Brian Davis serves as ANA’s Legislative Coordinator, with several years of experience in lobbying, crafting policy and leading advocacy campaigns. He joined ANA in April of 2019. His most recent position was the Government Affairs Representative with the Federal Managers Association; in this role he crafted action alerts for members to send up to Capitol Hill and managed a monthly newsletter. Prior to that, he was a Communications Fellow with Blue Engine Media where he led social media campaigns and crafted press releases for various clients. One of his first jobs was as a Legislative Intern for the Office of Congressman Sam Farr. There he wrote constituent correspondence, took notes on hearings of importance and led constituent tours of the Capitol. In 2013, he graduated cum laude from Tulane University with a degree in Political Science. Outside of work, he walks dogs for Wag! and enjoys devouring seafood.
Zina Gontscharow
Joining the ANA Policy/Government Affairs team in September 2020, Zina Gontscharow serves as Senior Policy Advisor, elevating the nursing profession through mainly federal regulatory advocacy. Prior to joining the ANA, Zina was a Senior Policy Analyst for America’s Essential Hospitals. There she played an integral role in the association’s policy initiatives to protect hospitals that serve a safety net role in their communities. In addition to her role at the ANA, Zina serves as President of the Western State Hospital Advisory Council, a state psychiatric hospital in Staunton, Virginia. She also volunteers in her community, holding several leadership positions. Zina holds a master of public policy and a bachelor’s degree in government and international affairs, both from George Mason University.
In her current role, Janet serves as a resource to the state nurses associations in their efforts to advance their legislative and regulatory agendas. Throughout her forty-seven years’ experience in nursing, Janet held numerous staff and leadership positions in a variety of settings: acute and long-term care, managed care, and academia. She has dedicated the past 17 years to the policy and advocacy arena; first at the state level, before joining ANA. While with the New York State Nurses’ Association, she was responsible for the Practice & Government Affairs program; during which time, Janet and her team celebrated such legislative successes as title “nurse” protection and safe patient handling & mobility. In addition to a number of other initiatives, her portfolio includes the number one issue for direct care nurses – safe staffing. Nine years ago, Janet launched the American Nurses Advocacy Institute, a year-long mentored program designed to develop nurse’s political competence. Janet completed her undergraduate degree in nursing at Russell Sage College in New York and master’s degree in nursing with a concentration in administration at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
As Senior Associate Director of Federal Government Affairs, Sam lobbies Congress on behalf of ANA’s policy priorities. Prior to joining ANA, he was Director of Federal Affairs, Health Care for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association where he lobbied on behalf of the speech-language pathology and audiology professions. He has also worked for the American Academy of Dermatology and as a health care legislative aide for former-Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA). Prior to working in health care advocacy, he served as Finance Director of the Christine Jennings for Congress campaign in 2006 and as a field organizer for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid.
With over 10 years of experience in campaign finance and political action committee (PAC) management, Erik has helped prior employers tackle complex tasks such as political compliance, data tracking and process improvement. Before serving as the Assistant Director of Political Engagement and joining ANA in 2016 as PAC Director, he served as Senior Manager of Political Affairs at Comcast Corporation where, among an array of duties, he was responsible for overseeing the political compliance program of the PAC, the company and officers. He implemented audit findings to ensure the Political Affairs division was adhering to company and industry standards while creating several databases to track the political activities of Comcast and NBCUniversal in real-time. Previously he was the Director of Compliance for Aristotle International where he ensured the company’s PAC management software was compliant with federal and state election authorities. He was part of a small team responsible for the development and implementation of a web-based PAC management platform. In 2000, he started his career as an analyst with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) where he reviewed financial reports filed by political party committees and PACs. He was also one of a handful of employees responsible for testing the FEC’s electronic filing and review program that was being implemented at the time.
Erik holds a B.A. in political science from Bridgewater College. He currently lives in Vienna, VA with his wife Samantha, and two sons Alexander and Spencer. He’s an avid outdoorsman and can often be found running on the weekends when not spending time with the family.
Lisa Stand joined the ANA Policy/Government Affairs team in April 2019 as a Senior Policy Advisor. She advocates to elevate nursing in federal health care programs, and leads ANA’s policy work on HIV. Lisa has broad health law and policy experience, and a passion to advance health equity through health care financing reform. Throughout her career, she has focused on policy solutions in programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, she has been advocating for health system changes to improve the lives of women with low-incomes, people living with HIV, and people with unstable housing. Prior to that, she led health care policy development at AARP for 10 years. Lisa has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Languages and Literature from Bard College.
She strives to stay engaged in her suburban Maryland community, while keeping up with family members spanning four generations and caring for two elderly cats. She also enjoys live music, books, and knitting projects.
Prior to joining ANA, Brooke was a policy facilitator at Keystone Policy Center, working on issues such as infectious disease policy, emergency preparedness, immunization policy, synthetic biology and genetic technology, food waste and recovery, and environmental justice. She has also spent time with the State of Colorado, World Health Organization, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji. She holds a bachelors of science in human nutrition, foods, and exercise from Virginia Tech and a juris doctor with a certificate of international law from the University of Denver. In her free time she likes to travel, read, and explore new exhibits in the local museums across the DMV.
Kristina Weger is a Senior Associate Director at ANA and lobbies Congress on behalf of the association’s policy priorities. Before joining the ANA, she worked as the Senior Congressional Affairs Specialist at the American Physical Therapy Association and she also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives for several years. On Capitol Hill, she focused on health policy and communications. She is originally from Wentzville, Missouri, and she received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.