Who We Are
 

Project New West Staff Research and Strategy Team

Jill Hanauer
President
Jill is the co-founder and President of Project New West. She has over 25 years experience in state and national politics, non-profit management and civic engagement activities. She was the co-founder and Executive Director of The Interfaith Alliance which was established to provide a mainstream faith-based voice in civic and political discourse. She has worked for United States Senators Gary Hart of Colorado, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California. Jill was the national PAC Director for NARAL Pro-Choice America in the early 1990's and managed their independent voter education efforts at the height of the Who Decides Campaign and later Chaired the Board of Colorado NARAL. She served as Vice President of the Center for National Policy, a national think tank based in Washington, DC and worked for the Democratic National Committee under Chairmen Paul Kirk and Ron Brown managing the DNC's State Party Fundraising Program.

Jill moved back to Colorado with her family in 2000 from Washington, D.C. She has been active in state and local community affairs and politics. She launched Project New West in 2007.
 

Project New West Staff

Kelly Nordini
Managing Director
Kelly has 20 years of experience working for and with elected officials and developing and managing issue and electoral campaigns. She came to PNW after serving as the Chief Program Officer for the Western Conservation Foundation. She served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and was Chief of Staff for the Colorado House Democratic Majority caucus from 2005 through 2007. She directed the independent effort for the Colorado House in 2006. Kelly previously ran an AmeriCorps program, worked for several environmental organizations and was in the inaugural class of Green Corps.

David Winkler
Research Director
David Winkler is the Research Director at Project New West. He ensures that our products and services meet the diverse needs of clients and subscribers. He has collaborated with over two dozen top research firms to measure public opinion on topics ranging from the issue of college affordability to electoral races at every level in the West and beyond. Before joining PNW, David’s work included extensive experience with political campaigns, ballot measures, issue advocacy, civic engagement and community organizing. David is a contributing author to the book "How the West was Warmed."

Katrina Mendiola
Deputy Research Director
Katrina Mendiola is PNW's Deputy Research Director.  Katrina works with subscribers and clients to ensure that research meets strategic goals and that our products and services meet the diverse needs of clients and subscribers. She has led issue advocacy and electoral efforts for Texas Freedom Network, National Council of La Raza and Planned Parenthood Federation of America across the Southwest. Prior to joining Project New West, Katrina worked with the Texas Justice Fund recruiting and developing leadership and strategy of statewide nonprofit organizations in Texas.

Leticia Martinez
Director of Strategic Development
As Director of Strategic Development, Leticia Martinez is spearheading PNW's geographic expansion. Leticia has nearly 15 years of political experience which have taken her to more than 20 states to work on local, state and federal candidate campaigns as well as a variety of issue campaigns. Prior to joining Project New West, Leticia founded and served as Executive Director of the Colorado League of Responsible Voters, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to ensuring Colorado voters are informed and knowledgeable about important ballot measures. In 2008, she served as National Field Director for SEIU’s Presidential program. In that capacity, Leticia designed and implemented strategic campaign field plans in Presidential battleground states. Additional past professional experience includes serving as the Campaign Manager for the Citizens for Colorado field campaign. The campaign helped secure victories for 26 of the 29 state legislative races in which it operated. Prior to this position, Leticia served as Legislative Director for the SEIU Colorado State Council where she lobbied Colorado State Legislators on health care, immigration and public employee compensation issues to benefit union membership.

Holly Savage
Director of Civic Engagement
Holly Savage joined the Project New West team in spring 2009. Since then, she has been involved in PNW’s marketing, office management, and administrative assistance. Holly currently is the Director of Civic Engagement at PNW where she works with all of PNW’s Civic Engagement subscribers and research projects. She is also the Deputy Executive Director of Project New America Education Fund, a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and training programs for foundations, nonprofits, and civil society organizations. Before joining PNW, Holly worked with the Iowa Democratic Party and the Biden for President Campaign in Iowa. Her focus in Iowa politics was on constituency building and organizing. Prior her career in civic and political engagement, Holly spent several years as a graduate student and teacher at the Universities of Colorado and Iowa.

Avi Aviv
Financial Controller
Avi provides fiscal accounting management oversight of PNW's finances and is responsible for financial reporting and budgetary planning. Before joining PNW, Avi relocated from NY where he served as the Financial Controller of Flatrate, Meyers from 2008 to 2010 and as a Private Banking Manager from 2006 to 2008. He was responsible for preparation and monitoring of financial reporting and budgeting of a group of companies in the services industry and cash flow management in the securities and banking industry, accordingly. Avi started in the Public Accounting industry and he has his Bachelor's in Finance and a CPA candidate. Avi is proud to work with the fastest growing market research company in the west.

Ethan Axelrod
Content Design and Delivery Specialist
Ethan manages the PNW's social media operations, shapes media relations and develops content for subscribers. Prior to joining Project New West in May, 2011, Ethan worked for two years as Editor of the Denver section of the Huffington Post, where he wrote about local and regional politics, among other topics. He also worked in the Media Logistics department at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, where he was part of the team that accommodated the needs of thousands of media members who covered the convention.

Caitlin Ross
Administrative Director
Caitlin Ross is the Administrative Assistant and is responsible for all scheduling and office management. Before becoming part of PNW in September, 2011 she helped lead the Youth Vote effort in Iowa for Barack Obama in the General Election in 2008 by creating and implementing field plans designed for College campuses that contributed to Iowa becoming the state with the highest participation rate for 18-24 year olds. She also worked on logistics and volunteer recruitment, training, and management for the
Presidential Inaugural Committee in 2009.

Research and Strategy Team

Amanda Cooper
Ms. Cooper is the principal at AJC Strategies, a political consulting firm based in New Mexico. She is a Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Tom Udall (NM) and Governor Bill Richardson (NM). With over 22 years of political experience, she has managed over 50 campaigns ranging from local, to statewide, to federal. Most recently she managed Tom Udall’s successful bid for the U.S. Senate and served as deputy campaign manager for Governor Bill Richardson’s bid for the democratic nomination for president. Ms. Cooper was also campaign manager for Governor Richardson’s 2006 successful re-election bid. Ms. Cooper has consulted for the DCCC and implemented Governor Richardson’s policy initiatives during his two terms as the Chair of the Democratic Governor’s Association. Ms. Cooper was invited to serve on a bi-partisan team of American political strategists who worked with the Solidarity Party in Poland during the 1990s. She has organized and directed grass roots voter education and registration efforts aimed at increasing minority, Hispanic and Native American voter participation with operations in several western states and Florida. Ms. Cooper has successfully run campaigns to pass politically contentious ballot initiatives during off-election years.

Ben Davis
Ben Davis has been working with candidates and issue campaigns to protect and promote the quality of life and values of his home state, Colorado, since 2002. Following his start in politics with Clean Water Action, Ben was a Field and Communications Director with the Colorado Public Interest Research Group and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative before starting Davis Earned Media in 2005. Since then, Ben has worked as a communications and messaging strategist with a wide variety of clients including the Colorado Conservation Voters, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Colorado Health Foundation, and with the Pickens Plan. Most recently, Ben worked with John Hickenlooper and Mark Udall on both of their successful statewide bids for Governor and Senator.

Chris Keating
Chris Keating, Ph.D., is the President of Keating Research, Inc. Keating has worked as a public opinion pollster for the past 15 years during which time he conducted hundreds of successful polling and focus group research projects for candidate, initiative and issue campaigns. Most recently Keating was the pollster on the successful 2010 Hickenlooper campaign for Governor of Colorado and currently is the pollster on the Michael Hancock for mayor of Denver campaign facing a runoff in June 2011. Prior to founding Keating Research, Inc., Keating was Vice President at Harstad Strategic Research, Inc. A few highlights include directing the polling research for Senator Mark Udall’s successful U.S. Senate campaign, and directing the Indiana statewide polling research for President Barack Obama’s campaign. Keating has an undergraduate degree in political science from Northwestern University and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois. Keating was born in Chicago, Illinois and has lived and worked in polling in Colorado since 1995. He currently lives in the small town of Mountain Village located in Southwest Colorado.

Rebecca Kirszner Katz
Rebecca Kirszner Katz has spent the last decade working in local, state, and national communications. Her experience spans the federal government, political campaigns, and non-profit sector. Highlights of her work include leading Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s War Room and assisting with the planning and execution of the White House’s communications strategy for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s smooth path to confirmation.

Mike Melanson
Mike Melanson is the senior partner of OnSight Public Affairs. Mike has worked in
political campaigns in Colorado for over 15 years. His experience includes working in
all aspects of a campaign but chiefly campaign management and lead strategist. Some
of the campaigns he’s led include the Colorado House Democratic Majority Fund, Mark
Udall’s United States Senate race, and most recently he ran John Hickenlooper's successful
bid for Governor of Colorado.