Meet Our Advisory Board & Facilitators

Fred Strahorn returned to the Ohio House in 2013 after serving as State Senator from 2009 to 2011 and Senior Political Advisor to the Ohio Democratic party from 2011 to 2013. Fred previously served citizens of the greater Dayton area as state representative from 2001 to 2008, including two years as House Minority Whip, before term limits prevented him from seeking reelection. Strahorn has also served as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Ohio United Way, in addition to managing residential properties and selling real estate. His civic experiences have included serving on boards at Wright State University, Wesley Community Center, Mary Scott Nursing Home, Childcare Works, Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation, and he is a former member of the Southwest Dayton Business Association and the Dayton Area Board of Realtors. Fred graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. degree in Aviation Management. He is a member of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church and his greatest joy in life is his daughter, Morgan Allison Strahorn.

Fred has been a trained Facilitator since 2019.

Rosie Berger has been a trained Facilitator since 2015. She has more than twenty years of experience in public service and government, serving in senior-level leadership positions in the Wyoming State Legislature, Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Congressional Conference on Civic Education. She served seven terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives as a member of the senior leadership team, serving as Majority Leader 2014-16. During her tenure in the Wyoming State Legislature, Berger championed economic development and education initiatives that benefitted Wyoming’s landowners, workers and families. Since leaving the legislature, Rosie has served on the Wyoming Judicial Nominating Commission, and the Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming (ENDOW) initiative.
Berger served six years on the Wyoming Parks and Cultural Resources Commission as well as on numerous local civic boards, including the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce, Dog and Cat Shelter, Sheridan Arts Council and WYO Theater, and the Wyoming Film Division Task Force. She spent decades working as a travel consultant and travel business owner, along with various business management, film location and event coordination positions. Rosie spends time as a facilitator and trainer for NICD and Leadership Wyoming. She currently serves on the Brinton Museum National Advisory Council, Healthier Democracies Advisory Council and boards of Climb Wyoming, the Wyoming Women’s Foundation and the Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus – which she founded in 2008.

Denise Driehaus is a lifelong resident of Hamilton County and current resident of Fairview Heights. She is honored to serve her hometown as President of the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners.

Prior to serving as County Commissioner, Denise served four terms in the Ohio Legislature as the Representative of the 31st Ohio House District. During her time in the legislature, Denise brought a collaborative and bipartisan approach to passing laws, focused especially on education, job creation, and the opioid crisis. As the first woman to serve as Ranking Member of the House Finance Committee, Denise collaborated with other representatives and community leaders to secure state funding for infrastructure and economic development projects throughout Hamilton County.

Excited to be the second woman ever elected to the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, Denise has made women’s issues a priority and established the first-ever Commission on Women and Girls.

Before entering public service full-time, Denise owned and managed two small businesses. She has two wonderful kids, Sarah and Andrew.

Kim Koppelman has led a distinguished career in business and public service. He retired from the North Dakota Legislature as Speaker of the House in 2022 after serving for 28 years, many of them as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He previously also chaired the Constitutional Revision and Administrative Rules Committees.

During his years as a legislator, he sponsored landmark legislation and Constitutional amendments to preserve important Constitutional principles, protect individual rights, improve criminal justice and government efficiency and protect our freedoms.

Speaker Koppelman has served in leadership roles on the state and national level. He was elected National Chairman of the Council of State Governments—which consists of all three branches of government in all 50 states—and organized and hosted the First
National Interbranch Summit of the States, which included leaders from all three branches of government, nationwide.

As CSG Chairman, he also presided over its 75th Anniversary, organized and led the first national search in 19 years for a new Executive Director and, from a large pool of notable applicants, hired the current Executive Director who has now served for 15 years. He cofounded the national CSG Interbranch Working Group and has represented his state and nation before world leaders, from Ottawa to Berlin; from Taiwan to Prague, where he led a delegation to confer on governing principles with Czech President Vaclav (pron. “Vass-lav”) Klaus. He also led a delegation of American dignitaries and state officials to Iceland.

He is a graduate of the Bowhay (pron. “Bowwee”) Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD) and the Toll Fellowship leadership programs and participated in the Rising (American) State Leaders Program of the Canadian national government. He has led delegations of American state leaders to international exchanges and had helped facilitate civility training workshops for legislatures of other states.

He served on the Executive Committees of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Midwest Legislative Conference and the Council of State Governments and also on the CSG Governing Board and the Twenty-First Century Foundation Board, as well as in many other leadership roles. He has helped author model legislation on regulatory reform.

Speaker Koppelman is the recipient of several awards for his legislative service and business achievements. He is the founder and President of Koppelman & Associates, LLC, an award-winning, full-service communications, public relations, marketing and advertising firm serving clients in a variety of fields on a local, regional, national and (on occasion) international scale, which now also offers government relations consulting. He has been active in his local community and church as has served on numerous boards. He has been a guest lecturer in colleges and universities and has spoken before government, business, and general audiences throughout the nation.

He and his wife, Torey, reside in West Fargo, North Dakota.

Kelley Packer has over a decade of experience as an elected and appointed official. She served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2013-2018 and on the McCammon City Council from 2008-2012. During that time, she served on multiple committees including serving as Vice Chairman of the Health & Welfare Committee for four years. Recognized as a leader amongst her peers, she was selected by the Speaker of the House and appointed by the Governor to serve on the Idaho State Health Insurance Exchange from 2014-2018. She attended the Council of State Government’s Western (CSG West) Legislative Academy in 2014 and was elected class president. Additionally, she is a trained facilitator for Next Generation, a program of the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), since 2016. In this capacity, Kelley has facilitated civil discourse discussions for state legislatures throughout the country. Beyond serving in an official capacity, Kelley has taken her responsibility as a citizen of her communities seriously, as she co-founded the Marsh Valley Education Foundation and served as its president from 2011-2013 and formed a beautification committee for her hometown in 2010.

Kelley led the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses under Governor Brad Little, an agency which serves more than 73,000 licensees and registrants and 28 Boards and one Commission and played a key role in the Governor’s initiative to reduce barriers for people who want to work in Idaho while ensuring public protection. Currently, Kelley serves as the Executive Director for the Idaho Association of Cities which provides advocacy, training, and research on behalf of Idaho’s 199 cities.

Kelley is also a small business owner and she holds a degree in Business Administration.

Kelley has been a trained Next Generation Facilitator since 2015. She has many ideas to expand the delivery of civil discourse training to local government elected officials.

Senator John Unger has committed his life to being a public servant-leader and bringing together his many experiences in theology and public life. John was first elected to the West Virginia Senate in 1998 at the age of 28 – making him one of the youngest elected state senators in West Virginia history.

He is currently the pastor at three historic Harpers Ferry Civil War churches: St. John Lutheran Church, Camp Hill - Wesley United Methodist Church, and the priest of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

During his Senate tenure, Senator Unger expanded the Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. While Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, he sponsored groundbreaking legislation including the Community Empowerment Transportation Act (CETA) enabling local communities to address transportation needs, the Electronic Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Act (ETOPIA) supporting the deployment of broadband, water protection legislation, and transportation legislation and funding for the completion of Route 9 (VA/WV Line to Martinsburg) and Raleigh Street Extension (Martinsburg). Senator Unger sponsored the creation of the State Division of Energy, Farmland Protection Act, Water Resource Protection Act, West Virginia Early Child Education Act, anti-animal cruelty legislation, anti-litter legislation and numerous education bills.

Unger is a Rhodes Scholar who graduated from WVU with a BA in Liberal Arts / Biology, Oxford University with a BA/MA (Oxon) in Philosophy, Politics and of Economics, and Wesley Theological Seminary with the M.Div (Honors). He resides in Martinsburg with his wife Cara.

John has been a trained Next Generation Facilitator since 2015. He has innovative ideas on how the program can foster stronger legislative relationships and mentoring, improve its curriculum, and adapt it to a virtual format.

Senator Melissa Wintrow is the Senate Democratic Leader in the Idaho Legislature, completing her 5th term representing Boise's District 19. Her legislation has focused on the criminal legal system and she has successfully passed legislation to transform how sexual assault evidence is processed, preserved and tracked, addressing the backlog of rape kits on law enforcement shelves.

Senator Wintrow worked in higher education for more than thirty years at six different universities in positions of leadership including Boise State's first full time Women’s Center Director, where she provided direct advocacy for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. She owns a consulting firm, SAGA Strategic Consulting, specializing in project management, team facilitation, and leadership development. Her decision to run for office was influenced by her leadership as a Program Manager for N.E.W. Leadership (National Education for Women), a program founded by Rutgers University to introduce women to politics and public policy to inspire them to run for office. To quote Teddy Roosevelt, after mentoring numerous students, especially women, it was time for her to "enter the arena."
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Trained Facilitator since 2015