Looking for some insight on key policy issues? Freedom Foundation experts are here to help and available to speak for your meeting or special event. For more information or to request a speaker, please contact our Speakers Bureau Coordinator, Stefany Vermillion at (360) 956-3482 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Jonathan Bechtle

Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan joined the Foundation in 2005 to work on its Voter Integrity Project, and became a recognized national expert on election integrity issues. He testified before Congress on vote-by-mail concerns, and was published in many national and state media outlets, including the Seattle Times, Washington Post and National Review Online, has appeared as a guest commentator on the Lou Dobbs Show, and has been a guest lecturer at the National Republican Lawyers Association Election Law School and the National Freedom Of Information Coalition’s FOI Summit. He is a co-author of To Protect and Maintain Individual Rights, a citizen’s guide to Article I of the Washington State Constitution.

Since 2005 Jonathan has filled several roles at the Foundation, including Director of the Citizenship and Governance Center, Legal Counsel in the Constitutional Law Center, and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining the Foundation he was the senior legal assistant for a non-profit legal advocacy firm in the Washington, D.C. area, and has worked as an aide to state senators in Georgia and Indiana, and as a medical analyst for the Indiana Attorney General.

Jonathan earned a juris doctorate from Oak Brook College of Law in Fresno, California, and is a member of the California and Washington Bars. He and his wife Melissa live in Lacey, Washington, with their two children.

Areas of Expertise:
• About the Freedom Foundation
• Building Leaders for freedom
• The Changing Role of Think Tanks
• Restoring Election Integrity
• Washington State Constitution 101
• Citizenship & Governance

Michael Reitz

General Counsel

Michael is a member of the Washington and California Bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His research has been published and cited by the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Seattle Times, and numerous other newspapers and periodicals. He is a co-author of To Protect and Maintain Individual Rights, a reference guide to the Declaration of Rights in the Washington Constitution, and he maintains the Supreme Court of Washington Blog. Michael earned his law degree from the Oak Brook College of Law.

Areas of Expertise: 
• Washington State Constitutional Law
• State Campaign Finance Law
• Unions & Collective Bargaining
• Union Political Activity
• The First Amendment
• Election Security & Integrity
• Open Government

Trent England

VP of Policy

Trent was also the former director of the Foundation’s Citizen Action Network and Citizenship & Governance Center. He earlier served as a legal policy analyst and visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, where he contributed to The Heritage Guide to the Constitution and One Nation Under Arrest. Trent has been a candidate for state representative, vice president of a small issues lobbying organization, and an opposition researcher at a national campaign committee. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and Washington Times. Trent earned a law degree from The George Mason University School of Law and a bachelor of arts in government from Claremont McKenna College.

Areas of Expertise:
• Federalism and the Electoral College
• Constitutional Law & History
• America’s Founding Principles
• Election Security & Integrity
• Persuasive Writing
• Opposition Research

Scott Roberts

Citizen Action Network Director

Formally educated in Architecture, he brings a diverse and deep background in Architecture, Construction and Real Estate. Scott has been a small business owner for fifteen years prior to joining the Freedom Foundation. He has built specific expertise in residential land development and represented clients throughout the Puget Sound region.

Areas of expertise:
• Grassroots activism
• Legislative strategies
• Testifying for Success
• Eminent Domain

Diana Moore

iLearn Project Director & Senior Education Analyst

A former middle school Humanities teacher, Diana taught on the south side of Seattle where she developed two primary text-based interdisciplinary humanities curricula. Diana graduated from Hillsdale College with a B.A in History and a minor in French as well as secondary teaching credentials in both.She also spent a summer term studying British History at New College, a part of Oxford University and also a term of language training at L’Institute de Touraine in France’s Loire Valley.

Moore is a regular contributor to Living Liberty, the Freedom Foundation’s monthly publication. She blogs on LibertyLive.org and iLearnProject.com and has been published in a number of in-state and out-of-state newspapers. Moore has also appeared as a guest on more than a dozen talk radio shows across the country.

Moore enjoys travelling throughout Washington state and talking to families about the importance of choices in public education and the future of educational technology.

Areas of expertise:
• Development of online learning
• State & local online learning policies
• Innovation & choice in education

Lasse Lund

Digital Outreach Director

Lasse Lund came to the Freedom Foundation in March of 2008; he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral Studies with an emphasis in Business and was the Associate Youth Pastor at a local church before joining the Freedom Foundation. As the Citizen Action Network (CAN) Director, Lasse coordinates the Freedom Foundation’s volunteers across Washington State. He is in charge of keeping them aware of the latest State news, equipping them to take actions for their rights as citizens, and helping them connect with each other to make a difference.

Lasse has coordinated on-going educational forums for citizens, equipping them with the foundational principles our country was built upon.  He also created the Activist Mini Camp program, a day-long seminar that gives citizens all the tools they need to have an effective involvement in government.  Working with grassroots leaders from around the state, Lasse has hosted several large rallies to protest tax increases.  Finally, he led the Freedom Foundation’s Informed Voter Project in 2010, helping thousands of WA citizen make educated choices about who they place in office.

Areas of Expertise:
• Using Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Podcasting, etc.)
• Citizen Involvement
• Interacting w/ Legislators
• Organizing Events

Bob Williams

Freedom Foundation Founder & Sr. Fellow

Bob is available to speak on a very limited basis.
Bob is known as a national expert in the areas of fiscal and tax policies, election reform and disaster preparedness. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University. Bob worked as a GAO auditor of the Pentagon and Post Office before moving to Washington state where he served five terms in the Washington state legislature and was the 1988 Republican nominee for governor

Areas of Expertise:
• Higher Education
• Budget Transparency
• Performance Audits
• State Budget & Taxes
• Election Security
• Economic Policy
• Citizenship & Governance