DIRECTIONS TO OUR WASHINGTON, DC
OFFICE:
750 1ST St. NE, Suite 1070
Washington, DC 20002
Our office is located on the “Senate side” of Capitol Hill, near Union Station.
We recommend that you catch a cab to visit our Washington, DC office. Or if you’re taking Metro, ride the Red line to the Union Station stop. We are on the west side of Union Station on the same street as the CNN Headquarters building. See map below.
MAP OF W2A DC OFFICE
Directions
to our Bellevue Office:
10900 NE 8th Street, Suite 1520
Bellevue, Washington 98004
From Sea-Tac Airport:
10900 NE 8th Street, Suite 1520
Bellevue, Washington 98004
From Sea-Tac Airport:
- At the airport follow signs for I-405 North
- Travel 13 miles north on I-405
- Take exit 13B for NE 8th Street (and follow signs to go westbound on NE 8th)
- Go two blocks and we are on the right, 10900 NE 8th Street, in the Plaza Center Building
- Once you’ve crossed Lake Washington and Mercer Island on the I-90 Bridge, you will see signs for I-405 North
- Go 2.8 miles north on I-405 and take exit 13B for NE 8th Street (follow signs to go westbound on NE 8th)
- Go two blocks and we are on the right, 10900 NE 8th Street, in the Plaza Center Building
- Once you’ve crossed Lake Washington on the 520 Bridge, travel 2.7 miles until you see signs for I-405 South, toward Renton
- Go one mile on I-405 South and take exit 13B for NE 8th St., going westbound
- Go two blocks and we are on the right, 10900 NE 8th Street, in the Plaza Center Building
MAP OF bellevue
OFFICE:
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Legal Statement
This website and the materials on it have been made available by Washington2
Advocates to the general public for informational purposes only. The
information provided is not legal opinion or legal advice.
For additional information please contact us.
Strategists. Communicators. Advocates. Neighbors.
Washington2
Advocates (W2A) is a consulting company that helps clients achieve
their goals in the public realm.
The “2” in W2A emphasizes our focus on both Washington state and Washington, DC. With long careers in Washington, DC and deep roots in the Northwest, we are a Washington-2-Washington company. We are headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with a satellite office in the nation’s capital.
Each member of the W2A team has lived in the region, served on local boards and associations, and worked in government offices (as have our STRATEGIC ADVISORS). We have experience working on the key issues relevant to the Pacific Northwest over the last three decades.
Our Team
As W2A’s business manager, Nina manages the direction for the firm’s work and oversees the company’s operations.
Nina founded W2A, advancing her already nine-year career in politics, advocacy, and policy-making. A key strategist for the firm and its clients, Nina has been instrumental in building W2A’s business and ensuring the firm’s work successfully meets clients' goals. She has partnered with clients on a variety of initiatives involving communications, strategy, and government relations at the local, state, and federal level. Clients include Microsoft, the Russell Company, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Campbell’s Soup Company, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the City of Auburn, and the Yakima Growers and Shippers Association.
Prior to consulting, Nina worked for Senator Slade Gorton as the lead Legislative Assistant in the areas of federal budget, tax, general government, appropriations, and Indian Affairs. She also served in local government as a Legislative Analyst to the King County Council Budget Committee.
Nina is active in numerous charities and community activities. She serves on the boards of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, the Bellevue Downtown Association, and the Gorton Legacy Group. She is also a member of Bellevue Rotary.
From 2005-2007, she was a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She also served for six years on the Board of Governors including time as Board President for the CityClub of Seattle, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to informing citizens and building community leadership in the Seattle region. She has been a fellow of the Marshall Memorial Fund, a member of the Junior League of Seattle, and a volunteer advisor to the Bellevue YMCA Youth and Government Program.
Nina has a Masters Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from the University of Washington.
Her husband Dave is a partner in the public accounting firm of Ernst & Young. Nina, Dave, and their daughter live in Issaquah.
Liz Fortunato
Senior Associate
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As a Senior Associate, Liz’s particular understanding and knack for working the government process helps her guide client projects and objectives that produce actual results.
Liz joined W2A in 2002 after an eight-year career in state and federal policy-making. She works with clients to develop their external affairs strategies, to communicate with key audiences, and to help with execution of their plans. Liz’s knowledge in natural resources and energy policy has been instrumental in helping clients such as Grant, Chelan and Pend Oreille PUD’s, EGT, the Washington Forest Protection Association, and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
Before joining W2A, she worked both for Senator Slade Gorton and Congressman Doc Hastings in Washington, DC as the Legislative Assistant responsible for ongoing regional policies related to salmon, water, and energy. She was also Senator Gorton’s chief aide responsible for national defense, foreign affairs, and trade. During her time on Capitol Hill, she gained a deep understanding of the region’s natural resources, the communities relying on them, and the regulations balancing the two. Among her distinctions, she was named a “Friend of Wheat” by the National Association of Wheat Growers.
In addition to her knowledge of federal issues, Liz has also spent time working the state government process in Olympia. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, she spent two years as a Political and Legislative Affairs Assistant with the Building Industry Association of Washington in Olympia. Her work at W2A also includes advising clients regarding their goals in the state capital.
She serves on the CityClub, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to informing citizens and building community leadership in the Seattle region, and she is the Treasurer for the Gorton Legacy Group.
A graduate of Gonzaga University, Liz is a fourth generation Washingtonian who lives in Seattle with her husband and son.
Kristen Michal
Senior Associate
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Kristen is W2A’s strategic expert on managing and solving complicated public affairs challenges. She helps clients with strategic planning and project management, communications, coalition building, and local, state, and federal government relations. Among the clients she has worked with are the University of Washington, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the City of Auburn, the City of Mukilteo, Linn County Oregon, and StoneMor Partners.
She joined W2A with a background in federal legislation and trade associations with an emphasis on health care and education issues. She served four years as the Director of Federal Policy and Advocacy at the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) and the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD). In that role, she represented hospital interests to Washington’s congressional delegation, the administration, and regulatory agencies.
Prior to her work with WSHA and AWPHD, Kristen spent six years in Washington, DC working for Senator Slade Gorton as the lead staff on health care, labor, and education issues and the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations subcommittee. In 1999, she received the Terri Claffey Award for outstanding staff work.
Kristen is a founding member of the Friends of the Veteran’s Affairs Puget Sound Fisher House, a local non-profit supporting the Seattle Fisher House and the families of military and veterans who are receiving long-term treatment and rehabilitation at the hospital. She also serves as Vice President of the Boyer Children’s Clinic Board of Directors. Boyer provides early intervention services to children with disabilities.
Kristen has her degree from the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies. She and her husband live in Marysville with their three girls.
Located in Washington, DC, Kelli helps W2A’s clients achieve their goals with the federal government.
She has worked with some of the Pacific Northwest’s best-known companies, universities, and public officials on their efforts in Washington, DC. She has particular strengths in presenting and explaining issues to legislative staff and interpreting Capitol Hill language and the process for clients.
Prior to joining W2A, Kelli worked for four years for Congressman Norm Dicks, most recently as a Legislative Assistant helping to manage appropriations, natural resources, Indian affairs, arts and humanities, all issues of great importance to Congressman Dicks as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. Before coming to Capitol Hill, she was a reporter for newspapers on both sides of the Cascades.
In addition to knowing her way around the Capitol, she travels frequently to the Pacific Northwest to meet with clients, keep up with contacts, and attend as many Pac-10 football games as possible. A Tacoma native, she is a graduate of Oregon State University and serves on the Board of the Washington State Society. Kelli and her husband live on Capitol Hill.
A founding partner of W2A, J. specializes in helping clients with their strategy, government affairs, and communications goals. He is also W2A’s expert on helping organization’s prepare for and manage crises.
At W2A, he has worked with dozens of public agencies, public figures, and businesses as a communications consultant and strategist. Clients have included Microsoft, the Russell Company and Trident Seafoods.
Before starting W2A, J. built a 28-year career in politics, public policy, and communications. His political career in fact started at seven, when he was the Lewis County sign chairman for the campaign to elect Governor Dan Evans. At 21, he managed a successful legislative campaign. At 23, he won election to the Washington state House of Representatives, where he served for six years. As an elected official, he developed an understanding of the issues important to the Pacific Northwest as well as the fundamentals of policy-making and public communications.
After graduating from the University of Washington Law School, he joined Senator Slade Gorton in Washington, DC, working first as a Legislative Assistant and then as Chief of Staff. In 1994 he managed Gorton’s successful $7.1 million re-election campaign, and soon after began his work as a consultant and lawyer.
He lives with his wife and three daughters in Chehalis, Washington, where is a partner in his own law firm.
Tony Williams
Partner and Chairman
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As W2A’s Chairman, Tony sets the vision and establishes priorities for the company.
Tony founded W2A in 2001 to continue growing his already 15-year career in federal policy-making and politics. At W2A, he has led the firm’s development of a portfolio of more than 40 clients and oversees the direction of the firm’s work.
He specializes in helping Pacific Northwest clients identify opportunities and successfully navigate the juncture of public policy and commerce. High profile projects include helping Sound Transit acquire the federal assistance necessary to launch light rail in Seattle, partnering with Indian tribes and private shellfish growers to resolve a decades-long fishing dispute, and successfully lobbying the administration for $70 million in health care funds for Washington state.
He also serves as a strategic advisor to several elected officials, CEOs and top managers, helping them diagnose, resolve, and articulate sensitive internal and public issues.
During his time on Capitol Hill, he served as Chief of Staff to Senator Slade Gorton and the office of the Counsel to the Majority Leader. He worked as press secretary for two congressional offices, directed one senatorial campaign, and consulted to two others. Roll Call, a newspaper devoted to covering Capitol Hill, twice named him as one of the Hill’s elite “Fabulous Fifty” staffers.
He has become active in numerous charities and community activities since moving back to the Pacific Northwest. In 2008 he was nominated by the White House and confirmed by the Senate to serve as a member of the National Council on Disability, an organization that makes recommendations to the administration and Congress on issues affecting Americans with disabilities. He is also a member of the Northwest Center Foundation, an organization that promotes the growth, development and independence of people with disabilities.
An Oregon State University alumnus, he also serves on the OSU Foundation’s
Board of Trustees and its external relations committee.
Tony and his wife, Cindi, who works at the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, live in Clyde Hill, WA, with their sons, Joshua (a special
needs student at Clyde Hill Elementary) and Jacob.
An experienced trade association executive, Capitol Hill veteran
and previous client of the company, Kraig serves as senior advisor
to W2A.
Kraig is the president and CEO of the American Frozen Food Institute
(AFFI). AFFI represents 500 companies engaged in the production,
distribution and marketing of frozen foods, valued at over $60 billion
annually. Kraig directs the institute’s advocacy and public outreach
efforts relative to food safety and security, child nutrition, immigration
reform, international trade and other issues that affect the frozen
food industry. In addition, Kraig directs the efforts of the Frozen
Potato Products Institute, National Frozen Pizza Institute, National
Yogurt Association and the Frozen Food Foundation.
Kraig is also an active member of several key groups that advocate
for business in our nation’s capital, including the Business Industry
Political Action Committee (BIPAC), U.S. Chamber of Commerce Association
Committee of 100 (C-100) and National Association of Manufacturers
(NAM) Council of Manufacturing Associations. He’s also a member of
the ASAE Key Industry Associations Committee (KIAC) and chairman
of the National Energy Foundation.
Prior to joining AFFI, Kraig served for three years as president
and CEO of the National Mining Association (NMA) advocating the interests
of coal and mineral producers with combined annual sales of $200
billion. While working to modernize mining’s image, Kraig directed
the association’s public policy efforts before Congress and the Administration,
and set its strategic agenda for media relations, grassroots advocacy
and political outreach.
Prior to NMA, Kraig served for three years as president of The Fertilizer
Institute (TFI) where he directed the industry’s efforts to address
security concerns stemming from the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11.
Kraig also founded the Nutrients for Life Foundation to better educate
the public and policy makers about the benefits of fertilizer to
society.
Kraig also served for four years as president and CEO of the U.S.
Apple Association (USApple) advocating the interests of our nation’s
apple growers and processors. He was named “Apple Person of the Year”
in 2001 by Vance Publishing for having garnered an unprecedented
$550 million in federal assistance for America’s apple growers.
Prior to USApple, Kraig served for five years as vice president of
the Yakima-based Northwest Horticultural Council (NHC), where he
represented the Pacific Northwest tree fruit industry on federal
and international trade issues.
Kraig is a veteran of two presidential campaigns, and served as the
Washington state executive director of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole’s
presidential campaign. He also worked in various staff capacities
on Capitol Hill for former U.S. Senators Daniel J. Evans and Slade
Gorton, former U.S. Reps. Rod Chandler and Sid Morrison, and the
House Agriculture Committee.
Kraig graduated from Washington State University in 1984 with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in history and serves on the WSU Foundation Board
of Trustees. A Yakima native, Kraig and his wife and daughter presently
reside in Oakton, Virginia.
