Featured Speakers

Preston Parish (he/him) – Panel facilitator
Research & Policy Director, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Preston (Ojibwe) is a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community and grew up on his tribal nation’s reservation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He aims to center lived experience in his work and brings nearly a decade of experience working to defend and advance tribal sovereignty and economic justice.

Preston enjoys spending as much time outside as possible, reading, checking out breweries and coffee shops, and working to keep his plants from dying.

Andy Nicholas (he/him) – Panelist
Senior Fellow, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Andy specializes in state budget and tax policy.

Since joining the Budget and Policy Center in 2009, he has served on a Legislative Task Force on Tax Preference Reform and has conducted numerous analyses of Washington state’s tax code.

Andy previously worked at the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where he performed extensive research on state fiscal policy. Additionally, Andy taught English in China. He holds a Master of Public Policy from American University’s School of Public Affairs.

Emily Vyhnanek (they/she) – Panelist
Working Families Tax Credit Campaign Manager, Washington State Budget and Policy Center

Working with a coalition of partners across the state, Emily manages the Working Families Tax Credit Campaign.

This campaign seeks to help Washingtonians keep up with our state’s rising cost of living by putting cash back in their pockets. An advocate for tax and economic justice, Emily previously led the Free Tax Preparation Campaign at United Way of King County, a regional effort to increase access to powerful federal anti-poverty tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Emily also launched United Way’s 2020 Census Education and Outreach strategy in partnership with a coalition of community leaders in King County. Emily has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University of Washington.

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

Evan researches and leads our policy development on social and legal monetary sanctions policy, with a focus on how criminal legal system fines and fees impact people’s socioeconomic security. They seek to integrate greater community partner relationships and feedback into his research and advocacy. Their work aims to dismantle Washington’s legal monetary sanction system.

Evan has two master’s degrees from the University of Washington in public administration and jurisprudence, where they studied social policy and local and state government law. Their academic research led to a policy brief on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and a legal research analysis paper of legal financial obligations in Washington.

Previously, Evan worked as an AmeriCorps member for a free tax help program in King County. They also have mentored undergraduates at UW, taught language arts in China, and spent several years in the service industry.

Tracy Yeung (she/her)– Panelist
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.