| 2021 Steering Committee |
Jason Gramitt, PresidentJason Gramitt is the Executive Director and Chief Prosecutor of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission, a constitutionally-created, independent state agency that is responsible for both adopting and enforcing a Code of Ethics for state and municipal public officials and employees. He has been employed by the Ethics Commission since 2001 in various capacities such as prosecutor, staff attorney and education coordinator. Before joining the Ethics Commission, Jason practiced law as a litigator and appellate advocate for a Providence law firm. He is an adjunct faculty member at Johnson and Wales University where he teaches courses in Business Ethics and Global Ethics. Jason is a graduate of Ohio University and Roger Williams University School of Law. In his free time, Jason plays guitar and think about ways to improve financial disclosure. Term of office expires December 2022 Elizabeth Ziegler, President-ElectLiz Ziegler is the Executive Director of the Missouri Ethics Commission where she oversees staff and is responsible for the planning, direction, and coordination of the Commission’s statutorily required activities and services related to the Commission’s administration of its campaign finance, lobbying, personal financial disclosure, FOIA compliance, and enforcement programs. Beginning in 2006 and prior to her appointment as the Ethics Commission’s Chief Officer in July 2018, Liz served as the Commission’s General Counsel. Since 2008 she also has served as a member of the Regular Adjunct Faculty at Columbia College. Liz previously served as Executive Director of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services from 1993 to 2006, where her duties included providing training and technical assistance for 115 county prosecuting attorneys and their staffs and acting as Administrator with the Missouri Witness Protection Program. She also served as Assistant Attorney General with the State of Missouri from 1985 through 1993, including as Unit Head of the Criminal Appeals Unit. Liz has been an active member of COGEL for 13 years, during which time she served as a member of the Program Committee for four years, served on the Awards Committee, and moderated or participated in a number of conference panels. Liz earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati and a J.D. from the University of Akron School of Law. Term of office expires December 2023
Justin Gordon, TreasurerJustin Gordon currently serves as the chief of the Open Records Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, and he has held this role since 2015. The Open Records Division is a 60-person division that handles a wide range of Texas Public Information Act issues, including administrative rulings, complaint enforcement, and open government education. The Open Records Division also hosts an annual Open Government Conference attended by hundreds of Texas government employees. In 2006, Justin began his legal career in the division he now leads at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. In that role, he reviewed and drafted thousands of public information legal opinions as a drafting attorney and later as a senior managing attorney. In 2011, Justin joined the Office of the Governor of Texas where he was an assistant general counsel in the General Counsel Division. At the Office of the Governor of Texas, he was responsible for a number of legal areas, including public information, open meetings, contracting, and economic development. After four years in the Governor’s Office, Justin re-joined the Open Records Division as the division chief. Justin earned a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2002 and a J.D. from Baylor Law School in 2005. Term of office expires December 2023 Steve Berlin, Immediate Past President Steve Berlin was appointed as the Executive Director of the Board of Ethics and confirmed by the City Council in December 2008. Before that appointment, he served as the Board’s Acting Executive Director, from October 2006, and began his City career in September 1993 as the Board’s Deputy Director. In his years with the City, he has implemented several changes to the City’s ethics and campaign financing laws, including a recent major overhaul, under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and has advised tens of thousands of City employees, officials, lobbyists and contractors on complying with the letter and spirit of the City’s ethics laws. Steve appears regularly at conferences and panels as an expert on ethics in government, has authored several articles, was recently elected to a 3-year term as a member of the Steering Committee of COGEL (the Council on Government Ethics Laws, an international organization), and heads COGEL’s Publications Committee. In June 2012, he served as a State Department Legislative Fellow in the Republic of Georgia, advising officials there on establishing and maintaining government ethics institutions, and also served as an adviser to the Lt. Governor's committee to rewrite the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association's Government Lawyer Committee. He received his J.D. in 1984 from Northwestern University's School of Law, and received his B.A. in history, cum laude, from Amherst College in 1980. In 1991, he earned an M.A. in Ethics from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School. He began his legal career with Altheimer & Gray in 1984 and then worked for Rudnick & Wolfe (now DLA Piper), both in Chicago. He also worked as Research Attorney for the American Judicature Society, and was a Fellow with the Park Ridge Center for Health, Faith and Ethics. From 1991-2013, he taught Business Ethics and the Arts as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia College Chicago. Term of office expires December 2021 Wesley BizzellWes Bizzell is Senior Assistant General Counsel, External Affairs and Managing Director of Political Law and Ethics Programs for Altria Client Services LLC, where he provides in-house legal counsel on matters relating to the political, legislative, and lobbying activities of Altria Group, Inc., its services companies, including ALCS, and its operating companies, including Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. LLC, John Middleton Co., and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. In this role, his work includes responsibility for ensuring the companies’ compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations in the areas of campaign finance, government ethics, lobbying disclosure and reporting, and charitable giving. Wes previously was an attorney at Winston & Strawn and served on Capitol Hill for over six years as an aide to U.S. Senators David Pryor and Dale Bumpers. He chairs the Conference Board’s Committee on Corporate Political Spending and is a longtime faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Corporate Political Activities conference. Active in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal and corporate communities, Wes also serves as President of the National LGBT Bar Association and was named by London’s Financial Times as one of the 100 worldwide OUTstanding Leading LGBT+ Corporate Executives for his work. In 2019, he was named the 2019 LGBT+ Equality Lawyer of the Year for his commitment to LGBT diversity programs and his efforts to advance LGBT+ professionals in the law. Wes served for four years as co-chair of the COGEL Program Committee and was awarded the COGEL Award in 2018. Wes graduated with a B.A. in justice from American University and received a Master of Social Work from the Catholic University of America. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Term of office expires December 2023
Michael BodaMichael Boda has served as Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer since June 2012. As an independent officer of Saskatchewan’s Legislative Assembly, he is responsible for the administration and regulation of all provincial electoral events. In October 2020, he oversaw Saskatchewan’s 29th General Election. For more than two decades, Boda has offered advice to national and international institutions on issues relating to election administration, law and assessment. He has served on the senior staff of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). He has been a founding member of the steering committee for the Canadian Society of Election Official Training and was the founding co-chair of the Secretariat for Electoral Coordination, a body constituted to facilitate coordination among Canada’s fourteen election management bodies. He has been a member of COGEL since 2012 and been a panel speaker on several occasions. Boda has been a visiting research fellow at the Brookings Institution and the National Endowment for Democracy. He has also provided advisory and assessment services internationally on electoral issues, working in several different countries, including Jordan, Pakistan, Ghana, Scotland and the United States, with institutions such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and the Carter Center. He holds doctorates from Oxford (Law) and Johns Hopkins (Political Science) universities, has been an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University, and is a Policy Fellow at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan. Term of office expires December 2024
Jared DeMarinis Jared DeMarinis is the Director of Candidacy and Campaign Finance for the Maryland State Board of Elections. In 2013, he helped draft House Bill 1499, the Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2013, which completely overhauled campaign finance laws in Maryland. The bill closed the controversial contribution “LLC loophole” and slate transfers, increased enforcement powers of the agency including civil penalties and provided greater disclosure of political activity of 501(c) and 527 organizations. Recently, he assisted in shepherding the passage of revamping of the public financing program for gubernatorial elections. The first time in the history of the nearly 50 year old program there will be mandated funding. Term of office expires December 2021 Mike KellyMike Kelly spent 38 years in public service in the State of California, retiring in March 2013. He worked for the non-partisan Legislative Counsel Bureau for more than two decades. He supervised the Civil Law Unit which was responsible for drafting legislation and opinions for the California Legislature in areas related to civil law. He previously worked on tax matters for the Legislative Counsel, the California Franchise Tax Board, and the California State Controller. He joined Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni, LLP, in 2013 as a researcher in the firm’s Political Law Section. At Nielsen Merksamer he follows changes in the laws and regulations pertaining to ethics, including lobbying, gifts, conflicts, and campaign finance, in all 50 states as well as most major cities in America (and occasionally in Canada). He prepares a weekly blog of developments in lobby law and campaign finance law published on the Nielsen Merksamer website. Mike has compiled and edited the COGEL Bluebook on Campaign Finance Litigation for several years. He attended His first COGEL Conference in 2016 and has attended each year since. He served two years on the COGEL Publications Committee and has hosted table topics discussions at COGEL for the past two years. He has also contributed to the COGEL Guardian. Mike graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.A. in Spanish and Biology. He received his J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and is a member of the California Bar. Term of office expires December 2024
Ashley KempAshley Kemp is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission having previously served as its Deputy Director. The Commission enacts Ethics Laws for the State of Oklahoma and enforces those laws. During her time at the Commission, the Commission rewrote and replaced the Ethics Laws for the State of Oklahoma, implemented a new online reporting system, a robust continuing education program, and initiated an intermediate level of enforcement of its Rules using Compliance Orders and an administrative hearing process. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Ashley previously served as General Counsel to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Deputy General Counsel to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and Assistant General Counsel to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Term of office expires December 2021 Nancy S. Nicolescu Nancy Nicolescu is the Director of Education and Communications for the Connecticut Office of State Ethics. The Office of State Ethics is charged with administering the Code of Ethics for state-wide elected and public officials, state employees, lobbyists and contractors. Nancy is a highly effective communicator, trainer and media spokesperson. She is an executive team member with a demonstrated ability to develop and implement regulatory and policy initiatives. Nancy offers almost 25 years of experience and knowledge serving the public sector. She is passionate and highly valued for her expertise as a legislative advisor and trainer. Formerly employed by the State Elections Enforcement Commission as a member of senior management, she was responsible for the administration of public campaign financing through the Citizen’s Election Program, which provides grants to General Assembly candidates and Constitutional Officers. She currently serves as a Director for the Females’ Center of Excellence and Leadership; a Judge for the School for Ethical Education, Laws of Life Essay Program; and a statewide Trainer for the Connecticut Training and Development Network. She recently completed two terms as the Vice-Chair of the Connecticut Management Advisory Council. Term of office expires December 2022 Jabu Sengova Jabu M. Sengova is the Ethics Officer for the City of Atlanta and in this role, she provides leadership and direction in the areas of ethics advice and training, public education and outreach, financial disclosure filings, and enforcement of ethics cases. Ms. Sengova brings her passion, experience and commitment to building a strong ethical culture in Atlanta city government. Ms. Sengova earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from South Carolina State University and her law degree from the University of Florida; and she is barred in Georgia and Florida. She is a member of both local and national ethics and compliance organizations. Ms. Sengova received the Atlanta Bar Association's prestigious Public Service Award in October 2017. Term of office expires December 2022 Laurie Wong-NowinskiLaurie Wong-Nowinski is the Associate Legal Counsel for the Honolulu Ethics Commission. She has served the Honolulu Ethics Commission since November 2010 providing advice, outreach and education, investigation, policy/legislation, and enforcement of the CIty and County of Honolulu's Standards of Conduct. Laurie has worked on some of the state's highest profile public corruption cases during her tenure. Laurie is also an innovator and visionary in government ethics outreach and education through the use of social media, ethics mascots, peer jurisdiction collaboration, and private sector collaboration. Laurie creates online hybrid ethics training program content incorporating pop culture and game show style interaction. She also collaborates with other city departments to develop a learning management system for 10,000 city officers and employees. Laurie was a featured presenter at COGEL 2019, Innovations and Technology. Prior to her years of public service, she practiced commercial litigation and environmental law at California and Honolulu law firms. Laurie is a member of the State Bars of California and Hawaii. Laurie earned her JD with distinction and a concentration in Advocacy from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento. Laurie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama from the University of California, Irvine. Laurie is also a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy. Laurie was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is proud to give back to her community. Term of office expires December 2024
Executive Director:
Christina Bauders |