STAFF
Meet the Team
Daniel G. Newman
PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER
Daniel, a national expert on government accountability and money in politics, has led MapLight since its founding in 2005. Daniel has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including CNN, CBS, MSNBC, FOX Business, and NPR. He led a ballot measure campaign establishing public funding of elections in Berkeley, California, and was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. He is the author of Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy from Macmillan/First Second Books.
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Daniel’s innovative use of technology to reveal influence on government earned him recognition as a World Affairs Council Civic Innovator in 2014. He has led the organization to awards including a Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism; a James Madison Freedom of Information Award; a Library Journal Best Reference Award; and a Webby Award nomination for Best Politics Website.
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Previously, Daniel was an entrepreneur and political organizer. He authored three books on speech recognition software and founded Say I Can, a speech recognition firm. He has served as a consultant to various political and nonprofit groups, including the Center for Voting and Democracy, Israel Venture Network, and the Mental Health Association of San Francisco.
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Daniel received an MA degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, where he attended on a National Science Foundation Fellowship and researched how people think about political and ethical issues. He holds a BA degree in biomedical ethics from Brown University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Daniel was a 2011-2013 Edmond J. Safra Network Fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, addressing the issue of institutional corruption.
Laura Curlin
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT
Laura oversees the organization's data projects and software product design, and develops tools to make campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics data more accessible. Previously, she worked to pass a public campaign financing ballot measure in 2016 as treasurer of the Berkeley Fair Elections Coalition, and on the Transparency in Political Spending Act as a member of Rhode Islanders for Fair Elections. Laura received a B.A. from Brown University with concentrations in Political Science and Middle East Studies.
Don Morrison
DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING
Don oversees and manages MapLight's technology and software projects. As part of the leadership team, he sets policies and procedures and designs architectures to align with organizational needs and goals. He has been a software engineer for 28 years and led teams for over a decade. Previously, he co-founded, directed, and scaled a software engineering and product development consulting firm offering highly customized applications, integrations, processes, and creative solutions for various business challenges and client types.
Tien Lu
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Tien manages the day-to-day operations for all organizational functions. Her background includes a diverse range of experiences in social justice and arts nonprofits, including oral history collection and community outreach. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Social Documentation.
Phil Cohen
PRINCIPAL ENGINEER
Phil leads the architecture and development of MapLight's Disclosure System, and is responsible for ensuring product accessibility, security, and compliance. He is a seasoned software engineer with over 25 years of professional experience. Phil has led teams for more than 15 years in biotech, publishing, and finance industries across the entire software development lifecycle.
Samuel Erickson
PRODUCT MANAGER
Samuel supports MapLight software products as a product manager, translating complex requirements into intuitive experiences. He holds a B.A. in Chemistry and a Masters in Information Management and has a deep interest in all things information architecture, accessibility, and information security.
Tyler Kuromiya Parker
DATA ANALYST
Tyler is responsible for data analytics and quality assurance, assuring the functionality and accuracy of MapLight's data and systems. Prior to joining MapLight, he worked as a mechanical design engineer. Tyler has a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering Technology.
Samantha Harris
OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE
Samantha supports MapLight's financial operations. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Gender Studies and has held operational roles in several organizations spanning reproductive rights, childhood literacy, and access to secondary education.