NICD Staff

The Common Interest, the state-level pilot organization, operated 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 became the first professor of negotiation and conflict resolution hired by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He started his academic career as a professor at Columbia.

Keith has also served in a variety of business leadership roles. Most recently, he was a partner at the Cicero Group, ranked the 12th best boutique management consulting firm in the world by Vault.com. Prior to Cicero, he served as COO of Health Catalyst. Keith’s leadership there played a critical role in attracting a major investment by Sequoia Capital. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Midas Gold, which trades on the Toronto Exchange (TSX: MAX).

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 (16), Dan (14), and Cate (11). The kids are still deciding if they’ve forgiven their parents for moving them from Idaho to DC this summer.

Bonnie earned her B.A in English from Wesleyan University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law (with an emphasis in environmental law). She clerked for two federal judges and served in the Honors Program at the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney in the Environmental Crimes Section. Bonnie prosecuted over 20 federal trials and worked on the Exxon Valdez case.

Bonnie and her husband Bruce Reed have raised a daughter Julia Reed and a son Nelson Reed who have also worked in education, law, and government. Bonnie is the President of the Cleveland Park Historical Society. She serves on the board of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. Bonnie is also a Bridge Building Co-Chair of the Partnership for American Democracy.

She enjoys her women’s book groups, exercise, cooking, and sporting events – especially baseball and Gonzaga basketball. Bonnie and Bruce live in a very old house and have a young golden retriever, Wrigley. You can find them hiking around the District of Columbia.

Previously as a Program Officer and Research Associate at Equanimity Foundation, Leslie spearheaded communications and stakeholder engagements. She led a team that researched funding opportunities and partnerships, both domestically and overseas, and codeveloped grant proposal materials. Leslie oversaw EQF's monitoring and evaluation efforts and activities in addition to leading inclusive partnerships with international organizations in West Africa and the Caribbean. Leslie also has experience in education and non-profit management. As Director of Empower Energy Design, Leslie planned, organized, and directed operations and programs, including negotiating grant collaborations and project implementation frameworks. She also has other fundraising, strategic communications, and proposal development experience.

Leslie earned her B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.A. in International Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Brent is a retired Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner with over 35 years of business and financial experience. Born and raised in Idaho, he attended Brigham Young University-Idaho and earned his accounting degree with a minor in economics from Utah State University. For over 20 years, he was president and CEO of Rudd & Company, an accounting and business consulting firm with offices in Idaho and Montana. He has also served on various board and advisory councils for corporations, banks, charitable organizations, and universities.

Brent is a frequent contributor to newspapers and other publications and authored the book, A Matter of Principle that explores the fundamental ideals that guided America’s Founders.

Brent and Julie have raised four sons who, in turn, have blessed them with twenty grandchildren.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He has edited four books, published dozens of scholarly articles and chapters, and offers trainings and workshops for those interested in learning about how to engage differences constructively in a variety of settings. He received his PhD from Cornell University.