NCSL Staff Directory

As the director of Legislative Staff Services, Carrie Maulin leads the NCSL team dedicated to supporting legislative staff across the country. Maulin comes to NCSL after 10 years with the Idaho House of Representatives, where she was chief clerk, chief legislative officer and parliamentarian. Her current role gives her the opportunity to bring her legislative knowledge to a larger audience and support legislative institutions across the U.S. and territories.

As a policy associate, Cat Chrobak supports the NCSL Legislative Staff Services team in providing strategic, programmatic and administrative assistance to eight of NCSL’s professional staff associations. Prior to joining NCSL, Chrobak spent five years as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. She also earned a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College and is passionate about using her experience and education to support NCSL’s mission.

As a policy specialist with the Center for Legislative Strengthening, Emily Ronco researches, tracks and analyzes issues around legislator compensation, demographics and term limits. She also serves as the South Carolina state liaison. Prior to joining NCSL in 2019, Ronco worked for education nonprofits, including a small college in Chicago and an international gap year program for recent high school graduates. She earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and English from the University of Missouri. 

As a program principal in NCSL’s Legislative Staff Services Program, Holly South supports the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries, one of NCSL’s nine professional staff associations. She also administers the Legislative Staff Institutional Essentials program for newer legislative staff, serves as NCSL’s liaison to the Washington State Legislature, researches and writes on issues related to legislative staff and manages NCSL's Staff Snapshot series. Prior to joining NCSL, South spent several years as a librarian at the Legislative Reference Library of Texas. 

As director of the State-Tribal Institute, Irene Kawanabe supports the Quad Caucus, Women’s Legislative Network and the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators. Prior to joining NCSL in 2007, Kawanabe served as the director of public interest at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and the associate director of the Colorado Lawyers Committee. She earned her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, her master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Denver and her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she was a Chancellor’s Scholar. 

As director of the Center for Legislative Strengthening, Julie George leads NCSL’s work to support and educate legislators and legislative staff on legislative institutional issues, including human resources, legislative operations, and rules and procedures. George has over 20 years of experience in government relations, policy and advocacy, including work at the state, county and local government levels. She began her career working for the Colorado Legislative Council Staff, which ignited her love of the legislative process. George has a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.

A senior policy specialist in the Legislative Staff Services Program, Kae Warnock supports two of NCSL’s professional staff associations: the Research, Editorial, Legal and Committee Staff (RELACS) association and the National Association of Legislative Information Technology (NALIT). She also serves as NCSL’s liaison to the Maine Legislature. Warnock has served NCSL for over 34 years, researching, writing and speaking on legislative legal issues, bill drafting, code revision and the restoration of capitol buildings. She is dedicated to supporting the legislative institution by providing accurate information to legislators and legislative staff.

As a senior policy specialist with the Center for Legislative Strengthening, Mari Henderson focuses on committees, continuity of government issues, including COVID-19-related rules and procedural change, and legislative rules, protocols and procedures. Henderson comes to NCSL with experience in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Denver, as a Fulbright Fellow in Bulgaria, and with the U.S. House of Representatives and C-SPAN. She earned a bachelor’s in global affairs from George Mason University and a master’s degree in international relations and public diplomacy from the University of Denver.

As associate director of the Women's Legislative Network and the Quad Caucus, Martha Saenz leads strategic programs and events designed to serve targeted members. She has been with NCSL for more than a decade, specializing in research, engagement and development. Saenz is passionate about public policy and enjoys serving groups that bring unique strengths to legislatures and fulfill NCSL's mission. 

As a policy specialist with the Legislative Staff Services Program, Megan McClure supports the Leadership Staff Professional Association, the National Legislative Program Evaluation Society and the NCSL Young and New Professionals Group. She coordinates peer review for legislative program evaluation and performance audit offices. Her research focuses on leadership offices, caucuses, program evaluation and performance audit office staffing and operations, ​​​​internship and page programs, and legislative civics education programs. Previously, McClure spent over 10 years in academic librarianship and publishing. She is co-host and lead producer of NCSL’s limited-series podcast “Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures.” 

Sarah Altshuler is a senior program coordinator supporting the State Services Division, as well as the Leaders and International programs. Previously, Altshuler was lead intern with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s Denver office, where she oversaw and trained new interns, supported Colorado constituents and supported full-time staff with constituent advocacy work. She studied political science, philosophy, and communication at the University of Colorado-Boulder and graduated summa cum laude.