
Leah Tivoli
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Leah.tivoli@seattle.gov
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Leah has over 10 years of public sector experience. She is passionate about multisector partnerships and governance based on data and evidence. Leah is particularly proud of her recent collaboration across public, non-profit, private, and academic partners to design and scale high-throughput, low-barrier COVID-19 testing sites that have served over 1.2 million people as well as community vaccination sites that removed barriers for vulnerable populations to access vaccines. Outside of work, Leah loves mountaineering, sailing, and other outdoor pursuits. Leah holds Master's degrees in Public Health and Public Administration from the University of Washington.

Madeliene Hernández
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madeliene.hernandez@seattle.gov
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Maddy is an organizational development professional with 10 years of experience working in youth development and philanthropy. Her role at the City focuses on project management and strategy development to advance Mayoral priorities as well as support City departments with service design for Seattle's residents. She is passionate about operationalizing racial equity, creating spaces of belonging, and believes strong internal operations can make a positive impact on how effective the City is at driving changes in our community. Maddy is a board member of Young Women Empowered, a Hispanic in Philanthropy Líderes fellow, a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, and completed University of Washington's Project Management Certificate Program.

Michael Wypyszinski
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michael.wypyszinski@seattle.gov
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Mike is an IT professional focusing on data engineering, automation, and analytics. He has been working with data, databases, and data warehouses for over 20 years and is a graduate of 7 University of Washington Extension Certificate programs covering a wide range of disciplines.
Mike chose to work for the City of Seattle because it is an opportunity to effect real, positive change for people and an opportunity to be part of something bigger than himself.When Mike isn't thinking about the next data engineering solution to tackle, you can find him playing games - board games, tabletop roleplaying games, wargames, etc. on the computer or in person with friends.

Ken Wong
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Ken is a Database-centric Data Engineer whose main focus is managing the flow of data on analytic databases within data warehouses. He has been involved in designing, creating, populating analytic databases and data warehouses for over 5 years. Kenneth graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Statistics. Prior to working for the City of Seattle, Kenneth was a Business Systems Analyst at Community Health Plan of Washington (CHPW). CHPW provides Medicaid and Medicare health plans to Washingtonians, which sparked his desire in wanting to work for local governments where he can better serve the people in the community.

Paige St. George
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Paige went to Washington State University and has a Bachelor's degree in Education and a Master's degree in Human Development. She began her professional career in education and community mental health before transitioning to information technology as an ERP Business Process Analyst. After 12 years working from home and raising her family, Paige joined the i-team in 2015 to support them in all things administrative, and continues this role for the IP team.

Long Dinh
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Connect with Long on LinkedIn
Long is a research-driven designer ready to inspire equitable and empowering solutions. His role focuses on user experience and service design, using applied methodologies to engage with Seattle residents, local communities, and city departments. Long began his professional career as a user-experience researcher and has worked in private and public sectors to inform digital apps and programs. He is passionate about integrating the end user’s voice in the design process and is driven to make complex problems easy to understand and feasible to break through. Long holds a B.S. in Human Centered Design & Engineering from the University of Washington.

Laura Bet
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Laura is a communications and user experience design professional who is passionate about making government services more accessible, equitable, and transparent for the people we serve. Born and raised in Everett, Washington, Laura attended the University of Washington and started her career with the City of Seattle as an intern. She has since worked in communications roles at the Seattle Office of Economic Development and Seattle Municipal Court.

Nicole Stafford
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Nicole Stafford is passionate about local government innovation and cross-sector collaboration. She worked for seven years in private sector consulting at Accenture delivering strategic planning, change management, process improvement, and strategic communications projects for public utilities, retailers, and life sciences organizations. She also has experience working for several nonprofit organizations in the global health and equitable economic development space. Most recently, she worked for the City of Durham's Innovation Team while completing a Master of Public Policy degree from Duke University focused on affordable housing policy. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Minnesota.

Steve Barham
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Steve is a data scientist with over 10 years of experience in applied data analytics, strategic evaluation, policy analysis, computational methods, and visual design. He uses data science techniques and advanced data technologies on projects that often involve equity evaluation, spatial analysis, predictive modeling, data engineering, and rapid prototyping. He joins us from the Seattle Department of Transportation where he has focused on pressing transportation issues in areas such as climate action, equity and inclusion, shared mobility, micro-mobility, and performance management. Steve enjoys collaborating with the civic technology community and has designed and led projects at the University of Washington Data Science for Social Good Program. Steve has graduate degrees from the UW in Public Administration and Civil and Environmental Engineering but picked up data and design skills through online courses, self-learning, and project collaboration. Steve lives in cooperative housing with his partner and two homeschooling kids.

Elise Kalstad
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Elise works to bridge the gap between resident needs and City programs while partnering with local organizations to spur innovation. Elise has experience in community healthcare and local government-leading quality improvement, risk management and patient advisory programs. She enjoys using data to drive improvements that have direct impacts on residents and most recently led Seattle IT's performance management program. Elise earned her undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Germanics and her Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington.

Janis Jordan
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Janis (Blackfeet) received her Master's in Education Policy from the University of Washington with her research focused around supporting children in poverty and reducing the wealth gap. She most recently worked at the Department of Children, Youth and Families on the Performance Improvement Team where she supported Early Learning, Tribal and Placement programs implement the statewide performance-based contracting mandate. She has a background in research and evaluation, with a particular experience with Indigenous Evaluation frameworks to empower Urban Native communities.
Janis enjoys artwork about Indigenous Futurism, and spends her free time exploring Seattle to find good food with a goal to try every food vendor at Pike Place market.

Miguel Jimenez
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Miguel received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a Certificate in Public Administration from Seattle University. He spent time as a naturalist and guide in the San Juan Islands and later spent several years delivering social services as a manager with the Rainier Valley Food Bank. Before joining the Innovation and Performance team, Miguel was a fiscal and policy analyst in the City Budget Office for the Office of Housing, Office of Economic Development, and Department of Neighborhoods. He supported the launch of the Equitable Communities Initiative and helped these City Departments implement new policies and programs related to the Jumpstart Payroll Expense Tax. Miguel has experience in process improvement and believes strongly in a vison of government that is accessible and responsive to the needs of its residents, with a focus on those who have been historically harmed by institutional racism. In his free time, he loves making art inspired by nature, and exploring the waterways of the Salish Sea.

Julia Juarez-Kostelnik
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julia.juarez-kostelnik@seattle.gov
Julia is passionate about learning how data and its story can influence change and improve the lives of those around us. She also enjoys strategizing ways to make government work better for everyone.
Prior to joining the Innovation and Performance team, she was a San Francisco Fellow with the City and County of San Francisco where she supported their Department of Public Health’s Office of Anti-Racism and Equity and the city’s Fire Department’s community paramedicine team. She holds a degree in economics and ethnic studies from Mills College.
In her free time, she loves being in community, reading, cooking for her loved ones, and trying new restaurants.

Sawyer Junger
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Connect with Sawyer on LinkedIn
Sawyer is passionate about using data to address public challenges and uplift diverse community voices to create a more just and equitable city. Prior to joining the City of Seattle, Sawyer held positions as an Economist and Policy Analyst with Environment and Climate Change Canada where his work centered on researching green approaches to COVID-19 pandemic stimulus spending, upskilling public servants in climate literacy, and analyzing the environmental and socio-economic impacts of proposed government policies.
Sawyer earned his BA in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of British Columbia and his MPP from the University of Toronto.

Matthew Sprenke
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Matt is an intrepid problem solver who thrives in a create environment where he is allowed to search for innovative solutions that streamline processes, remove barriers, and solve complex issues. Matt began his technology career at a non-profit organization before a lengthy period at a local coffee giant. He finally settled here at the City of Seattle where he found a new home using his tech skills to the benefit of Seattle’s residents.
Matt earned his bachelors degree from Western Washington University in German, Psychology, and Anthropology. He later took another year to study computer science before beginning his IT career. Matt specializes in business and systems analysis, change management, solutions design, and training.