NCSL Staff Directory

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.” 

As an associate director, Meghan Keelean plans several NCSL meetings annually, including logistics for the NCSL Legislative Summit. Keelean has more than 15 years of experience in meetings management. She found her passion for meeting planning in her first job after college and earned her certified meeting professional designation in 2010.

In her role as senior program coordinator, Melanie Horton supports NCSL's Environment Program as well as several state and tribal working groups, which NCSL supports through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. Horton has nearly 15 years of experience providing administrative and program support to mission-driven organizations in both the public and private sectors. She earned her bachelor’s degree in media studies from the University of Southern Maine in 2006 and her master’s degree in environmental leadership from Naropa University in 2011. 

Melissa Zenk supports NCSL’s meetings department as a meetings coordinator. Zenk comes to NCSL with prior experience in wedding coordination and multifamily property management. She earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in event management.  

As director of NCSL’s Education Program, Michelle Exstrom oversees the organization’s work on state education policy. Exstrom has over 25 years of experience working with state legislators at NCSL and in Colorado’s Office of Legislative Legal Services. She has national expertise in policies to build effective K-12 education systems that improve outcomes for all students.

As human resources coordinator, Michelle Kelton assists with day-to-day operations in the HR department. Kelton has contributed to the NCSL HR team since 2015, developing her ever-expanding role as a human resources professional. Dedicated to the HR team, she enjoys working with others to make NCSL a great place to work.

Mick Bullock is NCSL’s public affairs director. Based in the Washington, D.C., office, Bullock has more than 16 years of communications experience and is responsible for NCSL’s digital media, video, podcast and media relations. Previously, Bullock worked as communications director for Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and served on the state’s crisis communications team following Hurricane Katrina. Bullock received his bachelor’s in communications from the University of Southern Mississippi and his MBA from Belhaven College.

As a program principal in the Education Program, Molly Gold focuses on teacher, school leader, and school governance policy. Prior to joining NCSL, Gold worked as a high school English teacher and department chair and as an analyst with the Colorado Department of Education. She has a master's in public policy with a specialization in K-12 education policy from Vanderbilt University. 

Molly Widoff supports the Health Program as a policy analyst focused on overdose, suicide, injury prevention and infectious diseases. She comes to NCSL with experience in policy research and programming around mental health and substance use. Widoff recently earned a degree in public health from Tulane University.

As accounting manager, Nang Loong oversees the accounts payable and payroll responsibilities, including travel reimbursement, vendor payment processing, procurement and travel and expense card program administration, payroll processing, year-end compliance for payable and payroll, fixed assets, bank reconciliation, general accounting and financial reporting. She has been with NCSL since March 2005 and offers more than a decade of experience in accounting and finance. She received her B.A. in accounting from Pittsburg State University in Kansas and remains current with technology and trends in her area of expertise.

Nicole Ezeh supports the Law, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Standing Committee as an associate legislative director. Previously, Ezeh supported human trafficking victim services providers in the state of Maryland at its federally recognized state coalition against sexual assault. She earned her law degree at George Mason University and her B.A. in government and politics at the University of Maryland.

Patrick Lyons is a policy specialist focused on prekindergarten to third grade education policy. Patrick facilitates the State Policy and Research in Early Education workgroup and focuses on issues such as school readiness, the early childhood workforce, prekindergarten access and quality, and early literacy and math. Prior to joining NCSL, Patrick was a consultant with Public Sector Consultants in Lansing, Mich., where he worked on a broad range of policy topics but specialized in work for the Michigan Department of Education and Office of Great Start. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and his master’s degree in public policy from the University of Virginia Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Patrick grew up in metro Detroit and Traverse City.