Staff Bios
Sandra Swirski
Ms. Swirski co-founded Venn Strategies, LLC in 2001. Swirski has extensive experience in non-profit policy circles. In addition to advising several non-profits, she currently represents The Philanthropy Roundtable and is a frequent speaker at philanthropic and non-profit conferences. A tax lawyer, Ms. Swirski was a senior Congressional aide for two of the most prominent Republicans to serve on the Senate Finance Committee—Senator Jack Danforth (R-MO) and Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY). Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Ms. Swirski was an associate with Ernst & Young. She holds a JD from the George Washington University and an LLM in taxation from Georgetown University.
Sue Santa
Sue Santa joined The Philanthropy Roundtable as senior vice president for public policy in September 2008. Prior to joining the Roundtable, Sue served as a consultant and senior director of public and legal affairs for International Speedway Corporation (ISC). In addition, she served as a spokesperson for ISC on legislative efforts, property development projects, and special events. Sue was also an associate for five years in the legislative practice group of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand in Washington, D.C. She participated in a wide variety of projects, including energy and oil production policy, transportation issues, international trade development, and crisis management for a major airline. Sue’s first experience in Washington was as special projects coordinator for Senator Jeff Bingaman. She managed projects related to education, human services, children’s issues, and the arts. She holds a B.A. in journalism and political science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Melissa Bonicelli
Melissa Bonicelli has extensive experience managing and developing advocacy campaigns on behalf of the non-profit community as well as various industry sectors facing tax challenges. Previously, Ms. Bonicelli served as Legislative Director to former Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, and prior to that, was on the policy staff of the Committee on Ways and Means. In her role in the Chairman’s office, she developed and coordinated economic policy with Committee members and the Joint Tax Committee.
Chris Fox
Mr. Fox is an Assistant Vice President at Venn Strategies, LLC and has extensive experience representing the interests of the non-profit community both at the federal and state levels. In addition to being a trusted advisor to key House and Senate staff, Mr. Fox has a strong track record at the state level. Most recently, Mr. Fox led a delegation of foundation executives, non-profit leaders and community activists that met with more than a dozen key California State policymakers, including Senators and senior staff from the Governors office on non-profit legislation. The legislation was shortly thereafter dropped from consideration in part because of the efforts of this delegation. Before joining Venn, Mr. Fox served on Capitol Hill as an intern for Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). Mr. Fox received his B.A. from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Amy Takeuchi-Wanlass
Ms. Takeuchi-Wanlass, Senior Government Relations Associate at Venn Strategies, comes to ACR with a strong knowledge of Capitol Hill and non-profit policy issues because she works closely with most of the non-profit clients of Venn Strategies, LLC. Ms. Takeuchi-Wanlass previously worked as a Legislative Aide to Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA), where she supported the Congressman’s work on issues before the Committee on Ways and Means. Amy received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis.