Our Team
BTC is led by a team of committed individuals who are passionate about working to build the state we want to live in — a state where, no matter who you are or where you live, you have what is needed to live a good life.
We benefit from the wisdom and experience of an active and involved Board of Directors.
Heba Atwa
Heba builds power for policy change by engaging people directly impacted by policy choices, designing sound policy in collaboration with colleagues and partners, mobilizing people to push for change, and building policy champions.
Moriah Collins
Moriah coordinates campaigns and partner activities that mobilize people to advance policy change at the state and local level. She develops policy campaign plans, collaborates on implementation and programs, and sustains connections with partners throughout the policy process.
Logan Rockefeller Harris
Logan documents conditions across the state, with a focus on poverty and equitable development, and works with partners to strengthen public policies that connect more people and places to opportunity.
Sally Hodges-Copple
Sally produces research and analysis to deepen understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and systemic racism in North Carolina, and builds the will to act on policy solutions that advance the well-being of all people and communities.
Dani Hoffpauir
Dani provides strategic guidance that builds power for policy change. She stewards the organization’s ladder of engagement, and in collaboration with colleagues across the organization, identifies and supports connections between policy advocacy, research and partnerships. In connecting more people to the policy process, she develops and coordinates the Summer Policy Institute, BetterNC Fellowship, and policy academies.
Suzy Khachaturyan
Suzy leverages the power of state budget and tax decisions to document needs across the state, mobilize the public and policymakers to support equitable policy choices, and build lasting collaborations with partners to draw connections between fiscal issues and their missions.
Katerina Marroquin
Katerina leads efforts to communicate BTC’s work and narrative with people in an accessible and inclusive way. She overlooks the organization’s digital presence, maintains contact records and engagement, and implements policy and organizational campaigns on our platforms.
Valerie Sauer
Valerie is a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing both a Master of Social Work and Public Administration. Her professional background is in victim services and violence prevention education, in both nonprofit and local government settings. She also brings experience in the study and development of a broad base of public policy solutions related to domestic violence, foster care systems, public health, and housing and nondiscrimination. Outside of class and work, she enjoys water aerobics, thrifting, and spending time with her cat, Beans.
Alexandra Forter Sirota
Alexandra oversees the strategic direction of the organization including the stewardship of its financial resources, the creation of trusted partnerships and the leadership of a team of talented colleagues. Alexandra works to connect the dots across policy areas and identify opportunities for building the base of support for policies that will deliver better outcomes for all North Carolinians.
Mel Umbarger
Mel works to shape the public’s understanding of the critical role that equitable policymaking has in advancing our collective well-being and, in so doing, builds the will for systemic policy change that is informed by people across the state.
