Laura Nuechterlein, President

Laura became interested in death penalty abolition and other social justice issues during her university days in the late 1980s. In a previous life, Laura worked as a health policy analyst in the Chicago area. She is currently the Washington State death penalty abolition coordinator for Amnesty International USA.

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Dave Avolio, Vice President

Dave has been involved with WCADP for over a decade. His interest in abolition comes from his work in prison ministry and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. Dave is the Chair of the Bishop's Task Force on the Death Penalty, and helps organize the Annual Fast & Vigil Against the Death Penalty in Washington D.C.

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Christopher Hoffman, Treasurer

Chris joined the WCADP as Board liaison in 2018 before transitioning to the Treasurer role beginning in 2019. He is a professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington.

 

Katie McKeown, Secretary

Katie worked for five years at the Montana Abolition Coalition, first as a community organizer and later as a program manager and lobbyist. In that capacity, she worked most closely with the Montana Catholic Conference and murder victims’ family members. She specialized in lobbying conservative legislators, organizing family members, and cultivating ties and organizing events with churches across the state. She has a deep passion for ensuring and respecting victims’ rights in the abolition process. Katie moved to Washington state in 2016 and is excited bring her passion and experience to the WCADP board.

 

Brenda Collier

Brenda was born in the UK, and was horrified to find out that Washington State still had the death penalty. She has been a member of the Coalition for many years, on the board for more than ten years, and the treasurer for much of that time.

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Michelle Dillon

In November 2016 Michelle was working at Books to Prisoners and volunteering at Recovery Café, and Seattle Met featured her with an interview that highlighted her year-round commitment to volunteer work and care for people in vulnerable places. That same month she began work at WCADP as the part time office manager. It wasn’t long after that Prison Legal News sought her out and hired her as their Director of Online Communications, and she transitioned from WCADP staff to WCADP board.

 

Richard "Dick" Morgan

Dick retired in 2010 as Washington’s Division of Prisons Director after nearly 35 years rising through the ranks, 26 of which were at the Penitentiary in Walla Walla. He has managed death row inmates and has participated in three of the five executions carried out since the death penalty was reinstated in 1981. Currently he owns a private consulting business providing expert advice and opinion on prison management, conditions of confinement, and litigation.

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Lara Zarowsky

Lara is the Executive Director of the Washington Innocence Project and is a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law. Her professional life is dedicated to identifying, rectifying, and preventing miscarriages of justice

within our criminal justice system through statutory changes, identification of best practices, and building consensus

for better policies among defenders, law enforcement, and prosecutors. Her path to this work was inspired by a

case involving three wrongful convictions, including one in which there was a death sentence. While her work has

been focused on actual innocence, she maintains a deep and abiding belief that the death penalty must end –

completely and without exception – regardless of the circumstances of any particular case or the apparent guilt or

innocence of the accused.