Ian McLaughlin is a senior staff attorney with Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP), working both on tobacco control and childhood obesity issues. Ian’s practice focuses on tobacco retailer licensing, public financing (taxes and fees), and code enforcement issues, and he provides training and individualized legal technical assistance in all of these areas. Ian also serves as a municipal administrative hearing officer for the City of Petaluma, California, conducting hearings and deciding a variety of code enforcement matters. Prior to joining PHLP, Ian practiced municipal law with a private law firm, Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, and served as City Attorney for the City of Clearlake, California, and Assistant City Attorney for the City of Healdsburg. He has also served as legislative counsel to the Hawaii State Senate and the National Legislature of the Republic of Palau. Ian is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the UC Berkeley School of Law.
As founder and executive director of Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP), Marice Ashe manages long-term strategic planning for all of its projects and guides their day-to-day activities. For more than 15 years, Ashe has worked on establishing and directing pioneering efforts that leverage legal and policy tools to promote public health. She teaches public health law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health, and serves on the board of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. She has also worked with the UC Office of the President and the Contra Costa County Health Services Department, and as a consultant with numerous private philanthropies and state and federal health agencies. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and the UC Berkeley School of Law.
Since 2002, Andrea Craig Dodge has directed tobacco control programs aimed at restricting tobacco sponsorship at rodeos and related events, including the National Tobacco-Free Rodeo Project and the California Statewide Buck Tobacco Sponsorship Project. For the past 19 years, her work has involved a variety of public health issues including mental health, partner abuse, youth violence, and alcohol-related injuries. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and its Schools of Public Health and Social Welfare.
Genie Gratto leads PHLP's communications team, which is responsible for ensuring the organization's products and services reach their target audiences. She also directs the communications effort for the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN). In the 14 years leading up to her joining PHLP, she worked as a journalist before moving on to the advocacy, non-profit, labor union, corporate and web software development arenas. She is a cum laude graduate of Mary Baldwin College and received her master's in writing from Johns Hopkins University.
Elisa Laird-Metke is a staff attorney specializing in legal issues involving exposure to secondhand smoke. Prior to joining PHLP, Elisa was an associate at Schneider & Wallace, where she litigated class actions on behalf of plaintiffs in the areas of disability rights and employment law. She has also served as deaf services coordinator and sign language interpreter at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Elisa is a graduate of East Carolina University and Golden Gate University School of Law.
Robin Salsburg is a staff attorney specializing in current and emerging legal issues involving exposure to secondhand smoke. She is also developing PHLP's climate change and health program. Prior to joining PHLP, Robin was an environmental law fellow with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, where she represented community groups and government agencies in land use and environmental litigation. Robin also served as a legal research attorney in the Law and Motion Department of the San Francisco Superior Court. Before becoming an attorney, Robin spent more than a decade implementing environmentally sustainable waste reduction programs including recycling and composting. Robin is a graduate of Stanford University and graduated summa cum laude from Golden Gate University School of Law, where she received certificates of distinction in public interest and environmental law.
Carrie Spector is PHLP's senior communications officer. As part of the organization's communications team, she helps to guide the development and promotion of PHLP's products. She has worked in journalism and nonprofit communications for more than 15 years. Prior to joining PHLP, she managed the communications department for a national cancer advocacy organization. She has also worked on the editorial staff at a variety of national and regional magazines, including Health, California Lawyer, and Mother Jones. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University's College of Communication.
Kim Arroyo Williamson is a communications associate at PHLP, where her work is focused on publications production and project management. In addition, Kim serves as the project coordinator for PHLP's database development. Prior to this role, she managed the High Value Medications Project for Medicine for People in Need (Medpin), a program supporting pharmaceutical access and management for health care organizations serving uninsured and underinsured patients. She has also worked in free and community clinics. She graduated with honors from UC Santa Cruz.
Leslie Zellers is the legal director of PHLP's Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC), where she oversees all aspects of the program's work. Prior to joining PHLP, she conducted legal and policy work on tobacco prevention and childhood lead poisoning prevention for Contra Costa County and several nonprofit organizations. She has also practiced employment law. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and a graduate of the UC Hastings College of the Law.
