GOVERNANCE
Bob Cochran
CO-PRESIDENT
Chief of Staff for Congressman Buck McKeon (CA-25) from 1993 – 2012 and now serves as the Director of External Relations for the Ronald Reagan Institute, the Washington, DC office of the Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Bob is a co-founder of the Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF) which annually brings together thought leaders and stakeholders in the defense community, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Reagan Institute Summit on Education (RISE), which is a bi-partisan gathering of education leaders to elevate and contribute to the ongoing national conversation about education. Bob was selected by the Chicago White Sox Organization for the 1975 Professional Baseball Draft, but chose instead to accept a baseball scholarship to attend California State University at Los Angeles. Bob and his wife, Kellie, live in Reston, Virginia, and have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Richard Mereu
VICE PRESIDENT
Richard Mereu served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA); Staff Director of the International Terrorism, Nonproliferation & Human Rights Subcommittee and Staff Director of the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee under Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL); and Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. Retired from the Hill in 2013. Currently, he is the Chief Government Relations Officer and head of the Washington D.C. office for the Emergency Nurses Association, a 53,000-member trade association based in the Chicago metropolitan area. Mr. Mereu earned his undergraduate degree at Colgate University and J.D. from Albany Law School.
Rochelle Dornatt
SECRETARY
Rochelle Dornatt served as Secretary to HCOSAA for the past 5 years. She’s moving on in 2023 and this post is open in the upcoming election cycle.
Ann Jablon
TREASURER
I first came to DC in 1988 as an intern to work for my then-freshman Member of Congress and stayed for 26 years! I was the Chief of Staff to Congressman Richard E. Neal for 21 of those years and left the Hill in 2016. I am now a partner at Capitol Counsel, a lobbying firm in DC. I am the mother of four, enjoy playing tennis, traveling, cooking and spending quality time with friends and loved ones.
John Weinfurter
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
John Weinfurter enjoyed a 20-year career on Capitol Hill as Chief of Staff to the late U.S. Representative John Joseph Moakley (D-MA) and Tom Barrett (D-WI) where he served as the principal liaison to House Leadership through five presidential administrations and to the corporate and professional communities of Boston, Milwaukee and Washington., DC After leaving the Hill Mr. Weinfurter served as the President and CEO of the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI). CELI was a bipartisan and bicameral educational foundation designed to acquaint Members of Congress, their staffs, and corporate executives with emerging economic issues. He was president and principal at the Washington, DC-based lobbying firm of KSCW, Inc., then later served as Vice President of the Government Relations Division for Witt O’Brien. Currently, Mr. Weinfurter is Partner at Capstone National Partners where he is currently Managing Partner, Mr. Weinfurter provides government relations, strategic counsel, and policy monitoring and analysis on a broad spectrum of market sectors including healthcare, energy, insurance, financial services, international development, technology, education, aviation, and defense.
Amelia Binder
Amelia Wang Binder is Senior VP of Government Affairs at the National Music Publishers’ Association. Prior to joining NMPA, she was chief of staff to Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.) for five years and previously worked for Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.). While working for Chu, she spearheaded the creation of the Congressional Creative Rights Caucus – a bi-partisan group focused on strengthening copyright protections and fighting to achieve fair compensation to creators for their work. Amelia is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Caroline Decker
CAROLINE NIELSON DECKER. COS to Rep. Robert N. Clement (D-TN). She joined the HCOSAA Board in 2010. Caroline is Vice President of Federal Government Affairs and National Rail Business Director for WSP USA, a leading global engineering consultancy. In her spare time she enjoys playing tennis, reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband, Jon.
Bradford Fitch
Bradford is President and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. Fitch started his communications career at the age of 16 working at his local AM radio station in Upstate New York and a disc jockey and reporter. After graduate school, he worked as a television reporter in Washington, moving on to Capitol Hill for 13 years as press secretary, legislative director, and chief of staff. In 2001 he served as Deputy Director of CMF, a non-profit dedicated to improving congressional operations and citizen engagement. He left CMF in 2006 to form a successful internet startup, before returning to CMF in 2010.
Fitch frequently quoted in national media outlets on how Congress works. He is also is the author of Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials and Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress.
Jim Dykstra
Jim was COS to Rep. Steve Horn (R-CA) and also served as Republican Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for Sen. Bill Cohen (R-ME). He was a member of the board of the House Chiefs of Staff Association while on the Hill. Jim has been on the board of HCOSAA for a number of years and served as president of the association for two years. He is now with the government relations firm, Edington, Peel & Associates. He is a Senior Fellow with the Stennis Center for Public Service and serves as a mentor to young Hill staff through the Stennis Center’s Emerging Leader program. In addition, Jim is on the board and executive committee of the Netherland-America Foundation and is clerk of session at his church, Trinity Presbyterian, in Arlington.
Nora Matus
Nora Baumeister Matus is a former Board Member and Past President of the House Chiefs of Staff Association. The first woman to lead the House Chiefs, Nora served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Karen Thurman (FL-05) and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (CA-06). She also served in the office of Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02) prior to leaving the Hill for the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), where she directs ASA’s congressional lobbying, PAC and grassroots activities. Nora is a Senior Stennis Fellow and a new member of the Congressional Women’s Golf Association. She enjoys watching golf, Florida State football, traveling, and volunteering for So Others May Eat (SOME).
Barbara Morris Lent
Barbara had the honor to serve as chief of staff first to Rep. Norm Lent, and then to Rep. Jerry Solomon, both from her home state of New York. Those opportunities provided unique insight into the exquisite interplay of industry, government and politics, and led in 1983 to the start of a long post-Congress career in government affairs with the then Baby Bell now known as Verizon. Happily retired from paid employment, she currently devotes time and energy to several Hill-related activities and nonprofit organizations, of which HCOSAA is a treasured favorite. In her spare moments, Barbara says she enjoys sharing the wisdom of her years with all who can benefit from it, whether they want it or not.
David Nathan
A native of Upstate New York, Dave was Chief of Staff to five Democratic and Republican House Members over 22 years before leaving the Hill in 1998.
He was president of the House Chiefs of Staff Association in the early 1990s, and was a Stennis Fellow. Prior to his Congressional work, he was a reporter and columnist with newspapers in St.Louis and Albany (NY). After the Hill, he worked at the non profit AARP for more than two decades. He has an undergraduate degree from Columbia College, a masters from the State University at Albany and had a one year post graduate Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. Dave and his wife, Nancy, have three grown daughters and four grandchildren, and a puppy (Carrie).
He loves to play golf and tennis, and is a member of three book groups.
Will Stone
Will Stone served as chief of staff to Rep. Dave Obey of Wisconsin for close to a decade. He also spent four years as director of financial services for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; a post that kept him engaged in House campaigns across the country. He worked for several other Members in various capacities and started his career in the office of Rep. Wyche Fowler of Georgia. Will has been active in national Democratic politics, and has served on the backstage and podium staff for numerous Democratic national conventions, and has as been involved in every convention since 1984
Mark Walker
COS to Dan Burton (R-IN) and Ed Royce (R-CA); left the Hill in 2017
Mark A. Walker is the Chairman of The Center for a Secure Free Society’s Board of Directors. Mr. Walker, a senior executive with over 25 years of experience on Capitol Hill as a senior Congressional Committee staffer (1991-2017), has been a leader in developing policy and legislation- and is recognized as an expert in management, budgeting, fundraising, and political organization. Mark Walker has served as a Chief of Staff, Senior Congressional Committee Staffer, and Staff Director for 9 Members of Congress, as well as a Senior Campaign Staffer for both Former Vice President Mike Pence and Former Vice President Dan Quayle of Indiana. He most recently served as the Senior Staff Director for the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Mr. Walker shepherded five major pieces of bipartisan legislation through the House and Senate that became Public Laws when they were signed into law by the President. Mark Walker
received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from Wabash College where he was awarded an Eli Lilly Scholarship – and attended the Sorbonne Université in Paris.
Cell:(202) 341-6789
Craig Roberts