Featured Speakers

Representative Shaun Scott (he/him) – Panelist
Washington state Representative, District 43

Shaun represents the 43rd District. He serves as Vice Chair of the Labor & Workplace Standards Committee and sits on the House Education and Finance Committees. Outside of the legislature, he is a filmmaker, a union organizer, and the author of the book “Heartbreak City: Seattle Sports and the Unmet Promise of Urban Progress.” A member of the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America since 2017, Shaun is the first socialist elected to the Washington State Legislature since 1912. He studied history at the University of Washington and lives in Seattle’s University District.

Senator Noel Frame (she/her) – Panelist
Washington state Senator, District 36

Noel Frame (she/her) has represented the people of the 36th Legislative District as their state senator, dedicating her work to advocating for youth involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, expanding services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and behavioral health challenges, championing economic development, and fixing the state’s upside-down tax code.

Frame and her husband, Jim, live in Greenwood with their preschooler, Holden. She has lived in the 36th District since 2005 and is originally from Battle Ground, in southwest Washington. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Fatema Boxwala (she/her) – Panelist
Advocate, Tech4Taxes

Fatema Boxwala is a progressive activist, software engineer, and artist living in Seattle. She is the coalition leader of Tech4Taxes, and the Director of Operations for Revolutionary Grains. She is passionate about progressive revenue, worker and immigrant rights, and building a world (and state) where everyone can live with dignity and joy.

Marco Guzman (he/him) – Panelist
Senior Analyst, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Marco provides research and analysis to help support state policymakers across the country, including in many of the Great Plains states and Southwest. Prior to joining ITEP in 2020, Marco spent more than four years providing commentary and tracking state tax news as an associate editor with Tax Notes.

Marco earned his bachelor’s of science degree from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University.

Eli Taylor Goss (they/he) – Panel Co-moderator and Event Emcee
Executive Director, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Eli (they/he) helps to set the vision and organizational strategy for the Budget and Policy Center. As executive director, they ensure the team’s work to advance economic justice aligns with the organization’s mission and theory of change. 

In their previous role as policy director of OneAmerica, a statewide immigrant justice organization, they built a reputation as a collaborative leader who is committed to centering the voices of BIPOC, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ leaders as well as to building powerful coalitions. Throughout his career, he has contributed to many legislative wins for immigration, reproductive rights, higher education, and for tax justice in Washington state – amid a changing state and federal landscape. 

Eli’s experience growing up in Texas and his experience with the safety nets and policies that our organization champions fuel his passion and give him a profound understanding of the tangible impact these policies can have on individuals’ lives. As a trans leader, Eli is also driven by the desire to ensure that every Washingtonian has access to resources that allow them to thrive and live a dignified life with self-agency and economic security.

In their free time, Eli loves to eat BBQ, be part of their chosen family, and dabble in various creative and outdoor pursuits.

Mia Shigemura (she/her) – Co-moderator
Senior Policy Analyst, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Mia is part of the research and policy team, focusing on progressive revenue policy analysis and advocacy.

A lifelong Washington resident, Mia is passionate about reimagining how we work and live together so that every community can thrive. She draws on her previous experience in social impact evaluation, public health, and design to strengthen public systems and advance race, gender, and disability justice.

Outside of tax policy, Mia loves to explore the landscapes and communities of Whidbey Island, where she lives. She also enjoys cheering on local sports teams, training with her Chihuahua-Pit Bull mix, and kayaking throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Outside of tax policy, Mia loves to explore the landscapes and communities of Whidbey Island, where she lives. She also enjoys cheering on local sports teams, training with her Chihuahua-Pit Bull mix, and kayaking throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Outside of tax policy, Mia loves to explore the landscapes and communities of Whidbey Island, where she lives. She also enjoys cheering on local sports teams, training with her Chihuahua-Pit Bull mix, and kayaking throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Kaitie Dong (she/her) – Presenter
Senior Policy Analyst, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Kaitie leads the Budget and Policy Center’s immigrant justice policy analysis and advocacy.

As a lifelong Washingtonian and granddaughter of Chinese immigrants, Kaitie is inspired by her family and community to advance immigrant rights and racial justice. Kaitie is passionate about relationship building and education as strong vehicles to center and support people most impacted to drive transformative change. She has built the leadership of immigrant youth across Washington State, and advanced meaningful policy campaigns focused on keeping immigrant families together, tenants’ rights, language access in K-12 schools, and early learning.

Kaitie loves anything related to food – cooking and baking food, learning about food in relation to culture and politics, sharing food, and, of course, eating food. You can find Kaitie outside on a walk around the neighborhood and connecting with folks at community events, usually with a snack or coffee in hand.

Emily Vyhnanek (they/them) – Presenter
Associate Director of Campaigns, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

With a background in campaign and coalition management, Emily works across each of the Budget and Policy Center issue areas to identify campaign strategies and set long-term, proactive agendas.

An advocate for tax and economic justice, Emily previously led the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) Coalition and Campaign. In 2021, they successfully led the WFTC Coalition in passing and establishing the first state-level Earned Income Tax Credit in a state without an income tax. Following its passage, Emily worked with coalition members to focus on equitable implementation of the credit, which has now impacted hundreds of thousands of people in Washington.

Before joining the Budget and Policy Center, Emily led the Free Tax Preparation Campaign at United Way of King County, a regional effort to increase access to federal anti-poverty tax credits. Emily also launched United Way’s 2020 Census Education and Outreach strategy in partnership with a coalition of King County community leaders. Emily has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University of Washington. In their spare time, Emily coaches the UW Womxn’s rugby team and enjoys spending time cooking, fishing, and throwing the rugby ball around the park with their dog Goose.

Evan Walker (they/them) – Presenter
Senior Policy Analyst, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Evan is a member of our research and policy team, focusing on criminal legal system policies. They research and lead our policy development on criminal legal system policies to increase economic, social, and legal support for people impacted by the criminal legal system.

Previously, they worked with district and municipal court judicial officers to support trial courts at the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts. And before that, they were a Narver policy fellow and senior policy analyst with the Budget and Policy Center, where they helped build our organization’s policy work focused on dismantling the state’s legal monetary sanction system.

Tracy Yeung (she/her) – Presenter
Senior Policy Analyst, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Tracy is a member of our research and policy team, focusing on direct cash policies.

She previously held a State Policy Fellowship with our organization, through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ two-year national fellowship program. Before that, she served as the 2020-2021 Betty Jane Narver Policy Fellow at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center.

Tracy has also worked at the Chinese Information Service Center as a family caregiver support specialist and in-home care case manager, mainly serving low-income, limited-English speaking, and elderly immigrant families in King County.

Tracy has a master’s degree in public health from the Community-Oriented Public Health Program at the University of Washington.