Our Team

Unite America is supported by a staff and leadership team of diverse individuals committed to bringing real change to our politics.

Our Board

  1. Charles Wheelan

    Charles is the author of Centrist Manifesto, which helped launch Unite America in 2013. He is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Dartmouth College. Charles formerly ran for Congress as a Democratic candidate in Illinois in 2009. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling books Naked Economics, Naked Statistics and Naked Money.

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  2. Shawn Riegsecker

    Shawn Riegsecker is the CEO and Founder of Centro. He founded the company in 2001 intent on developing the most comprehensive, automated and intelligent software platform for the digital media industry.

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  3. Lisa D. T. Rice

    Lisa is a political and external affairs strategist and marketing executive with comprehensive experience in corporate, nonprofit and trade association settings. She volunteers as a women's leadership mentor and cancer patient advocate.

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  4. Marc Merrill

    Marc Merrill is the Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Riot Games, the game developer and publisher behind League of Legends, the most-played online game in the world and a key driver of the growth of esports.

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  5. Ben Goldhirsh

    Ben is the co-founder of GOOD, a global community of, by, and for pragmatic idealists working towards individual and collective progress. Outside of GOOD, Ben is the Chairman of The Goldhirsh Foundation, an organization built to help social innovators implement and scale solutions to critical societal challenges. A co-founder and board member of City Year Los Angeles, Goldhirsh graduated from Brown University and currently resides in Los Angeles.

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  6. Katherine Gehl

    Katherine is a pragmatic business leader who cares deeply about U.S. competitiveness and the state of our democracy. As the fourth-generation President and CEO of Gehl Foods, Katherine led an aggressive growth strategy, driving transformations across the company–from management and processes, to facilities and information systems.

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Our Staff

Nick Troiano, Executive Director

Nick Troiano has been involved in the political reform movement for over a decade, including running for U.S. Congress in 2014 as an independent candidate. Nick previously ran a bipartisan fiscal reform advocacy organization called The Can Kicks Back. In 2016, he was named to the "Forbes 30 Under 30" for Law & Policy.

Tyler Fisher, Deputy Director

Tyler brings a diverse background to his jack-of-all-trades role at Unite America. Past experience includes time on campaigns, at think tanks, and leading grassroots organizations. He has degrees in government and economics from George Mason University.

Kelsie Hower, Development Director

Kelsie has worked in fundraising at all levels for Republican candidates, in Colorado and across the country. She most recently was a Principal at Crimson Strategies, an all-inclusive political and non-profit consulting firm.

Mariah Smithey, Chief of Staff

Mariah’s love of US History and politics brought her to Unite America from the world of tech consulting. She brings project management, recruitment, and supervisory experience from both the private and nonprofit sectors. Mariah is a graduate of Northwestern University with degrees in the History of Art and American History.

Matt Enouen, Sr. Operations Manager

Matt brings a business background to Unite America with previous experience in finance, accounting, operations, and business process improvements and implementation. He is a graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with degrees in Finance as well as Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation.

Mackenzie Beckel, Development Manager

MacKenzie began at Unite America as an intern in June 2017, beginning full time in May 2018. Her past experience includes working in political and non-profit sectors. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder with degrees in Political Science and Business.

Matthew Scoble - VA Political Director

Matt is a native Virginian and attorney with a passion for electoral reform. He has worked for several prominent non-profit organizations during his career focusing on voting rights, civic  engagement, and redistricting reform.
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Our Advisors

Linda Killian

Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Jim Thomson

President emeritus of the RAND Corporation; professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School

Sen. Larry Pressler

2014 U.S. Senate Candidate (Independent – South Dakota); former Member of Congress (R – SD)

Pam Peak

Former Executive Director, Centrist Project; Principal, ALEA Strategies
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Our Leadership

Owen Thomas

CEO, Boston Properties

Kathryn Quadracci Flores, MD

CEO, Blooming Mind Ventures

Cory Gilchrist

President and Owner, KCG Holdings I LLC
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