Government Affairs Staff

Executive Team

Don Brunell
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.

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.

Government Affairs Staff     

Courtney Barnes
Government Affairs Director
Environment, Air/Water Quality, Climate Change, Energy, PBT, Toxics

Courtney Barnes is AWB’s director of government affairs for environmental policy and represents AWB members before the Legislature and state agencies on water resources and quality, air quality, energy, toxics, and climate change. She joined AWB in 2011.

Barnes is a graduate of Evangel University where she earned a B.A. in French and biblical studies. She earned her law degree from Drake University and is licensed to practice in Washington state. Prior to joining AWB, Barnes worked as a nonpartisan staff attorney for the Washington State House of Representative serving the Environment Committee, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee.  Prior to working for the Legislature, Barnes worked for the Denver Water Board of Commissioners and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Amber Carter
Government Affairs Director
Tax & Fiscal, Transportation and Workforce Training Issues   

Amber Carter is AWB’s director of government affairs for tax and fiscal policy. She joined AWB in 1989.

Over the course of her lobbying career with AWB, Carter has represented employers on a variety of issues including workers’ compensation, ergonomics, regulatory reform, and health care. Carter 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, Carter 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, Carter 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.

Carter is a native Washingtonian. She is married to a small business owner; they make their home in Olympia.

Brandon Houskeeper
Government Affairs Director
Environment, Climate Change, Land Use, Puget Sound Partnership, Regulatory Reform, Small Business Policy

Brandon Houskeeper is  AWB’s director of government affairs on environmental issues, including land use, climate change, regulatory reform. Houskeeper will also track small business policy issues for the association.

Prior to joining AWB, Houskeeper was a policy analyst with Washington Policy Center, focusing on environmental, land use and energy regulation issues. While with WPC, Houskeeper also directed WashingtonVotes.org, WPC's free public service website for following legislation in Olympia. Before joining WPC, Houskeeper served with the Washington State Legislature and as the government affairs director for a professional home builders' association, bringing with him more than eight years of experience with the legislative process at the state and local level.

Houskeeper holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Washington.

Donna Steward
Government Affairs Director
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.  Steward joined AWB in January 2008.

A native Washingtonian, Steward is a graduate of the University of Washington where she earned a B.A. 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 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.  

Kris Tefft
General Counsel and Government Affairs Director
Legal Affairs, Employment Law, Wage & Hour, Workers’ Compensation and 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, Tefft 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. Tefft 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, Tefft 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.

A frequent speaker at continuing legal education and human resource seminars, Tefft 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).

Tefft 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.