NICD Staff

Keith Allred is the President of the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), an organization that works to build our nation’s capacity to engage differences constructively. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, and Congressional Quarterly.

He was recruited to lead NICD because he had recently launched CommonSense American, a new organization that brings Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together from across the country to identify solutions with broad grassroots support and then champion them in Congress. CommonSense American’s more than 75,000 members are three-for-three. They played meaningful roles in helping Congress pass bipartisan legislation ending surprise medical billing in 2020, investing in America’s physical infrastructure in 2021, and updating the Electoral Count Act in 2022.

Keith piloted CommonSense American at the state level in Idaho from 2005 – 2009. Its major legislative achievements led the Idaho Democratic Party to make the unusual move of asking him, as an independent, to be their nominee for Governor in 2010.

Prior to returning home to pilot the citizens’ group, Keith was the first professor of conflict resolution at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He started his academic career as a professor at Columbia University.

Keith has also served in a variety of business leadership roles. Most recently, he was a senior partner at the Cicero Group, ranked the 12th best boutique management consulting firm in the world by Vault.com. He was also a member of the Board of Directors for Perpetua Resources, which trades on NASDAQ (PPTA), where he chaired the Compensation Committee and served on the Governance and Audit Committees.

Keith earned a PhD in Organizational Behavior from UCLA and BA in American History from Stanford.

A fifth-generation Idahoan who grew up working summers on the family cattle ranch, Keith finished eighth in the world standings of the National Cutting Horse Association in 2017 after competing in the World Finals in Fort Worth.

He and Christine are the proud parents of Anna, Dan, and Cate.

Mary Tanner is the Vice President of Programs and oversees the design and implementation of ambassador training programs and recruitment. She has a background in education, training, and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA). Mary is passionate about building trust, resolving conflict, and helping others find common ground.

In addition to her role at NICD, she lectures international college students on Conflict Resolution, Volunteerism, Diversity in the U.S., Cultural Awareness, and U.S. Government and Politics. She has lived in Israel, England and most recently Denmark.

Mary earned her bachelor’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from Brigham Young University, and her Masters of Science in Education and Training with an emphasis in empowering women through adult education programs in rural villages of developing countries from the University of Reading in the UK.

She currently resides in Northern Virginia where she loves spending time in nature with her husband, five children and two dogs

Cheryl Graeve currently serves as the Director of National Programs for NICD, including the Engaging Differences and Golden Rule 2020 programs. She works with communities and partner organizations to foster civil discourse capacity and help bridge political divides through online and in person NICD programs.

Prior to joining NICD, she served as the Senior Director of Field Support for the League of Women Voters of the United States. There she worked with national, state and local leadership on internal governance programs and civic capacity building through development of a nationwide training system and volunteer coaching structure to increase organizational outreach and effectiveness. Prior to that she served as Executive Director of AFL-CIO’s national youth group, where she developed an international anti-child labor campaign called the Toycott (a boycott of toys made in China). Cheryl also served as Legislative Director for the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) and helped pass a state “motor voter” law designed to increase voter registration among under represented populations through public agencies. She also worked as a district Field Representative for Minnesota Congressman Gerry Sikorski when he served in Congress.

She and her husband Alain Fournier enjoy spending time in nature and observing birds through experiences in our country’s state and national parks.

Ariana Rojas is the Senior Director of Congressional Engagement and Data Analytics.

Ariana first joined NICD as a fellow in 2023, where she helped brief more than 200 congressional offices on Career-Connected Learning.

Prior to joining NICD, Ariana worked as an Elections Reviewer at Branch Politics, where she focused on educating voters about candidates in the November 2023 election. She also interned at Issue One, where she researched county clerks and their predecessors across 11 states to analyze clerk turnover rates following the 2020 election.

Ariana earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice, as well as a master’s degree in political science, from The George Washington University.

She aspires to contribute to strengthening and promoting democracy throughout Latin America.

Erin Guetzloe is the Director of Congressional Engagement and Communications at the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

Erin graduated from Harvard University in 2023 with a degree in Government, a secondary in Religion, and a certificate in Data Science. As an undergraduate, she was heavily involved in policy research and public service. Erin contributed to multiple policy briefs submitted to both government and non-governmental actors. As a staffer for Harvard Model Congress and Model United Nations conferences, she wrote briefings on a variety of topics including federal election law, counterterrorism policy, and US/China relations. She also served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Small Claims Advisory Service, a group of undergraduate volunteers trained in small claims law who provide free legal information to traditionally underserved communities. Most recently, Erin interned with the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in DC, where she applied her experience with legal research and data analysis to work towards greater protection of faith freedom for all people.

Outside of the office, Erin enjoys reading, playing the piano, and checking out D.C.’s many incredible museums.

Thom Little currently serves as the Director of the State Legislative Program at NICD. He also serves as the Director of Leadership Curriculum and Research at the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF).

Tom has been studying, working and teaching state legislative leaders for more than thirty years since he served as a 20 year old legislative intern in the 1985 North Carolina General Assembly. After earning his Ph.D. in Political Science with a focus on legislative politics from The Ohio State University, Tom taught for ten years at American University and the University of Texas at Arlington before starting to work with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. For more than twenty years, Thom has served as SLLF’s Director of Curriculum Development and Research where he has coordinated programs on everything from biotechnology to crisis management. He has also written case studies on state legislative leadership in states from Alabama to Ohio.

Robert G. Boatright is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Clark University and the Director of Research for the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on the effects of campaign and election laws on the behavior of politicians and interest groups, with a particular emphasis on primary elections and campaign finance laws and practices.

He is the author or editor of nine books, including "The Deregulatory Moment? A Comparative Perspective on Changing Campaign Finance Laws" (2016); "Getting Primaried: The Causes and Consequences of Congressional Primary Challenges" (2013); and "Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada" (2011). He is currently completing a book manuscript on how American politicians discuss political corruption.

He received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Carleton College.

Audrey MacKay is an award-winning journalist and multimedia producer with more than 15 years of experience creating compelling audio and video content. She currently produces multiple business and technology podcasts, overseeing every stage of production.
Prior to her work in podcasting, Audrey was a producer for CBS News where she covered major national and international stories, as well as covering the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout her career she has interviewed newsmakers from government, business, technology, entertainment, and academia. She is passionate about thoughtful storytelling and insightful conversations that help people better understand the world.

Audrey lives in Northern Virginia and enjoys spending time with her husband and three boys.

Jack Thomas served as NICD’s director of Congressional Engagement and Public Policy for over two years, during which he met with over 200 congressional offices to champion grassroots consensus before lawmakers and their staff. He helped develop multiple policy briefs for the CommonSense American (CSA) program, a highlight of which was his work to distill complex evidentiary debates into accurate and concise summaries on the immigration brief. His work supported CSA’s impact at the center of American policymaking, and led to greater bipartisan and bicameral progress during an era of historic polarization.

Jack also served as the Associate Director of NICD’s State Legislative Program, where he supported the program’s mission to bring bipartisan workshops and training opportunities to state legislators across the US. Jack interviewed members of Alaska’s unique bipartisan majority coalitions, assisted with workshops in Nebraska’s unicameral nonpartisan legislature and presented to legislators in his home state of Virginia, among many others.

Now, as Senior Policy Advisor, Jack continues to advise NICD and its CommonSense American program as they continue to improve the substance and tenor of our politics. His experience in bridging political divides and strengthening democratic institutions continue to serve NICD’s mission of engaging political differences more constructively, particularly in analysing policy and effectively sharing Americans’ thoughts in Congress.

Prior to working at NICD, Jack interned with the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, where he conducted research to support the committee’s mission to create a more transparent, efficient, and effective Congress. Jack also worked on the legislative team of former Virginia Delegate Michael Mullin.

Jack earned his bachelor’s in economics and public policy and his master’s of public policy from William & Mary. He is pursuing his J.D. at The University of Virginia School of Law.

Timothy J. Shaffer is a Senior Advisor with the National Institute for Civil Discourse. He is also the inaugural Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative at the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware.

He serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy, a country expert on deliberative democracy with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem Institute) research project, and as a co-director of the Deliberative Pedagogy Lab. He has received national and international awards such as the Early Career Recognition Award from the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement and the National Team Excellence in Extension Award is from the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy for the development of Coming Together For Racial Understanding.

Shaffer publishes in diverse academic journals and outlets such as National Civic Review, The Good Society, the Journal of Deliberative Democracy, and The Conversation. He has also co-edited and authored seven book projects including Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement (Michigan State University Press, 2017), Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education (Routledge, 2019), and Teaching Democratic Ideals to Public Affairs Students: Findings and Reflections from Diverse Course Designs (Routledge, 2023).

Jason Honn is the Chief Technology Officer for the National Institute for Civil Discourse. He has created and helps manage NICDs websites including: NICD.Arizona.edu, CommonSenseAmerican.org, NxtGenUSA.org, EngagingDifferences.org, GoldenRule2020.org, and NICDResearch.org. He also assists with video production and graphic design.

Jason brings over 20 years of experience in development and design. He has a wide range of familiarity with different web platforms and technologies. He has worked with varying businesses and organizations in both the private, nonprofit and public sectors. Jason has created and managed over a 100 sites that range in both scale and function. He aligns tightly with NICDs purpose and objectives, and is passionate about helping this organization successfully make a difference.

Jason graduated with a degree from BYU Idaho. Jason and his wife Sheri have 5 children ranging in age from 21 to 5 (Talia, Braden, Cooper, Finley, and Gracie). They are active in their church and enjoy supporting and coaching their kids in sports, music, and life.

Justin is the Chief Marketing Officer for the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the CommonSense American program.

For the last 20 years Justin Kistner has been at the forefront of digital marketing and software product management. Most recently, he served on the executive team during two exits for digital marketing software companies. Justin has been able to see how digital ad technology and strategies work at the highest levels. This unique access has come from working for top 10 ad software partners for Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Justin has developed strategies and led the execution of over $10M in Facebook advertising for top brands, such as Nike, Invisalign, and Xfinity. Also notable, he holds a patent for a social engagement scoring algorithm. And, his work has been featured in the American Museum of Advertising. Justin has contributed to top-tier tech publications such as Mashable, VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb. As a speaker or keynote, he has been an invited presenter at conferences such as ad:tech, OMMA Global, Web 2.0 Expo, Blogworld, eMetrics and Social Fresh.

Outside of work, Justin is a passionate vegetable gardener and Oregon Ducks football fan. He lives in Seattle with his wife and son.

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