NALPSE Leadership
NALPSE Leadership is elected at annual business meetings held during NALPSE’s annual conference. Board officers include: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Leadership also includes representatives for: six geographic regions, single staff states, native people and people of color, NEA field staff, and NEA headquarters.
Melissa Peterson
President
NALPSE President, Melissa Peterson has been a member of the NALPSE Board since 2018, first elected as Midwest Regional Representative, then Vice-President and now serving as President elected in late 2025. In her day job she works as Legislative and Policy Director for the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA). When she isn’t fighting the latest attacks on public educators and the fundamentals of the American republic, she enjoys gardening, live music, cooking, and chilling with her pups Gracie and Bailey.
Vacant
Vice President
Francine Pfeffer
Treasurer
Francine Pfeffer has been a lobbyist at the New Jersey Education Association since 2007. Prior to that, she was a high school history teacher and school librarian. She was first elected to the NALPSE board in 2016, serving as the Northeast Region Representative before becoming the Treasurer.
Dues related inquiries: nalpsetreasurer@gmail.com
Meghan Raynes
Secretary
Meghan Raynes was elected and has served as Secretary on the NALPSE Board since 2024. As Director of Government Affairs for the Colorado Education Association, she leads CEA’s legislative agenda under the golden dome. Meghan spends the majority of her spare time chauffeuring her four children to their various activities, but she also enjoys long walks with her dog and the occasional TikTok doom-scroll.
Jared Mason Gere
Past President
Bio
Katrina Mayo
NEA NALPSE Liaison
Katrina Mayo has served with the National Education Association for the past 10 years and currently works in the Center for Advocacy and Political Action, where she focuses on education legislation and policy in Congress. Katrina has been actively involved with NALPSE since 2017 and values the opportunity to engage with colleagues and advance issues that support educators and public education. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys spending time with my family and building connections with people from diverse backgrounds.
Unique Mickens
Midwest Regional Representative
Unique Mickens is the Midwest Regional Representative for NALPSE. She is a Government Relations/IPACE Consultant and Coordinator of the Grassroots Political Activist Program for the Illinois Education Association (IEA). She has been with the IEA for six years. Prior to working with the IEA, she was an educator for 17 years for Dolton West School District 148. She enjoys reading, dancing and being a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.
Colin Robinson
Northeast Regional Representative
Born and raised in Vermont, Colin has been the Political Director for Vermont-NEA since 2010 working to build power among members to win legislative and electoral fights from the local to the statewide level. Since 2017 he has also served as the lead lobbyist at State House in Montpelier. During this time, he has helped members push for broad systemic healthcare reform, fight for fair pensions, and protect and invest in public education. A unionist first, has been active in local and state politics for over 25 years including working as Field Director for then-Congressman Bernie Sanders in 2004 re-election campaign. He lives in Burlington with his wife Sarah and their two daughters Hazel and Cora.
Chris Parri
Pacific Regional Representative
Chris Parri was elected to the NALPSE Board as Pacific Regional Representative in 2025. He serves as the Political Director for the Idaho Education Association. In his free time, he enjoys photography, skiing, hiking, cooking, climbing, reading, writing, and travel. He knows embarrassingly little about flyfishing.
Drew Sutton
Southeast Regional Representative
Drew Sutton is serving his first term as the Southeast regional representative on the NALPSE Board. Drew currently serves as the Manager of Government Relations and Research for the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). He attended his first NALPSE in 2014, his first year working in Tennessee. When not dutifully performing his responsibilities as a member of the board, Drew can typically be found building support for the NALPSE Temperance Movement and extolling the virtues of a good night’s sleep.
Vacant
Native People & People of Color Representative
Matt Moser
Single Staff State Representative
As the Government Relations and Community Outreach Director at NEA-Alaska, Matt Moser leads both legislative advocacy and electoral campaigns for Alaska’s largest union. He started his career as field staff on a U.S. Senate race before managing state legislative campaigns. He subsequently spent several years working in the Alaska State Legislature, including leadership offices within the Senate Bipartisan Coalition. Matt lives in Anchorage with his family and dog, though he commutes to Juneau during the legislative session. In his free time, he enjoys biking, hiking, and camping.
Luis Navarro
NEA Headquarters Representative
Luis Navarro is a Senior Campaigns and Elections Specialist in the Campaigns and Elections Department, of the Center for Advocacy and Political Action, at NEA HQ, tracking US Senate races, Secretary of State campaigns, on the hardside, and Voter Protection efforts. He is a NEASO steward, who enjoys movies from before the pandemic, as much history as possible, and keeping in touch the people he lived among, worked with, and became a godfather to in the Black Sea nation of Georgia.
NALPSE Regions
MIDATLANTIC
Delaware
Kentucky
Maryland
North Carolina
Ohio
Virginia
West Virginia
PACIFIC
Alaska
California
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
Oregon
Washington
MIDWEST
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
South Dakota
North Dakota
Wisconsin
SOUTHEAST
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
South Carolina
Tennessee
NORTHEAST
Connecticut
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
WEST
Arizona
Colorado
Kansas
Nebraska
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Texas
Utah
Wyoming