Matthew
Fitch, Executive Director:
Matthew Fitch is a founding member of Merriman River Group. He has been involved in election management since 1990, when he was an analyst and supervisor for the I.B.T. Election Office. He has held a wide array of independent supervision roles for such groups as labor unions, boards of directors, cooperatives, associations, and has advised public election officials on election standards and protocols.
Luke
Henrici, Director of Technology and Data:
Luke Henrici joined Merriman River in 2005 and is our in-house manager for all data and IT operations. Luke has provided phone and opinion research service to a wide variety of political, labor and corporate clients, and has served as an election supervisor for a number of Merriman River Group elections.
Julie
Mike, Senior Project Supervisor:
Julie Mike began supervising union elections in 1991 for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Election Office. She has served as the Lead Project Supervisor for some of Merriman River Group's largest projects, including the 2001, 2006 and 2011 IBT Officer elections. Some of her areas of responsibility include tally coordination, verification, scheduling and in-house accounting and auditing. Julie's training is in finance and accounting. She also serves as a Finance Director for an international trading organization, and resides in Bristol, Connecticut.
Tasha
Iglesias, Project Supervisor:
Tasha Iglesias joined Merriman River Group in 2009, after almost a decade in the labor movement. She serves as a Project Supervisor, Marketing Coordinator, and Manager of Merriman River's West Coast office. Tasha previously worked as a student organizer and office manager for the California Faculty Association while earning her undergraduate degree. She holds a Masters degree in Sociology from San Diego State University. She later served as a worksite organizer for an SEIU local and has served as Dean of a Technical College located in San Diego. Tasha resides in Laguna Hills, California.
Jorge
Simpson, Project Supervisor:
A retired Master Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps, Jorge Simpson has been lending his organizational skills to Merriman River Group since 2006. Jorge serves as Project Supervisor and is our in-house lead on all election-related security matters. He coordinates logistics, transportation, replacement ballot requests and postal compliance. In addition, Jorge, who is bilingual, is responsible for all in-house Spanish translation and interpretation. He is a graduate of Marine Corps University & Westfield State College. Born in Honduras, he grew up and still resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
Since co-founding Merriman River in 1998, Matt has developed proprietary VoterEdge software using barcode technology based on the FileMaker Pro platform that has proven to be a significant time and money saver for clients while improving accuracy and record keeping. He also supervised the development of Merriman River's new Mission Control software, a powerful election management suite optimized for the iPad and other mobile devices.
Matt also consults on polling, media and field organizing for political candidates and has managed dozens of successful campaigns. He resides in Hamden, Connecticut and maintains an office in Los Angeles, California.
Luke, along with consultant Bob Harrington, was a co-developer of Merriman River's new mobile election management client, Mission Control. Based on the FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Go platforms, this application allows election managers to monitor voting, eligibility and results in real time, allowing them to better supervise projects, improve standardization between remote locations, and correct errors before it's too late. Mission Control has been recognized by FileMaker as one of the best new applications for 2011. Luke splits his time between Ashfield, Massachusetts and Hamden, Connecticut.
Seth Rosenthal, Director of Opinion Research:
Dr. Seth Rosenthal is Merriman River Group's Director of Polling. He is the lead author of the National Leadership Index survey published annually by the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Seth received extensive statistical training while receiving his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Harvard University.
Seth continued his focus on survey research, attitude measurement, and political leadership as a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership. He has authored academic book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles on the measurement of racial and ethnic attitudes, the measurement of narcissistic personality, on leadership, and on trust. Seth resides in Hamden, Connecticut.
Brendan Hood, Analyst: Brendan Hood joined Merriman River Group in 2011 as a polling data analyst. He has a BA in Political Science from the University of San Diego and a Master of Science in Political Science from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Prior to joining Merriman River, Brendan was a quantitative analyst for Acumen, LLC, a public policy research firm in San Francisco. In addition to his consulting work with Merriman River, Brendan works as an analyst for a defense contractor based in Los Angeles. Born in Massachusetts, he now resides in West Hollywood, California.
Sara Elliott, Voice Programmer: Sara Elliott has been Merriman River Group's voice programmer since 2010. You will hear her voice as our voice-over artist for automated polling, reverse 911 notifications and public service announcements. She is versed in a variety of American English dialects to provide the right sound for your locale and has programmed messages from New York to Hawaii. Sara also provides graphic design services. When not doing voice programming for Merriman River, she is employed as a registered nurse. A graduate of Bowling Green University and Edison College of Nursing, she resides in Troy, Ohio.
Support Staff
MRG is supported by a strong group of talented professionals:
 Hank Murray |  Bob Harrington |  Rachel Gillette |  Pete Vining |
 Cira de Castillo |  Dennis Henderson |  Ellen Zoppo |  Megan-Marie Henrici |