tech immigration.