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Executive Team
Government Affairs Team
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Executive Team
Don Brunell.jpg)
President, AWB
As president of the Association of Washington Business, Don Brunell oversees the state’s oldest and largest statewide business organization, representing more than 6,500 members employing more than 600,000 workers. The AWB office in Olympia employs a staff of 34.
Don is a native of Walkerville, Montana, and a graduate of the University of Montana, Missoula, with a Bachelor’s of Arts in education. He started his career as a writer and editor for two Montana daily newspapers (The Montana Standard and Missoulian). In 1973, he served as a press aide to Western Montana Congressman Richard Shoup in Washington, D.C.
In 1975, he joined The Inland Forest Resource Council to coordinate federal timber supply issues for forest products companies in Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington. In 1978, he became the issues and communications manager for Crown Zellerbach Corp. in Washington state and was elected to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Association of Washington Business. In 1986, Don became vice president of Governmental Affairs for AWB and was named president in 1987.
Don serves on various committees, including the Conference of State Manufacturers Associations, National Council of State Chambers, Kids Chance of Washington, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Industrial Council, Governor’s Global Competitiveness Council, Business Week and Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy.
Don served in the U.S. Army as part of the Special Forces and retired as a Major in the Washington Army National Guard. During his tenure in the Washington National Guard, he commanded the 122nd Public Affairs Detachment which won consecutive Thomas Jefferson (Department of Defense) and Keith L. Ware (Department of the Army) awards (1985 and 1986) for its publication, The Evergreen.
He and his wife, Jeri, live in Olympia and have six adult children and 13 grandchildren.
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.jpg) Debra Brown
Senior Vice President
Member Services
Debra is responsible for developing new and managing current business services to help companies gain a competitive edge, save time and money, and stay in compliance. Programs range from human resource and employment law seminars to workers’ comp safety and Retro programs to employee benefit programs such as AWB HealthChoice. She also oversees special events like AWB’s annual Policy Summit and member recognition programs, such as the Better Workplace and Environmental Excellence Awards. Debra is also president of AWB’s for-profit subsidiary, AWB Benefit Services. Under Debra’s leadership, AWB’s business service programs have grown by more than 300 percent.
Debra is a native of New York state and has lived in Olympia since 1982. She earned her undergraduate degree from The Evergreen State College, focusing on a Bachelor of Science, and continued her education in marketing and business at the University of Washington.
She and her husband, Craig, own Capital Divers, a small business in Olympia. Both are avid musicians and have their own band, Blue Ringer.
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Gary Chandler
Vice President
Government Affairs
Former State Rep. Gary Chandler, R-Moses Lake, is AWB’s vice president of government affairs. He is the association’s chief lobbyist and directs its legislative and regulatory programs.
As a legislator, Chandler co-chaired the House Agriculture and Ecology Committee and served on the Natural Resources and Transportation committees during the last legislative session. He was first elected to the legislature in 1990 from Moses Lake and served in a legislative seat once occupied by his father, Glyn.
Chandler has also been a member of AWB’s Board of Directors. He owns the UPS Store in Moses Lake.
He was a hay farmer, apple orchardist, former manager of the family’s farm implement dealership and Grant County Commissioner.
Chandler and his wife, Deborah, live in Olympia.
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Richard Walter
Vice President
Operations
As AWB’s vice president of operations, Dick Walter serves as the association’s chief financial officer and oversees an array of functions ranging from human resources and payroll to membership recruitment and retention and technology acquisition and operations. He also coordinates the board of directors and the executive, finance and nomination committee meetings. His prior work experiences include numerous executive and management assignments with Xerox Corporation and GTE.
Dick has been active in the community serving as president and on the board of such groups as the Olympia-Thurston County Chamber of Commerce and the Thurston County Economic Development Council.
Dick is a native of Chicago and has lived in Olympia since 1974 with his wife, Geri, and their three daughters. He earned his undergraduate degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and a master’s in business administration from the University of Washington.
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.jpg) Jocelyn McCabe, APR
Vice President
Communications
Jocelyn McCabe is the vice president of communications for the Association of Washington Business, a position she has held since July 2008.
Prior to joining AWB, Jocelyn spent five years as director of communications for the Association of Washington School Principals where she oversaw internal and external communications on behalf of the state’s 3,500 public and private school principals. She also previously served as director of communications for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Terry Bergeson.
Before coming to work in K-12 education, Jocelyn served as a senior account executive in the technology division of APCO Worldwide, a Seattle public relations and public affairs firm. She has public sector experience as public information officer in the Washington State House of Representatives. She began her career as a staff writer for the Daily Record newspaper in Ellensburg, Wash.
A native Washingtonian, Jocelyn holds a Master of Arts in journalism from Michigan State University with an emphasis on crisis communications and media relations. She also holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Washington: one in English/creative writing, the other in editorial journalism.
In 2008, Jocelyn earned the professional designation Accredited in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America. In 2006, she received the Learning and Liberty Award for leadership and excellence in school public relations from the Washington School Public Relations Association. She is an active member of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Jocelyn and her husband, Chris, live in Tumwater; they have one son.
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 Kristofer T. Johnson
Vice President
Prior to joining AWB, Kris was president of the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. There, he led initiatives resulting in state and federal funding for the Central Corridor Partnership, which will bring light rail transit from downtown Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul. During his time in Saint Paul, he also led a comprehensive rebranding effort of the chamber and played a key role during the Republican National Convention, which was held in the Twin Cities in the fall of 2008. Kris was selected as a Fellow for the Ford Foundation’s focus on Regional Sustainability Development.
Before leading the efforts of the Saint Paul Area Chanber, Kris served as president and CEO of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce in Washington state. While there, he led a regional chamber merger, resulting in the formation of the new Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, representing the interests of more than 1,250 businesses from five states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and California. More than 40 of the region’s top business leaders comprised the board of the larger chamber, which promoted economic prosperity for the entire region.
During his tenure, the Chamber was recognized as one of the top ten chambers in the country for membership growth, receiving four “Awards in Communications Excellence” from the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. He is certified as a chamber executive by the Institute for Organizational Management from the American Chamber of Commerce.
From 1997-2002, Kris served as manager of governmental/public affairs at the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce in Washington.
Kris is a graduate of the University of Montana-Western and the U.S. Chamber Institute program. He and his wife, Katie, son Logan and daughter Ellie are residents of Olympia.
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Government Affairs Staff
.jpg) Kris Tefft
General Counsel
Legal Affairs, Employment Law,
Wage & Hour, Workers’ Comp.,
Human Resources
Kris Tefft joined AWB in 2003 and serves as the association's general counsel and director of government affairs for employment law. As general counsel, Kris manages AWB's litigation and amicus curiae ("friend of the court") program, with a special emphasis on matters before the Washington Supreme Court, where he has participated in more than 50 cases. He also provides advice and counsel to the association's leadership on a variety of legal compliance issues. Kris directs AWB's judicial evaluation and selection efforts and compiles the association's biennial Judicial Scorecard and Guide to the Washington Supreme Court.
As AWB's employment law director, Kris advocates before the Legislature and state agencies on a wide range of labor and employment issues, including workers' compensation. He is an appointee to the state's Employment Law Advisory Committee and Workers' Compensation Advisory Committee, and is an industry representative to the Washington State Rehabilitation Council.
A frequent speaker at continuing legal education and human resource seminars, Kris provides guidance, training, and workshops for AWB members on HR compliance issues. He is the author of Managing Leaves of Absence: A Practical Guide (2008).
Kris has twice been selected as a "Rising Star" by Washington Law & Politics magazine. He was educated at Seattle University, Georgetown University, and the Notre Dame Law School, and began his career as a law clerk to Justice Richard Sanders of the Washington Supreme Court.
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.jpg) Amber Carter
Tax & Fiscal Policy,
Transportation,
Workforce Training
Amber Carter is the director of government affairs for tax and fiscal policy for the Association of Washington Business. She joined AWB in 1989.
Amber has lobbied for laws to help employers on behalf of AWB since 1995. She has represented employers on a variety of issues including workers compensation, ergonomics, regulatory reform, and health care. Amber worked on landmark legislation (SB 5089) to enact the streamlined sales tax agreement in Washington state and works closely with business and state regulators on implementing the new law.
In addition to her other duties at AWB, Amber serves on the Freight Investment Alternative Financing Task Force, a legislatively appointed group to make recommendations on financing freight investment in Washington. She also oversees AWB’s political affairs program for candidate endorsements. Previously Amber established and managed the WE CARE Coalition (Washington Employers Concerned about Regulating Ergonomics), a group of private and public employers who led the effort to overturn the Washington state ergonomics rule.
Amber is a native Washingtonian. She is married to a small business owner and lives in Olympia with their children.
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.jpg) Grant Nelson
Environmental Policy,
Clean-up/Hazardous Waste,
Air & Water Quality,
Toxics, Small Business Policy,
Workplace Safety
Grant Nelson joined the staff at the Association of Washington Business in 1998. As director of government affairs for environmental policy, Grant represents AWB members before the Legislature and regulatory agencies on issues related to air quality, water quality, toxics and climate change.
Grant was the lead lobbyist for AWB’s successful legislative effort to revise the Industrial Stormwater General Permit and he serves on many Department of Ecology advisory committees and workgroups charged with developing rules, permits and chemical action plans. Grant also is the lead for AWB on workplace safety issues and serves on a number of advisory committees for the Department of Labor and Industries.
Grant is a native Washingtonian and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in business. Prior to coming to AWB, Grant worked as legislative staff in both the Washington State Senate and Washington State House of Representatives.
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.jpg) Chris McCabe
Environmental Policy, Energy,
Build/Land Use, Water Resources,
Endangered Species, Puget Sound Partnership,
Regulatory Policy
Chris McCabe is AWB’s director of government affairs for environmental policy and represents AWB members before the Legislature and state agencies on land use, water and energy issues. Chris is a native Washingtonian and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in political science. After college, Chris worked in Washington, D.C. as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Senator Frank H. Murkowski and then returned home to Washington where he served as legislative assistant to former Washington State Representative Tim Hickel of Federal Way.
Chris earned his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. Following law school, Chris practiced in Olympia focusing on real estate, property, estate planning and probate law.
Chris and his wife, Jocelyn, live in Tumwater; they have one son.
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.jpg) Donna Steward
Health Care, Education, Unemployment Insurance
Donna Steward is AWB’s director of government affairs for health care, education and unemployment insurance policy and represents AWB members before the Legislature and state agencies on health care, K-12 and higher education, and unemployment insurance issues.
Donna is a native Washingtonian and graduate of the University of Washington with a BA. in economics. Prior to joining AWB, she served as associate regional administrator of the Division of Medicare Financial management, part of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Donna has also served as the executive director of the Association of Washington Healthcare Plans and worked as a legislative research analyst for the Washington State House of Representatives covering health care and education issues.
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