Advocacy Team

Barrett Snider
Director - Government and Public Affairs
As Director of Government and Public Affairs, Mr. Snider leads SI&A’s political and legislative operations. A noted advocate, speaker and writer on California K-12 education policy and budget issues, Mr. Snider has spent more than a dozen years fully immersed in California politics and government. Before joining SI&A, Snider was a Legislative Advocate in the prestigious firm of Peter Birdsall & Associates. Prior to serving as a founding member of the editorial board for SI&A’s Cabinet Report, he was Managing Editor of the highly respected Comprehensive Legislative Update on Education (CLUE). He has authored countless articles and publications on education legislation and finance and served as a key contributor to the respected California Institute for School Improvement (CISI) from 2003-2011. Additionally, Mr. Snider has worked on a number of legislative and statewide political campaigns under political consultant Gale Kaufman. Most recently, he was a consultant and spokesperson for the Yes on Prop 1D campaign—the $10.4 billion statewide school facilities bond passed by voters in November 2006. Mr. Snider began his career as an intern in the office of United States Senator Barbara Boxer. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with degrees in Political Science and Communication.

Kevin Gordon
President 		Widely viewed as among the top education advocates in California, Mr. Gordon is President of SI&A. Gordon is tirelessly focused on our company’s ability to provide the very best services available to school agencies across budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, categorical programs, human resource management, school facilities construction and education technology. The longtime Executive Director of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), Mr. Gordon previously served as the Chief Lobbyist and Assistant Executive Director of the California School Boards Association (CSBA). He has also served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Robert T. Matsui and as a legislative advocate for the California Building Industry Association. He holds a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. Prior to that, while completing his undergraduate degree in Communication Studies at University of California, Davis, he was recruited by the IBM Corporation and served three years in its national marketing division for large systems.

Gerry Shelton
Vice President for Education Policy 		Gerry Shelton was the Chief Consultant to the California State Assembly Committee on Education from 2006-2011. In that capacity, he advised the Legislature on K-12 education issues, including assessment and accountability, curriculum, facilities, career technical education, special education, teacher preparation and school finance. Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Shelton completed his undergraduate and graduate education in the University of California system, served as an instructor at U.C. Davis for four years, and was a professor at C.S.U. Sacramento for fourteen years – all in economics with a specialization in state and local government finance and public policy. He also worked in the Department of Education from the early 1990's until 2006 in both program and fiscal capacities, including serving as the Department’s Chief Financial Officer, where he and his staff represented the Department during the development of the state budget and in a number of areas related to fiscal policy and education finance.
Erin Evans-Fudem
Legislative Advocate 		Erin Evans-Fudem is one of SI&A’s newest Legislative Advocates. Previously, she spent several years in the halls of the State Capitol as a Legislative Advocate covering women’s health issues, where she developed policies and implemented statewide political strategies—including direct legislative advocacy, grassroots advocacy, coalition building and media planning. Prior to that, she worked as Legislative and Regulatory Assistant for the California Transit Association. Ms. Evans-Fudem has more than a decade of experience working on state and local political campaigns. She is proficient in campaign strategy, message development, writing and editing, volunteer coordination and fundraising. Ms. Evans-Fudem holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from California State University, Sacramento and is currently pursuing a juris doctorate at McGeorge School of Law.
Diana Narvaez
Legislative Advocate 		Diana Narvaez serves as a special assistant to Jack O’Connell and as a Legislative Advocate covering the Legislature, State Board and California Department of Education. Previously, she was the Executive Director for the California County Boards of Education. She also served as a Legislative Analyst for San Francisco Unified School District, where she provided policy analysis and represented the district at meetings of the State Board of Education and Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Ms. Narvaez has also worked for multinational and national corporations. She earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis on Global Management in 2003 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Spanish, with a minor in Political Science from University of the Pacific. In 2008, she earned a Project Management Certification from the Project Management Institute. Prior to starting her undergraduate studies, Ms. Narvaez interned for then-Governor Pete Wilson.
Joe Rombold
Legislative Advocate 		Joe Rombold has spent more than 15 years with SI&A overseeing clients’ compliance on various education requirements. His depth of knowledge on K-12 education requirements is unparalleled. As a compliance expert, Mr. Rombold has successfully implemented comprehensive reviews of internal and external procedures for our clients. Over the years, his responsibilities at SI&A have included various roles as a consultant, supervisor and manager. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, and served as a congressional intern for the late Congressman Robert T. Matsui.
   
Nick Romley
Legislative Analyst 		Nick Romley joined SI&A as an intern in 2010 and quickly transitioned to becoming a full-time Legislative Analyst in 2011. Mr. Romley supports the advocacy team by maintaining SI&A’s legislative tracking system, analyzing bills, monitoring various committee hearings and monitoring State Board of Education and California Department of Education meetings. He also assists our statewide association clients when they meet in Sacramento. A native of California, Mr. Romley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy from the University of California, Davis.

Abe Hajela
Chief Counsel 		Mr. Hajela has participated as lead or co-lead counsel in several of the most prominent education cases in the last decade, including the litigation and legislative settlement of Williams v. State of California and the pending Robles-Wong v. State of California school finance case. He has extensive experience and expertise in the intersection of education law, policy and politics, and has previously worked as a litigation attorney, a legislative advocate and as a director of a school finance research project funded by the Hewlett Foundation. In addition to his current position as Chief Counsel for SI&A, Mr. Hajela has served as General Counsel for the California School Boards Association, Legal Counsel for the San Francisco Unified School District, and as a litigation attorney for the Sacramento firm of Olson, Hagel and Fishburn. He earned his juris doctorate in 1994 at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco after graduating from U.C. San Diego with degrees in History and Political Science.