About Us
Jono Hanks
Director
Jono's primary job is to represent the students of the University of Washington to state officials. To do that, he will be spending Winter Quarter living in Olympia, going to the capitol every day, and speaking with lawmakers face to face helping them understand the student point of view.
He works with the ASUW President to represent the ASUW at the Washington Student Association meetings; making sure that our voice is heard in the statewide student discussions. When issues on the national level affect UW students, it is Jono's job to decide the most effective means of informing the key lawmakers on the student perspective.
Before becoming the Director of OGR, Jono was the Director of the ASUW Experimental College, and he worked in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Outside of work, he is a political sciences major with four more quarters to go before graduation.
Eric Shellan
Assistant Director
Eric directs the regional lobbying efforts of the ASUW and assists the director at the state-level.
He currently chairs the Student Transportation Taskforce with Vice President Madeleine McKenna and serves as an ex-officio member on the University Transportation Committee. He also chairs the Student Textbook Taskforce with Director of Faculty, Administration and Academic Affairs Jason Padvorac.
Before joining ASUW, Eric worked at the Pacific Science Center, The Daily and a Writing Center on campus. He has managed a local campaign, served on the Student Senate and interned in U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell's office. He was also a member of the University of Washington debate team.
Outside of the office, Eric is a junior studying Political Science and serves as a Student Trustee for the University Book Store.
Goals for 2009-2010
Connecting students to Olympia
- Maintain regular communication with the campus during the legislative session to improve transparency, accountability and awareness
- Host events on campus and in Olympia that encourage discussion between legislators, student and administrators
- Partner with our branch campuses in Bothell and Tacoma, along with the Graduate Professional Student Senate, other higher education institutes, the Washington Student Association and the United States Student Association to advance our common agenda
Bringing students to the table on local issues
- Foster the ongoing relationship between students and permanent residents to develop a community partnership that amplifies our voice at the local level
- Improve communication with students to create awareness about pertinent city and county issues, such as rental housing and transportation
Empowering students to effectively communicate with public officials
- Bring passionate student leaders together from all over campus to participate in the lobbying process, organize complementary efforts, and educate their communities on relevant political issues
- Work with groups like the Experimental College and UW Leaders to create workshops, forums and events that encourage students to exercise off-campus leadership
Successfully advocating for students
- Magnify our lobbying efforts by organizing and mobilizing the Political Action Network, which targets student leaders and campus umbrella organizations
- Improve campus outreach to inspire students to use our office as a venue to channel their passion