Staff Members

Wade Buchanan

President

Wade Buchanan has been president of the Bell Policy Center and the Bell Action Network since 2001. Under Wade’s tenure, the Bell has grown from a start-up organization to become one of the premier progressive policy organizations in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West. Wade pulled together a veteran professional staff that has played a major role in fiscal reform, education policy, economic security and other key issues that affect the well-being of working families in Colorado.

From 1999-2001, Wade was executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters, the nonpartisan political voice of Colorado’s conservation community. Prior to that he was senior advisor, policy director and chief speech writer to former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer. He also served as acting executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, director of the Colorado Office of Energy Conservation, and chair of the Regional Air Quality Council, the lead air quality agency for metro Denver.

Wade holds a bachelor of arts in history from Colorado College and a master's of philosophy in international relations from Oxford University in England, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.


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Rich Jones

Director of policy and research

Rich Jones has been at the Bell since 2004 and works on fiscal policy and budgeting as well as economic security issues such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, predatory lending, business development and retirement policy. He was part of a team of researchers that produced Looking Forward: Colorado's fiscal prospects after Ref C and Looking Forward: Colorado's fiscal prospects amid a financial crisis.

Rich is a former director of legislative programs at the National Conference of State Legislatures, where he worked for 24 years, and he was a researcher for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Rich holds a bachelor's in government administration from Shippensburg University and a master's in public administration from Penn State.

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Frank Waterous

Senior policy analyst

Frank Waterous has 25 years of experience working on a broad range of public policy issues and in higher education. Since joining the Bell Policy Center in 2005, he has worked on policy initiatives spanning the preschool-through-postsecondary education spectrum, and on efforts to expand education and skills-development opportunities for working adults.

Prior to joining the Bell, he was a senior policy analyst for the Colorado Community College System and a senior analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Denver. He previously worked as an administrator and faculty member at colleges in Colorado and Minnesota.

Frank holds a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from Dartmouth College; master of arts degrees in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and in education from the University of Colorado, Boulder; and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Minnesota, Department of Educational Policy and Administration.

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George Awuor

Policy analyst

George is conducting in-depth, qualitative research related to public opinion on the state budget, economic development and tax policy. Other areas of research include economic development incentives, tax credits and tax incentives and, in particular, the effectiveness of enterprise zones in Colorado.

George has international research experience working on poverty issues. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Karnataka State University, India; a master of science degree in library and information science from the University of Mysore, India; and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Arizona State University.

George also holds a Ph.D. in design and planning from the University of Colorado at Denver.

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Robert Semro

Policy analyst

Bob Semro, a native of Denver, worked in the private sector for more than 25 years but switched to policy work after a family illness left him concerned about the state of the health care system.

Before joining the Bell, Bob, a graduate of the University of Denver with a degree in political science, was a project manager for a home-centered pilot health care program for persons with disabilities and worked as a policy analyst for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

Bob has served on the policy and advocacy committee for the Colorado Alzheimer's Association; the Chronic Care Collaborative; and the Colorado Gerontological Society. He was selected as a member of the Vulnerable Populations Task Force for the Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform (208 Commission) and the Home Health Care Advisory Committee for the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. He currently serves on the Health Plan Advisory Workgroup for the Colorado Health Benefits Exchange and the All Payer Claims Database Advisory Committee and Data Release and Review Committee.

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Alec Arellano

Program assistant

Alec Arellano is experienced in both policy research and the use of social media platforms to promote the work of nonprofit organizations.

Alec began at the Bell in July 2011 as one of the organization's Public Interest Fellows. During his first year with the Bell, Alec co-authored a report on the effects of a ballot initiative that would have increased tax revenues to fund education. In his current capacity as Program Assistant, Alec collaborates with the Bell's policy and communication staff to produce and disseminate the high-quality research for which the Bell is known. Prior to working at the Bell, he served on the tutoring staff of the Colorado College Writing Center.

A native of Colorado, Alec holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Colorado College.

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Abigail Hinga

Director of outreach

Abigail Hinga is experienced in coalition management, political fund raising and technology lobbying.

Previously she worked for 11 years in Washington, D.C., as a membership and government affairs director. Most recently, Abigail worked for Strategic Analysis, Inc., doing outreach for The SAFETY Act and business development in Colorado.

Before moving to the private sector, Abigail spent five years working for several political organizations, including the New Democrat Network and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Abigail has a bachelor of arts degree in government from Sweet Briar College in Virginia and is originally from Amarillo, Texas.

E-mail Abby

Elaine Rumler

Director of operations

Elaine was one of the Bell's first hires, having started in July 2001. She set up many of the processes and procedures that are followed in the office to this day. Elaine handles many day-to-day issues as well as state and federal reporting on charitable giving and other activities.

Elaine has more than 20 years of experience in business and office management, including as section supervisor with the Colorado Department of Revenue and deputy director of operations for the Colorado Office of Energy Conservation.

Elaine and her husband own and operate a small family business. She attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill.

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Joe Watt

Communications director

Joe Watt is a longtime journalist, having worked at newspapers in Santa Fe, Tucson and Cleveland before returning home to work at the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post.

Joe is a native of Colorado and grew up in the foothills west of Denver. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Northwestern University.

E-mail Joe