Bonner Makes Moves
It was a busy time in Rep. Jo Bonner’s (R-Ala.) Washington, D.C., office last week. He said goodbye to longtime Legislative Director Nancy Tippins, promoted two, and brought one more staffer in from a district office in a series of new year moves.
Tippins, who has worked on Capitol Hill for almost 30 years, has retired to join former Rep. Sonny Callahan’s (R-Ala.) lobbying firm. During her Hill career, she worked for Callahan and former Rep. Jack Edwards (R-Ala.) as a legislative assistant.
A native of Auburn, Ala., Tippins graduated from Auburn University in 1974 with a degree in speech therapy.
Kelle Strickland, 34, has been promoted to fill the legislative director position being vacated by Tippins. She has served in Bonner’s office for the past two years as a legislative assistant, and her new responsibilities will include appropriations, budget and tax issues.
Strickland received a bachelor’s from Spring Hill College in 1992 and a law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in 1996. She hails from Mobile, Ala.
Watson Donald, 25, has been promoted to senior legislative assistant and will now tackle issues related to agriculture, defense and Social Security for the Representative. Donald, also from Mobile, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 2001.
Jon Hand, 27, will join the D.C. staff as a legislative assistant after working in Bonner’s Baldwin County office for the past two years. A native of Gulf Shores, Ala., Hand graduated from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., in 1999. He will be responsible for energy, transportation and veterans affairs issues.
Sullivan Staff Switches. Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) hired one staff member and promoted another last month.
Adrienne Coats, 23, has been promoted to press and legislative assistant. Originally joining Sullivan’s office as an intern in the fall of 2003, Sullivan was soon promoted to legislative correspondent and systems administrator.
A native of Apex, N.C., Coats graduated from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor’s in journalism in May 2003. Coats ran in the Marine Corps Marathon this year, raising money for the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C.
Brooke Stegall, 24, has been hired to fill the scheduler/office manager position. She joins Sullivan’s staff after working as an intern for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
Originally from Sugar Land, Texas, Stegall graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s in English and paralegal studies and a minor in journalism in May 2004.