Don has successfully lobbied in over a dozen states, including Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, and South Carolina, and on Capitol Hill for patient access. In 2008, he was elected chair of the Maryland Delegation to the Republican National Convention. Prior to joining MPP, Murphy was a partner in a bipartisan Annapolis lobbying firm with an eclectic list of clients. Most recently, he was the legislative liaison for the Anne Arundel County Executive.

Matt Schweich, Director of State Campaigns

As director of state campaigns, Matt oversees MPP’s ballot initiative efforts in four states: Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada. He manages campaign operations and works with advocates and allies to build successful coalitions in anticipation of Election Day 2016, when voters will have the opportunity to end marijuana prohibition in these four states by voting “yes” on their respective ballot questions.

Prior to joining MPP in early 2015, Matt worked primarily in Rhode Island politics, first as a policy aide in the Office of the General Treasurer before serving on multiple campaigns at the state and local levels. He also played an important role in guaranteeing that a state-level Constitutional Convention proposal was placed on the 2014 ballot in Rhode Island. Matt is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Karen O’Keefe, Director of State Policies

As MPP’s director of state policies, Karen O’Keefe manages MPP’s grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in state legislatures.Karen has worked at MPP since 2003. She played a significant role in MPP’s successful medical marijuana campaigns in Montana (2004) and Rhode Island (2006). Karen has managed MPP’s state legislative department during medical marijuana victories in Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Illinois, and during successful decriminalization campaigns in Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont. She is responsible for updating MPP’s model legislation, which formed the basis for several laws. In 2011, she was appointed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to serve on the state’s medical marijuana work group.

Karen earned her J.D. from Loyola School of Law, New Orleans, where she received the Gillis Long Public Service award and the Crowe Scholar award. She is admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia.

Matt Simon, New England Political Director and Legislative Analyst, State Policies Department

Matt has been working since 2007 to reform marijuana laws in New Hampshire, lobbying and organizing in support of medical marijuana legislation that finally passed into law in 2013 (after having been vetoed by the governor in both 2009 and 2012).

From 2007-2010, Matt served as executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. In 2011, he worked as New Hampshire communications director for Governor Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign, and in December 2011, he began working for the Marijuana Policy Project.

A former college English instructor, Matt believes respectful and effective communication is key to successful reform efforts. In 2013, his efforts bore fruit in Vermont as well as in New Hampshire; Matt was heavily involved in the successful campaign for Vermont’s new decriminalization law.

Matt is currently advocating in support of reforms in New Hampshire, Vermont, West Virginia, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont and holds a Master’s degree in English from West Virginia University.

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Chris Lindsey, Senior Legislative Analyst, State Policies Department

Chris joined MPP in April 2013 and serves as a legislative analyst. He works with community leaders, lobbyists, and legislators in over a dozen states and U.S. territories to change marijuana laws. He evaluates and drafts legislation, lobbies in support of improved marijuana laws, and communicates with supporters on behalf of MPP.Chris has been active in the medical marijuana community in Montana since 2008. He has testified before legislators and committees, conducted legal seminars, participated in legislative work groups to establish a regulatory framework for medical marijuana, and lobbied on behalf of marijuana organizations. Chris has published numerous articles on criminal law and societal change related to marijuana.

Chris is a medical marijuana attorney and has brought cases to the Montana Supreme Court in both civil and criminal matters on behalf of medical marijuana caregivers and patients. He has also seen the harsh side of federal prohibition policies. In 2011, he was charged as a co-conspirator for violating federal law due to his participation in a 2009 medical marijuana business following several highly-publicized raids. Chris lives in Missoula, Montana with his wife and son.

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Becky Dansky, Legislative Analyst, State Policies Department

Becky joined the state policies department at MPP in June 2015. Previously, she worked in the legislative departments of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Interfaith Alliance, the National Council of Jewish Women, and most recently she served as the federal legislative director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Becky first became interested in marijuana policy reform during her treatment for breast cancer. She is currently advocating in support of reforms in Connecticut, Hawaii, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia.

Becky lives in Virginia and holds a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. She is admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia.

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Kate Bell, Legislative Analyst, State Policies Department

Ms. Bell joined the staff of MPP in December 2015 and is working toward reform in Arizona, D.C., Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming. Prior to joining MPP, she worked as a criminal defense attorney based in Baltimore, Maryland, where she witnessed first-hand how the racially-disparate enforcement of prohibition warps the relationships between police and the communities they serve. In her practice, she regularly represented medical marijuana patients under the affirmative defense law, while also advocating for a broader law that would protect patients from prosecution.

Ms. Bell graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She has traveled extensively and is now a proud resident of the (future) 51st state.

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Maggie Ellinger-Locke, Legislative Analyst, State Policies Department

Maggie Ellinger-Locke joined our State Policies Department as a legislative analyst in December 2015. Prior to joining MPP, she worked as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney in St. Louis, Missouri. She has worked on countless political campaigns involving issues such as police accountability, statewide elections, food sovereignty, gender, and workers’ rights. She served as president of the National Lawyers Guild of St. Louis from Occupy through Ferguson. Prior to law school, Maggie worked as a union and community organizer, and today she is as comfortable in a courtroom as she is in the streets.

Maggie holds a B.A. from Antioch College, where she majored in ecofeminism, and she graduated from City University of New York School of Law in 2011. The Buffalo Environmental Law Journal published her law review article, Food Sovereignty is a Gendered Issue, in 2011.

Mason Tvert, Director of Communications

As director of communications, Mason oversees MPP’s media strategy and online outreach efforts out of the organization’s Denver office. Prior to taking over MPP’s communications department, he co-directed the successful campaign in support of Amendment 64, the 2012 ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado. In January 2013, the Denver Post named him the state’s  “Top Thinker” in the area of politics and government.

Previously, Mason co-founded and directed Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a Colorado-based nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol. In this role, he was the driving force behind the campaigns in support of the successful Denver ballot initiatives to remove all penalties for adult marijuana possession (2005) and designate it the city’s lowest law enforcement priority (2007). In 2005, he was appointed to the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel by then-Mayor John Hickenlooper. Mason has also worked with students to pass marijuana policy reform referendums at more than a dozen large colleges and universities around the nation. He is currently a member of the SAFER board of directors and a member of the advisory board for Marijuana Majority.

Mason is a co-author of Marijuana Is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009) has contributed columns to several state and national publications. He has been quoted in hundreds of articles in local and national publications, and he is frequently interviewed by local and national television and radio stations. Mason is a graduate of the University of Richmond. During his time as a student, he worked in the Virginia State Senate, the Phoenix City Council Office, and the Office of the Arizona Attorney General.

 Morgan Fox, Senior Communications Manager

As communications manager, Morgan Fox handles the day-to-day media needs of MPP’s reform efforts on the state and federal levels. In addition to interviews and providing information to reporters, Morgan is a frequent contributor to the MPP blog and has authored articles that have been published in news outlets nationwide.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Morgan has been working at MPP since moving to the District of Columbia in 2008. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University.

Lindsay Robinson, Director of Development

As director of development, Lindsay oversees MPP’s fundraising and membership strategies. Based in San Francisco, California, Lindsay has been working at MPP as a fundraiser since 2010 and has been at the helm of the development and membership team since April 2014. She was one of the primary fundraisers for Amendment 64, the 2012 ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado.

Lindsay has spent 16 years in the nonprofit industry fundraising for such organizations as the SF-Marin Food Bank and the Center for Justice and Accountability. Lindsay received her undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont and has her master’s in nonprofit administration from the University of San Francisco.

Sarah Holyhead, Major Gifts Officer

Sarah Holyhead is a major gifts fundraiser for the Marijuana Policy Project, working primarily with donors in Southern California and Arizona. She began volunteering for the drug policy reform movement in 2003 while working in the private sector and joined the MPP staff in 2006. Sarah has testified before the Los Angeles City Council and represented MPP in the national news media.

Sarah firmly believes in the power of individuals to shape the world around them and this belief fuels her work with MPP and its supporters. She has a master’s degree in public policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs (UT-Austin). She was born and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico and now resides in Los Angeles with her partner Steve, daughter Tesla, and dog Chewy.

Kelley Crosson, Major Gifts Officer

Kelley works with MPP’s major donors in the Northeast and Florida and has done so since 2009. She testified before the New York City Council in favor of medical marijuana resolutions in 2011 and 2013 and has been interviewed about MPP’s work in multiple states.

In addition to her work for MPP, Kelley has her own horticulture and design business based in New York City — with current and completed projects in New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. She received her B.A. in English from the Pennsylvania State University and is also a graduate of the world-renowned School of Professional Horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden.

The main emphasis of her horticulture degree and her current practice is low-impact, sustainable design and the use of native plants. She was an instrumental part of the installation team for the 3.5-acre, $15 million Native Plant Garden at the NYBG.

For a full staff listing, click here.