Who We Are

Alex is Polco’s co-founder and CTO. Alex served seven years as an officer in the US Air Force.  Following his time on Active Duty, Alex was a strategy and operations analyst at Google in Mountain View, California. Alex holds a technical degree from the United States Air Force Academy and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard.

Amanda is a Technical Product Manager & Software Engineer at Polco. She started her career working in theatre general management in NYC where she used her passion for building things to create theatre productions on and off Broadway. She then moved to Australia with her (now) Australian husband and worked as an account manager for a tech startup, fostering her love of using technology to make an impact. After 3 years in Australia and completing a coding bootcamp in Chicago, Amanda moved back to her hometown of Madison, WI and became a software engineer at Polco. Amanda’s diverse background and communication skills led her into product management within Polco and she loves constantly working on ways to improve the platform and help users. When not typing away, Amanda enjoys spending time with her dog Rusty and cat Benji and baking lots of pumpkin treats.

NRC Marketing Director Angelica Wedell has worked in multimedia communications for the last ten years and is an Online Marketing Certified Professional (OMCP). She enjoys leading the digital communications efforts and strategies of Polco and the National Research Center (NRC) team, networking and speaking professionally at conferences across the country, writing popular guest articles for syndicates like ELGL (Engaging Local Government Leaders), contributing to and editing NRC’s monthly newsletter, The Civil Review.  “Polco has given me the highly sought yet seldom found opportunity to get paid to do what I truly love,” Angelica said.  “By telling the world about Polco’s services, I feel like I’m helping communities become better places to live. I staunchly believe that these surveys and evaluative services are absolutely needed, especially for local governments that value transparency, data-based decision-making and the quality of life of their everyday residents.” 

Ann Michelle joined NRC after 10 years of freelancing and volunteering for her community. She brings excellent customer service and attention to detail in her work. Ann Michelle works behind the scenes to keep the gears moving so others can thrive in the field. When she is not in the office, Ann Michelle can be found on her bike or skis (depending on the weather) or cheering on her two kids in their various activities.

Brian has worked in multimedia storytelling and digital marketing for more than a decade. After working as a newspaper journalist for five years in Colorado, Alaska and Idaho, Brian got his start in digital marketing working with several non-profit organizations. During his time as a journalist, Brian worked closely with cities, counties and other municipalities to tell their stories of progress and change. He is passionate about the democratic process and community involvement in politics. His favorite part about working at Polco / NRC is being part of a team using a non-partisan tool to make a measurable impact on the lives of people across America.

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Cory is the Vice President, Strategic Development for Polco having previously served in leadership positions including Executive Director of the Wisconsin City/County Management Association and Membership Director for the Alliance for Innovation.  She worked as a 911 Dispatcher and in the City Manager’s Office in several Illinois communities and has spoken around the country on topics including use of data, civic engagement, and innovation in local government. While employed at Northern Illinois University Cory co-authored research papers for local government, including an article on shared service delivery published in a peer-reviewed, professional journal. 

Erin earned a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis in research methods and statistics. She has over 20 years’ experience as a senior researcher and project manager and has designed and conducted scores of surveys, needs assessments, policy studies and program evaluations for public and non-profit sector clients. Erin has a wealth of analytic experience from the simple (such as descriptive statistics and cross tabulations) or more complex (such as hierarchical linear modeling, reliability and validity testing or factor analysis). One of the many community surveys she overseen is the NYC Resident Feedback Survey in 2010, one of the largest local government surveys conducted. She was again the project manager in 2017 when the survey was funded by the Citizens Budget Commission. In addition, she has managed numerous multisite, multi-state research studies including a 5-year study measuring the effectiveness of 18 community-based programs aimed at meeting the Surgeon General’s Healthy People 2010 goals of increased physical activity, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and decreased obesity; the project included the evaluation of the outcomes for youth, as well as school and community supports for increasing healthy behaviors. She was the project manager for a 6-year project for Urban Advantage Metro Denver Middle School Science Efficacy Study funded by the National Science Foundation, with classrooms in middle schools across three School Districts partnered with three science institutions. Other multi-site projects include evaluations water savings from weather-based irrigation controllers, water savings from submetering in multi-family housing, evaluation of whether technical assistance to community-based organizations serving older adults increased the capacity of those organizations led to increased service delivery, and an evaluation the Grow Your Park program for the National Park and Recreation Association (NRPA), with a special emphasis on increasing children’s knowledge and health through community garden programs.

Heather has two decades of experience in program management for the public and nonprofit sectors. Heather received an MA from the University of Colorado, and focuses her professional work on engaging with diverse populations, cultivating relationships, creating efficiencies, and cross-team collaboration. As Client Development Manager, she provides direction for organizations using Polco to better understand, educate, and serve their populations. She is passionate about having the voices of all community members heard and is excited that Polco provides that opportunity. When not working, Heather spends her time painting, and being active with her two young boys.

Jade is an experienced program manager and survey expert, and has managed many community, business, and custom surveys in her six years with Polco. Her day-to-day work for her clients includes developing survey questions, creating sampling plans, performing extensive data analysis, writing thoughtful and perceptive reports on survey results, and, her favorite, delivering informative, crowd-pleasing presentations in the communities she works with. Before joining the team at Polco, Jade worked as a professional research assistant and graduate-level writing tutor and instructor while attaining her master’s degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics. In her off hours, Jade enjoys playing music, cooking, running, reading, and hiking and camping in the beautiful Colorado outdoors with her young daughter and golden retriever puppy.

Julia comes from a background of education, entrepreneurship, and communications. For the past decade, she has worked in education policy implementation at the state government and school district levels. When her son was born, she was able to maintain half time employment with the Madison School District while launching several small businesses with her husband. She has also been lucky enough to work part-time with the amazing team at Polco to use and develop her skills in marketing and communications. Julia holds a masters degree in education leadership from Harvard University. Julia and her husband Kristopher and son Fritz live in a tiny apartment with a sauna on a lake in Madison, Wisconsin.

For almost two decades, Laurie has conducted hundreds of survey research and evaluation projects for governments, foundations, special districts, and non-profit organizations. As Polco’s Director of Client Success, she provides clients with guidance and clarity throughout the process and minds the details to keep projects on track. Her degree in Communications helps her to meet client information needs through analyzing data and presenting survey findings. When not in the office, Laurie is busy wrangling her two young boys and spending time in Colorado’s beautiful outdoors.

Lisa is a Public Sector SaaS professional with over a decade’s experience assisting government organizations at the city, county and state level with a heavy emphasis on Public Safety agencies. Her passion is helping governments more effectively make data driven decisions and streamlining complex processes with technology. In her current role as Polco’s Director of Sales, she works with government agencies across the country who want to improve their communities with accurate and reliable feedback. When Lisa is not in the office, can she be found exploring the outdoors on her paddleboard/kayak, hiking in the mountains with her four dogs or relaxing on the beach.

Matt has had the opportunity to serve in local government, including over 30 years as a City Manager.  During his career, Matt has had the opportunity to provide leadership at the local, state, and national levels, including serving on the ICMA Board of Directors, the Minnesota League of Cities, and as President of the Minnesota City/County Management Association. 

Building innovative and proactive communities, with a focus on strengthening civic engagement has been a mainstay of Matt’s professional commitment. In his current role as Polco’s VP, National Engagement, Matt is working with communities, associations and other civic organizations to build strong and sustainable engagement and performance measurement programs using Polco’s technology platform and suite of benchmark community survey tools. 

As the Head of Growth, Nick spends the majority of his time devising cross team solutions to help our company scale. Before Polco, Nick worked in non-profit and political management in Washington, DC, advising campaigns and raising money for numerous organizations. An avid cyclist, Nick has completed more than two dozen triathlons up to the 70.3 distance, and swears he has no interest in completing an Ironman (or running a marathon, for that matter). Nick and his wife Tina live in Durham, NC with their adopted street dog, Emmie.

Nick loves working at the intersection of public policy and technology. Nick has worked as an active duty officer in the Air Force, on faculty at the Air Force Academy, as a Senior Economist at Amazon, and in the same role on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Nick holds undergraduate degrees in Math & Physics from the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Texas Austin. Nick enjoys canoe trips with his family and playing ultimate frisbee.

After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Parker served as an Operations Research Analyst, leading policy research and analysis for the DOD and Congress. During his military service, Parker earned an M.S. in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University. His thesis research focused on predictive and causal models of U.S. congressional elections, which was later used by CNN during coverage of the 2018 midterm elections. 

As a Data Scientist, he develops Polco’s analytics technology environment, researches new data science techniques, and conducts custom analyses. Parker also uses his passion for data visualization when designing Polco’s interactive dashboards and reports.

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With over 40 years of experience in local government, Pat brings a unique level of expertise to assist Polco clients.  He has served in a variety of responsibilities in local government including Finance Director, Executive Director of two different Community Development Authorities and as a City Administrator for over eighteen years.  While serving as the City Administrator, the community was continually listed as one of the top ten fastest growing communities in Wisconsin.  The fast pace of growth in the community exposed him to a wide variety of issues.  Pat holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Eastern Kentucky University and a Masters of Public Affairs from Kentucky State University.

After graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder, Ranier knew she wanted to engage in high impact government work to help create representative and effective systems through sophisticated advocacy and collaboration. Her focus in government, in conjunction with her extensive background in policy, law, nonprofits, and aerospace operations, guides Ranier’s thinking as she works cross-functionally as Polco’s Program Specialist to facilitate new processes and provide company-wide support. When she’s not working, Ranier can be found mountain biking, trail running, or backcountry skiing in the mountains with her dog.

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Becky has a decade of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors, focusing on engaging with communities, finding creative solutions through collaboration, and research and evaluation that leads to meaningful insight and action. As a Program Analyst, she works with local governments to engage their community members and harness resident perspectives on community issues to inform decision-making. When not working, Becky spends her time climbing and hiking Colorado’s highest peaks.

Sonya has a Master’s Degree in Economics and a strong interest in what communities can do to best support their residents. She has two decades of experience working with all levels of government to frame and execute research projects and her love of problem solving has led her to the role of COO at Polco. She is continually inspired by the passion and innovative work of her colleagues. When off the clock, her favorite place to be is the mountains or any nearby nature trail.

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Ian has worked in the public sector as an analyst for municipalities. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, with an emphasis in Politics, and a Master’s in Public Administration, with an emphasis in Strategic Management. As an analyst, Ian’s love for politics drove him to wanting to improve the role of data in government and began findings ways to collect, analyze, and interpret data that can be used in decision-making. This led him to POLCO where he gets to help work with government entities to gain data-driven insights on what citizens want their government to know. When he is not sifting through data, Ian enjoys hanging out with his family, reading (or listening) to various genres of books, working out and playing video games.

After spending some time working in the nonprofit sector, Jen's passion for civic engagement and her interest in tech led her to Polco. As a Client Development Specialist, Jen loves helping organizations learn Polco so that they can know and serve the needs of their communities. Outside of work, you can find her scouting out the best restaurants, coffee shops, and street tacos in Los Angeles. 

Michael is a software engineer with a passion for social betterment. He started his career as a STEM educator before going on to work as a Google software engineer. He combined these passions leading curriculum development teams at Codecademy and MongoDB. He is excited to now be using his engineering skills to increase civic engagement. Though he still finds time to teach aspiring software engineers on the side. 

Jenni graduated from UCLA with a degree in Cognitive Science. She didn't use her degree right away (there was a pull towards music and coding first), but eventually came back to it when a coding project required her to collaborate with stakeholders and users. During her UX design career, she's enjoyed trying out various user research/testing methods and learning how to make web content usable and accessible for all. In her time outside of work, she enjoys jigsaw puzzles, the mountains, and watching World of Dance.