Staff

Aaron Ostrom, Executive Director, is the master of "strategery" behind Fuse and its innovative campaigns to move progress forward in Washington State. Before helping to launch Fuse in 2007, Aaron served for eight years as the Executive Director of Futurewise, an organization dedicated to protecting rural areas and natural resources from irresponsible development and making cities great places to live. Aaron was a co-founder and Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition and also worked as a manager in the City of Seattle's Strategic Planning Office. He has served as a board member of Smart Growth America and several other non-profits. He has chaired and/or played a critical leadership role in several statewide and regional ballot measure campaigns. Aaron has B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University. In his off-time, Aaron plays basketball with other slow old men and aspires to more enthusiastically celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day. He and his family, including sons Cole and Desmond live in Seattle. Contact Aaron: Email

Jim Dawson, Campaign Director, works to engage grassroots activists and leaders in our democracy to make sure it works the way it is supposed too.  He most recently worked for 3 and a half years as the Field Director of the Washington Toxics Coalition. He has directed the grassroots campaigns for ground breaking victories, including passing the nation's strongest standards for toxic chemicals in kids' products and a first-in-the-nation ban on toxic flame retardants.  Jim has worked for the past ten years for non-profit organizations on the state, national, and international level. In his spare time he likes to chase his dog through the woods and mountains of the Northwest, pretend to be a carpenter, and learn how to grow, cook, and preserve yummy organic local foods.  He is proud to report that he has yet to die from botulism or get really sick from his forays into local eating.  He lives in Tumwater, WA in a passive solar straw-bale home he designed and built.  Contact Jim: Email

Alex Epstein, Organizer, graduated with degrees in English, Politics, and Environmental policy from University of Puget Sound in 2010. During the fall of 2008, he took a leave from school to serve as a youth vote organizer for the Obama/Udall/Polis Campaign for Change in his home state of Colorado. After graduation, Alex gained extensive environmental and political organizing experience working to protect California's Global Warming Law by defeating Proposition 23 and as the Appalachian Regional Organizer for Power Shift 2011, the largest youth convergence on climate change in world history. Contact Alex: Email

Erin Haick, Field Director, came to Fuse to organize thousands of activists across Washington into an army for progressive change. Previously, she led the civic engagement program at OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone), which engaged new immigrants and refugees for voter registration, candidate evaluation, and advocacy on state and national issues. She learned organizing at SEIU, where she spent three years working with homecare workers in Philadelphia, Toronto, and Wisconsin who were organizing for dignity, better pay, and working conditions. Erin's a proud Eastern Washington native, studied Communication at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, and has too many house plants. Contact Erin: Email

Collin Jergens, Communications Manager, is the master of messaging, the sultan of social media, the exemplar of email, and generally the guy who writes a lot. Prior to joining Fuse, he worked as a research and communications consultant for a startup technology company in Washington D.C. before joining the Obama campaign as a field organizer in Oregon and Colorado. Collin has B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in Communications, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown University. When he’s not editing his own edits, Collin can be found hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, or chasing after a frisbee. Contact Collin: Email

Rachel Padgett, Development Director, was attracted to the splendor, majesty and general awesomeness of Washington State, and joined Fuse in April 2011 after eight years in New York City where she ran her own political fundraising business. Originally from England, Rachel moved to the United States in 1994 and proudly became a US citizen in 2003. Her political awakening came during the more than yearlong UK miners strike in the mid 80's which led her to a career as a union organizer for HERE in Connecticut and the UAW in New York. She has served as the development director or fundraising consultant to dozens of political campaigns across New York from the State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, to the New York City Public Advocate, to Emily's List. She lives in West Seattle with her husband and two cats. Contact Rachel: Email

Binah Palmer, Online Advocacy Manager, is a Seattle native and therefore loves rain, coffee, and salmon. She attended Colby College in Maine, where she double-majored in History and American Studies; she then became addicted to the public policy process after a stint advocating for afterschool programs at School's Out Washington. After four years at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State and a term on the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission, Binah recently finished a Master's degree in Law, Policy, and Society at Northeastern University in Boston. She is happily back in the Pacific Northwest, and has rejoined the Seattle chapter board of the Japanese American Citizens League, where she serves as VP of Civil Rights; she is also on the board for Asian Pacific Americans for Civic Empowerment (APACE) and APACE-PAC. In her spare time, Binah is a karaoke junkie and scotch aficionado. Contact Binah: Email

Sandra VanderVen, Senior Organizer, is doing whatever it takes to harness progressive power, sharpening our country's ability to stand for and with all of the people in it, not just the ones with lobbyist representation. She graduated from The Evergreen State College, then spent several years teaching middle school science. It was then she got an eyeful of how economic injustice can make life harder for kids in struggling families. She resolved to find solutions and began organizing with MoveOn.org as Seattle's Council Coordinator and then as a Regional Organizer. Contact Sandra: Email

Jay Arnold, Technology Director, is the technology spark behind Fuse's creative and cutting-edge online campaigns. Formerly a test manager at Microsoft, Jay was part of the product leadership team developing Internet Explorer and Windows. He previously served on the boards of Futurewise and Northwest SEED working to build sustainable communities, and as a watchdog for good government as a Trustee of the Municipal League of King County. Jay holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He and his family live in Kirkland where they are walking the talk of sustainability with urban chickens and solar power. Contact Jay: Email

Brad Barber, Technology Intern, joins Fuse from Seattle Central Community College. Originally from Philadelphia, Brad joined the Navy after High School where he spent 6 years stationed on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. After being honorably discharged Brad completed a Bachelor's of Nuclear Engineering Technology from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. Then in 2008 Brad moved to Seattle where he instantly embraced the city and all it has to offer. Currently, Brad is pursuing a technical certificate in Web Development from Seattle Central. He is excited to learn new skills as a technology intern while contributing to progressive public policy. Contact Brad: Email

Delaney Merrick, Fundraising and Development Intern, is a fledgling political activist who's had a strong interest in government and politics since she was little. She is currently a Junior in the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies program. She hopes to graduate with a Bachelor's in International Studies and a concentration in Environmental Studies. Although she was born in Seattle, she lived in Germany for a few years with her parents and studied at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland last year. Delaney is currently working on mastering her fifth language, which has proven to be the hardest yet, Mandarin Chinese. She lives near the University of Washington with her baby hedgehog, Uni, and her fish, Charmander. Delaney spends most of her time outdoors when she can, hiking, snowboarding, playing soccer, and biking. Contact Delaney: Email

Alexa Moriarity, Organizing Intern, is a Senior at the University of Washington graduating with a degree in Law, Societies and Justice and a minor in Italian. Alexa is interested in International Law and human rights issues. While studying international law and traveling Europe in the Spring of 2012, Alexa became aware of the need for change through grassroots methods. Alexa has joined Fuse to further her understanding of political movements and issues in the state of Washington, and to learn how to better organize and mobilize the people. Contact Alexa: Email

Ty, Fuse Dog, and housemate of Fuse Board Member Kurt Guenther, loafs around the office giving love to all the people.