Who we are

 Catherine Nicolai earned her BA in Government from Eastern Washington University, and is looking forward to graduating with her MPA from Evergreen. She lives in Olympia, WA with her two cats and loves to travel. Working for the state, she sees a troubling disconnect. Voters in WA have a hard time relating the fees and taxes levied by the government with the services and benefits that we all enjoy. Catherine's hope is that this blog becomes a catalyst to start a conversation about how Washington's citizens can  encourage tax reform.

Devon Nichols is a graduate student in the Public Administration program at The Evergreen State College.  She graduated from the University of Washington with a double Bachelor's in Sociology and Law, Society, and Justice.  Her studies centered around social policy and human rights.  She has lived in the Pacific Northwest her entire life; attending public schools, utilized public transit, and frequenting local and state parks.  Through education she wants to empower those that are impacted the most by Washington's regressive tax structure and reform that structure through tax policy.








Justin is a husband, father, business owner, student, and activist.  His family, wife (Christy) and two young sons (Leo and Abe), are grateful to call Olympia home.  This community’s greatness comes from its people and their willingness to be engaged.   This spirit of engagement touches every aspect of his personal and professional life.  Justin spent several years of his childhood impoverished, benefiting greatly from dedicated teachers, community leaders, and public servants. He wants to do everything in his power to ensure that he gives more than he received.  This is what drives Justin to community discussion and public service.  This blog is a step along the way in giving back to his community more than he received in the hopes that others will benefit from vibrant public programs and public education the same way that he did.

Phil DuBois grew up in Olympia but didn’t have a full appreciation for the decisions made at the Capitol until he moved back after completing his BA in political science & economics at Western Washington University.  Working for state government has shown him that there are some people that don’t understand how government works or know what it provides.  One of his goals is to be better at explaining these issues, which is why he enrolled in the Evergreen MPA program and signed on to work on this tax reform discussion.  He believes that a well-informed citizenry is what we need to deal with the complex issues we face today, and feels that the work here is an important step to creating a meaningful dialogue between the public and government.