The National Conference on Citizenship is guided by a dedicated Board of Directors whose collective expertise spans civic technology, law, journalism, government, and community engagement. Our board brings together diverse perspectives from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to advance our mission of strengthening democratic participation.
Katie Harbath, Board Chair
Katie Harbath is a global leader at the intersection of elections, democracy, and technology. As the chief executive of Anchor Change, she helps clients think through tech policy issues. Katie is the director of technology and democracy for the International Republican Institute and is also a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Integrity Institute and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Previously, Harbath spent ten years at Facebook. As a director of public policy, she built and led global teams that managed elections and helped government and political figures use the social network to connect with their constituents.
Before Facebook, Katie held senior strategic digital roles at the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, DCI Group and multiple campaigns. In addition to NCoC, Harbath is a board member at Democracy Works, and the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Madison-Wisconsin.
Harbath holds a BA in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Joy Bonaguaro
Joy Bonaguro was the first Chief Data Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, where she managed DataSF. Joy has spent more than a decade working at the nexus of public policy, data, and technology. Prior to her state role, she was responsible for scaling internal systems, data, and information security at Corelight, a high-growth cybersecurity startup funded by Accel and General Catalyst. Prior to Corelight, Joy served as the first Chief Data Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, where she pioneered multiple initiatives to introduce data science, streamline data access, and improve data management.
Joy earned her Masters from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where she focused on IT policy.
Barry Byrd, Secretary
Barry Byrd is a partner at the law firm of Pineiro Byrd PLLC, in Jupiter, Florida, specializing and Board Certified in real estate law. Byrd has served on the boards of several publicly traded companies, held leadership positions in numerous community organizations and served as President of the Northern Palm Beaches Chamber of Commerce. He currently is an officer and director of the Abacoa Partnership for Community and MyClinic, and formerly served as an officer and director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County and the Loggerhead Marinelife Center of Juno Beach.
Byrd is a graduate of Stetson University and the Stetson College of Law. He has practiced law for over 40 years in South Florida.
Joy earned her Masters from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where she focused on IT policy.
Adam Conner
Adam Conner is the vice president for Technology Policy at the Center for American Progress. He leads the Technology Policy team as its inaugural vice president with a focus on building a progressive technology policy platform and agenda.
Adam has spent the past 15 years working at the intersection of technology, politics, policy, and elections as the first Washington, D.C., employee for several Silicon Valley companies, focused on the rise of technology companies and their effect on politics and democracy. .
Recently, Adam was the first Washington employee for Slack Technologies, the fast-growing workplace communications startup, leading their engagement with federal, state, and local governments. Prior to that, Adam was vice president of Brigade, a civic engagement platform co-founded by Sean Parker. .
In 2007, Conner founded Facebook’s Washington office. He spent seven years on the Facebook Privacy and Public Policy team, where he created the company’s government and political outreach efforts and directed the company’s election efforts.
Adam is a graduate of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs and serves on the university’s board of trustees. He is also on the board of the Roosevelt Institute. He hails from Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Byrd is a graduate of Stetson University and the Stetson College of Law. He has practiced law for over 40 years in South Florida.
Joy earned her Masters from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where she focused on IT policy.
Paula Ellis
Paula Ellis, a former Knight Foundation officer, senior publishing executive and journalist has long been a leader in journalism innovation and community engagement. Paula has decades of experience in the for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors.
As Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Knight Foundation, Ellis shaped the “informed and engaged” strategy; shifted the evaluation focus and launched a series of initiatives that would become signature efforts.
Ellis began her career as a journalist at several metropolitan newspapers. In 1980, she joined Knight Ridder Inc. where she worked for 26 years rising through the ranks as an editor, publisher and vice president/operations of the Fortune 500 firm she helped sell in 2006.
Known for innovation and collaboration, Paula often was tapped to lead key strategic efforts. A respected national journalist, she also delivered operational excellence. The Sun News in Myrtle Beach was Knight-Ridder’s top performing news organization for five of the seven years she led it.
Ellis is a trustee of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies; a member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics; and board member of Grassroots Grantmakers and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism (University of Maryland) board of visitors.
Ellis earned a bachelor’s degree in government and politics at the University of Maryland, where she was editor of the nation’s best student daily. She graduated from Northwestern University with a master’s degree in journalism and has been an adjunct faculty member at several universities.
Joy Fulkerson
Joy Fulkerson is Director of Learning and Civic Engagement at East Tennessee State University. Fulkerson collaborates with other campus and community units to develop and implement service-learning, community service, and civic engagement activities. She also advised Volunteer ETSU and coordinated the implementation of the Alternative Spring Break program.
Fulkerson served as a grant administrator for Volunteer Tennessee in the late 1990’s prior to joining East Tennessee State University in 1999. Joy is dedicated to increasing voting on campuses and in 2016, ETSU was named Most Improved in voter participation in the Southern Conference.
James Johnson-Piett
James Johnson-Piett is a founding Principal and CEO of Urbane Development, With over two decades of experience in various facets of economic and community development, James is responsible for the overall management, operations, and strategic vision for Urbane, which works with historically disinvested communities through an integrated approach that includes research, consulting, and place-based investing. James has worked in 100+ communities across North America and the Caribbean, with over 1,500 small businesses, representing over 1.5 million SF of commercial and community facility space. James has helped raise over $225 million for small business and community development initiatives with the goal of promoting community wealth generation.
James currently serves as board chairman of Mangrove Community Wealth, Inc., a newly formed non-profit organization seeking to advance community wealth building through field building and prototyping best practices from across the globe. He is currently a board director of The Merchants Fund in Philadelphia and The Criterion Institute in Connecticut.
James is an alumnus of Swarthmore College and MIT’s Center for Real Estate, Professional Development Institute.
The Honorable Letty Hardi
The Honorable Letty Hardi is currently the Mayor of the City of Falls Church, VA.
Mayor Hardi is an accomplished leader and community advocate, bringing her strong analytical skills and 20+ years of management experience to local government.
Since her election to the Falls Church City Council in 2015, Letty has been a champion for progressive policies in affordable and diverse housing, economic development, environmental sustainability, and pedestrian improvements to improve the quality of life for residents and business owners in Falls Church. Prior to elected office, Letty spent 11 years at Capital One as a marketing and financial services professional, holding a variety of roles from Director of Project Management to Chief of Staff and spanned marketing, analysis, product development, project management, and people leadership.
Hardi holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar in psychology and economics and studied health care economics at Oxford University. Mayor Hardi is a first generation immigrant, born in Hong Kong, and fluent in Cantonese.
Gail Leftwich Kitch, Program Committee, VP
Gail Leftwich Kitch, a lapsed lawyer with a degree from the University of Chicago was most recently, until retiring, a nonprofit administrator in Washington, D.C., where she served as Executive Vice President, Communications and Finance, at The Voter Participation Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit voting rights organization.
She was previously Executive Director of By the People, an initiative founded by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions that utilized public television to encourage and support informed non-contentious citizen dialogue around policy issues. Prior to assuming that position, Kitch was President of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, the national membership organization of the state affiliates of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Gail and her husband Edmund W. Kitch, a professor at the Law School at University of Virginia, and resides in the Charlottesville area, where she consults on civic engagement projects and is a member of the boards of the Charlottesville Opera and the Ednam Community Association.
Allen Square
Allen Square is the founder and chief executive officer of Square Button. With over twenty years of experience in both public and private sectors, Allen has worked with and led teams to deliver value to projects and organizations. Allen’s experience is deep and varied, covering several industries such as engineering, construction, consulting, and technology. He consistently delivers for his customers on projects large and small.
After completion of an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Allen worked as a consultant with Bain & Company, Inc. and as the Chief Information Officer of the City of New Orleans from 2010-2014. Allen also holds engineering degrees from Tulane University (BS Electrical Engineering) and Southern Methodist University (Masters of Science in Telecommunications).
Michael Weiser, Chairman Emeritus
Michael Weiser was elected Chairman Emeritus of the National Conference on Citizenship in January, 2008. An investor and writer, Weiser is a frequent commentator on issues relating to finance, citizenship and community–building for The Washington Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, The Street.com and other media. Weiser serves as a general partner of Lowell Associates, LP, a private investment partnership.
In May, 2019, Weiser was elected a director of the Office of New Americans (ONA) of Miami-Dade County. ONA is Miami’s contribution to the Cities of Citizenship organization, which works to encourage new Americans to become naturalized citizens and supports them as they make their way through the citizenship process.
A former financial journalist and communications consultant, Weiser received a Bachelor’s of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. He resides in Miami, FL with his wife, Julie Greiner Weiser.After completion of an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Allen worked as a consultant with Bain & Company, Inc. and as the Chief Information Officer of the City of New Orleans from 2010-2014. Allen also holds engineering degrees from Tulane University (BS Electrical Engineering) and Southern Methodist University (Masters of Science in Telecommunications).