NCSL Staff Directory

Alise Garcia supports NCSL’s Health Program as a program coordinator. Garcia has over 25 years of experience with NCSL in numerous areas. She is dedicated to providing superior customer service and meeting coordination to the organization’s staff and constituents.

Charlie Severance-Medaris supports NCSL’s public health work as a senior policy specialist for the Health Program. He has previous experience in health policy through work at many Colorado nonprofits. Severance-Medaris is an expert in state policies relating to suicide prevention, drug misuse and overdose prevention and infectious disease prevention. 

As a program coordinator for NCSL’s Health Program, Clare Link-Oberstar supports her team with meeting coordination and logistics. Prior to joining NCSL, Link-Oberstar was a preschool teacher. She is dedicated to supporting her team in its work to connect NCSL’s members with research and field experts on health policy.

As a senior policy specialist in NCSL’s Health Program, Colleen Becker focuses on prescription drug access and affordability. Becker comes to NCSL with 20 years of experience performing multiple roles in health advocacy and direct patient care. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Denver.

As a policy analyst, Flora Fouladi works on public health issues with a focus on children and youth with special health care needs, adolescent health and child nutrition. Prior to joining NCSL, Fouladi worked as a legislative assistant for the Minnesota House of Representatives. She earned her bachelor's degree in political science from Macalester College.

As a senior fellow in NCSL’s Health Program, Karmen Hanson specializes in behavioral health and cannabis policy topics and collaborates with programs across the organization. With more than 22 years at NCSL, Hanson has presented to dozens of legislative groups and organizations and dedicated her career to serving legislators and legislative staff across the country. She is also the North Dakota state liaison. Hanson earned a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Denver and bachelor's degrees in psychology and sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In her role as program principal in the Health Program, Kathryn Costanza serves state legislators, legislative staff and her colleagues as a nonpartisan Medicaid policy subject matter expert. Costanza is a licensed attorney who graduated with a health law and policy certificate from the University of Colorado Law School and has several years of experience practicing health law with an emphasis on issues related to the Medicaid program. Previously, Costanza was a practicing music therapist and predominately served Medicaid beneficiaries.

As an associate director in NCSL’s Health Program, Kelly Hughes oversees staff and projects related to health access, costs and coverage issues. Hughes brings nearly two decades of professional experience in federal and state government, nonprofit, research and health care settings. A graduate of the CDC’s Public Health Prevention Service fellowship, she earned her master’s degree in public health from Emory University and her bachelor’s from Virginia Tech. 

Kelsie George is a policy specialist with the NCSL Health Program, specializing in health workforce policy issues. Her work with state legislators, legislative staff and other partners includes conducting legislative research, writing policy publications, providing services to support state legislatures and planning and conducting meetings. George joined NCSL in 2020 and previously worked with academics, translating their research to a policymaking audience. She has a master’s degree in public policy from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from St. Norbert College in Green Bay, Wis.

As a policy associate, Kendall Speer supports the Health Program’s maternal and child health, children’s oral health and women’s reproductive health portfolio. Prior to joining NCSL, Speer was a student at Boston University School of Law. She is dedicated to supporting NCSL’s mission of providing research, education, technical assistance and opportunities for cross-state sharing.

Kevin Davenport is a Health Program policy associate focusing on commercial health care policy, rural health facilities and prescription drug costs. Previously, Davenport studied and worked with taxation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance, as well as consumer and data privacy. Davenport holds a bachelor’s in political science with a minor in emergency management and a law degree with specialization in business transactional law. 

In her role, Samantha Scotti focuses on state policy issues relating to health care access, costs and coverage. She has over six years of experience working with state legislators, legislative staff and other partners on a variety of health topics, developing tools, publications and collaborative meetings. Prior to joining NCSL, she worked as legislative staff at the Colorado General Assembly and has a dual degree in political science and international studies from Colorado State University.