Staff

Mychal Cohen (he/they)
Senior Policy Analyst
mcohen@dcfpi.org

Mychal joined DCFPI as a Senior Policy Analyst in 2024, working to advance housing affordability in DC. Prior to joining DCFPI, Mychal worked at Community Science, where they conducted research on organizing and power building in the DMV and beyond. They have also worked with Black civic engagement non-profits in Houston to better use data to support their organizing, with the Urban Institute researching the preservation of affordable housing in DC, and as an analyst with the National Housing Trust focused on state housing policy. 

They hold a bachelor’s in Government from the University of Virginia and a master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University. They currently live near U Street, but has lived in 4 of the 8 wards over their 10 years in the city. They are a habitual hobby-haver and are currently into painting, camping, and making jewelry.

Kate Coventry (she/her)
Deputy Director of Legislative Strategy
kcoventry@dcfpi.org

Kate joined DCFPI as a Policy Analyst in 2011, and focuses on a range of issues affecting low-income residents of DC, particularly TANF, Interim Disability Assistance (IDA), and homelessness. She is a voting member of the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness, the body of representatives from DC government, nonprofit providers, advocates, homeless, and formerly homeless. Kate’s professional background is rooted in working with community-based organizations in the Washington area.

Kate holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and a master’s in Public Policy from George Washington University. She is an avid knitter in her spare time.

Claire Goldberg (she/her)
Communications Manager
cgoldberg@dcfpi.org

Claire joined DCFPI in September 2022 and works with the communications team to raise visibility and understanding of policies that advance racial and economic justice in the District through the organization’s social media platforms, email, and website. She also helps develop communications strategies and execute tactics in support of policy goals.

Prior to joining DCFPI, she served as Digital Coordinator on the Robert White mayoral campaign here in DC, helping lead social media and email programs. She has worked in communications at The Hub Project, where she spearheaded earned media strategy for multiple progressive economic campaigns, and at the DC Democratic Party during the 2020 election cycle.

Claire holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Georgetown University and is originally from Santa Monica, California. She lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC and enjoys spending time with her dog, Pistachio, trying local restaurants, thrifting, and watching as many movies and TV shows as humanly possible.

Anne Gunderson (she/her)
Senior Policy Analyst
agunderson@dcfpi.org

Anne joined DCFPI as a Senior Policy Analyst in July 2023. Her focus is on bolstering the District’s early childhood system by conducting research and providing expertise on advocacy and workforce issues facing the field. Prior to joining DCFPI, Anne worked at the Southeast Michigan Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, where she helped to build a cross-state table that worked with state administrators on key issues concerning children and families. Before that, Anne worked at the Ounce of Prevention Fund (now Start Early), where she conducted research on early education, participated in policy campaigns, and provided technical assistance support to states working to improve their home visiting systems.

Anne is originally from Southfield, Michigan, where her passion for improving education policy was sparked. She holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She lives in the H Street Corridor neighborhood of DC with her boyfriend and two cats, Bucky and Penelope. Anne is an avid reader, true crime junkie, and world traveler who started 2023 living in Paris.

Todd Gray (he/him)
Director of Institutional Advancement
tgray@dcfpi.org

Todd Gray joined the team at DCFPI in July 2022 as the Director of Institutional Advancement. He brings nearly 14 years of experience encompassing organizational development, public relations, board relations, and social change. He previously served as Associate Director of Development at Bread for the City, where he led the Individual Giving Program and served on the Racial Equity Leadership Committee.

Todd possesses a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Marketing, a Master of Divinity, and a Master of Public Administration. He also has completed doctoral work in public administration and public policy analysis, as well as public theology. He is a licensed and ordained minister in the Baptist faith tradition.

Dana Hock (she/her)
Grants Administrative Associate
dhock@dcfpi.org

Dana Hock joined DCFPI as the Grants Administration Associate in June 2024. She supports the Institutional Advancement Team with grant management and fundraising initiatives.

Dana brings over five years of experience in different development roles, most recently as the Development Associate at the Bhutan Foundation. She received a bachelor’s in Environmental Sustainability Studies from George Mason University. She spent a year volunteering as an AmeriCorps Vista at Take Stock in Children, a nonprofit organization based in Florida. In her free time, Dana enjoys listening to podcasts, going hiking at National Parks, and occasionally traveling the world.

Michael Johnson Jr. (he/him)
Senior Policy Analyst
mjohnson@dcfpi.org

Nikki Metzgar (she/her)
Senior Director of Communications and External Affairs
nmetzgar@dcfpi.org
202-886-5206 

Nikki joined DCFPI in August 2021 as Director of Communications and External Affairs. She brings to her role more than a decade of experience in content creation and communications for social change. She previously led communications teams at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. Nikki holds a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas and a B.A. in English from Rice University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her cat, Milo, watching movies, crafting, and exploring DC.

Tazra Mitchell (she/her)
Chief Policy and Strategy Officer
tmitchell@dcfpi.org

Tazra Mitchell joined the DC Fiscal Policy Institute in August 2019 and serves as the Chief Policy and Strategy Officer. She works with the Executive Director to develop and execute DCFPI’s strategic vision and goals, policy and legislative strategies, and policies and practices for a healthy, thriving team. She leads the policy team and strategic direction for policy and research, and she works with the senior leadership team to improve cross-team and cross-functional work for improved policy impact and team cohesion. Tazra also serves on the Executive Committee of the Under 3 DC Coalition.

Prior to joining DCFPI, Tazra was a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), where she managed the “Poverty to Opportunity” project and conducted analyses of promising employment policies aimed at helping people struggling to make ends meet. Prior to CBPP, she was a Policy Analyst with the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center, where she conducted analyses of fiscal and economic policies and helped spearhead various anti-poverty policy campaigns. She has also served in partisan and non-partisan roles in the North Carolina government working on fiscal policy.

Tazra holds a B.A. in Political Science from North Carolina State University and a master’s from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Nadia Salazar (she/they)
Senior Campaigns Manager
nsalazar@dcfpi.org

Nadia Salazar Sandi joined DCFPI in January 2024 as the Senior Campaigns Manager, working closely with colleagues and advocacy partners to develop, implement, and advise on strategic policy campaigns driven by DCFPI’s partnerships and research. Nadia is a Bolivian immigrant who moved to the US at age 10 with her parents. Seeking opportunity and safety, her family ended in Wheaton, MD. As a mixed status family, fear of family separation was always real and present. Nadia started community organizing after the Federal Dream Act failed by 5 votes in 2010. The understanding of responsibility and the need to step up led her to obtain a degree in psychology from UMBC-USG and to fight back. Her organizing career goes from unionizing farm workers in North Carolina, to supporting teachers and students in Louisiana, all the way to working with youth all over the DMV. As an advocate she has focused her fight in supporting youth and workers in the DMV area and was the one of the youngest Chief of Staff in Annapolis during the 2016 session.

Along with her passion for organizing, she is a folkloric dancer for a local Bolivian community group and a new mom to baby Luna. She is involved with local organizing, the Wheaton community, and the Bolivian community as a whole.

Erica Williams (she/her)
Executive Director
ewilliams@dcfpi.org

Erica Williams joined DCFPI in April 2021 as Executive Director. In this role, she leads the team in achieving it’s mission to shape racially-just tax, budget, and policy decisions for an antiracist, equitable future.

Erica is a dynamic leader who excels at building relationships, consensus, and collective vision across a range of stakeholders. She brings nearly two decades of experience in pursuing racial, gender, and economic justice through public policy and is grounded in how fiscal and economic policies can advance or impede justice. Driven by her own lived experience, Erica holds a deep commitment to antiracism, equity, and inclusion and is committed to centering Black and brown lived experiences in DCFPI’s pursuit of equity and justice for communities sidelined by racism and economic inequality.

Prior to joining DCFPI, Erica was Vice President for State Fiscal Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In this role, she helped lead the organization and its 40-person State Fiscal Policy division, and supported and shaped the efforts of the State Priorities Partnership—a network of over 40 state-level fiscal and economic policy shops (including DCFPI) working to reduce poverty and inequality and advance equity and opportunity. In addition to deep state tax and budget analyses, Erica oversaw and grew equity-focused policy initiatives on state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), poverty reduction, and immigration, and spearheaded a major effort to deepen the equity and inclusion focus of the state team and the Partnership as a whole.

Before joining CBPP, Erica worked as a Study Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, where she researched a variety of issues of concern to women, and especially women of color, including equal pay, job training and education, early care and education, Social Security, and civic engagement.

Erica holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish studies from Santa Clara University and an M.A. in international policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. 

Connor Zielinski (he/him)
Data Associate
czielinsk@dcfpi.org

Connor Zielinski joins the DC Fiscal Policy Institutes (DCFPI) as our new Data Analyst. Connor will support DCFPI’s policy team with data analysis, fact checking, and supplementary research. 

Before joining DCFPI, Connor worked at the United Planning Organization, where he developed a passion for developing progressive solutions to the District’s most immediate crises, including racial inequities, affordable housing, and criminal justice reform. At DCFPI, Connor will continue to use his skillset to support underserved communities across the District.  

Connor received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the George Washington University. When he’s free, Connor plays bass, draws, paints and supports local organizing efforts.