Who We Are
The Election Security Exchange is a new project of The Election Resource Center, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit. We’re dedicated to providing nonpartisan support to the election community. We bring together independent election professionals and security experts with a combined experience of more than 300 years.
We work in partnership with existing resource providers to support the election community through clear communication, collaborative engagement, and practical education. Our aim is to build capacity, reinforce confidence, and strengthen connections across the election ecosystem.
Our Mission
To foster the secure administration of elections by serving as a trusted nonpartisan hub for information, resources and training that help election officials build resilience and maintain public confidence.
Our Vision
A future where election officials are equipped with the knowledge, tools and support they need to safeguard elections the public can trust.
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CONTACT USOur Team
Andrea Byrne
Interim Executive Director
Andrea Byrne is a contractor with the Election Security Exchange. She served as CISA’s Election Security Advisor for Region 8, supporting election security efforts across Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Byrne dedicated 33 years to public service in the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office, including more than two decades as Chief Technology Officer and later as Chief Operations Director, where she oversaw both technology and finance. During her tenure, she partnered closely with state election directors and county clerks on major election initiatives – from implementing the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to launching Wyoming’s first post election audit in 2022.
Election Security Consultants
Diane Ayton
Contractor
Diane Ayton is an administrative professional with experience in election administration. She worked for four years with her local county elections office and two years with The Elections Group, supporting operational and administrative functions. In her current role at Ready for Tuesday, she supports day-to-day operations to keep projects and teams running smoothly.
Kathryn Babbin Patella
Contractor
Kathryn is an election security specialist and program manager focused on supporting election officials and their partners across the country. She began her career in federal service at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) through the Presidential Management Fellowship and has worked with the election community since 2020, leading product development, managing events, and providing risk and security guidance. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and is a certified Project Management Professional.
Karen Brinson Bell
Contractor
Karen Brinson Bell, MPA, CERA, PMP, is the co-founder and principal of Advance Elections, LLC. In addition to serving as a consultant for the Election Security Exchange, she also supports election officials through work with MIT Election Data & Science Lab, where she serves as the Election Policy Fellow, and Election Center’s Coalition of Election Association Leaders. A 20-year veteran in the elections profession, Bell served as the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections from June 2019 to May 2025, overseeing the state’s voting process for more than 7.5 million registered voters and guiding the 100 county boards of elections through hurricanes, a global pandemic, and record-setting turnout.
Heidi Burhans
Contractor
Heidi Burhans is an election security expert who leverages her 20 years of election administration and security experience to support critical election infrastructure stakeholders. Most recently, Burhans served as one of the first Election Security Advisors for the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) working directly with state and local election officials across the country to bolster their security posture. Prior to joining CISA, Burhans was the Director of Elections for the State of Iowa after having been twice elected as the Madison County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections and ushering in the essential first steps of election security for the county.
Ryan Chew
Contractor
Ryan Chew has served as an election staffer since creating voter registration programs in 25 high schools in 1991. Much of his work has been with Cook County, IL, as Deputy Director of Elections, managing diverse responsibilities including early voting, vote by mail, voter file integrity and election day oversight. More recently in his current role as Research Director at Ready for Tuesday and formerly as a senior election consultant with The Elections Group, he has consulted with state and local election offices on a variety of topics including early voting, election security and voter registration list maintenance.
Matt Crane
Contractor
Matt Crane is a nationally recognized expert in election administration, security, and operations with 25 years of experience across local, state, and federal levels. He also currently serves as Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, leading legislative strategy, communications, member development, and statewide operational initiatives. Previously, Matt served as Clerk and Recorder for Arapahoe County, Colorado, and as an election security expert consultant supporting CISA’s Election Security Initiative, helping strengthen partnerships, risk mitigation, and information sharing nationwide.
Gretchen Heuberger
Contractor
Gretchen is a marketing professional and graphic designer with 15 years of experience communicating complex, high-stakes information to the public. For the past three years, she has worked with election-centered organizations, helping them communicate the resources, training, and standards that build resilience and public confidence in election systems. Her career began in Boulder, CO at the intersection of the natural food movement and technology, building brands centered on transparent, ethical sourcing—translating rigorous standards into messaging the public could trust. She has also designed brand identity for successful legislative campaigns, and brings that same commitment to clarity and public trust to her work supporting election officials nationwide.
Keith Ingram
Contractor
Keith Ingram is an attorney who began as the Texas director of elections in January of 2012. During his time, transitioned the state from its first electronic voter registration system to the next generation in 2013. That system expanded over the next ten years to include candidate filing and tracking through the entire election process to election night reporting. Ingram served on the executive committee of the government coordinating council for election infrastructure during his year as president of the National Association of State Election Directors in 2019 and was a member of the GCC for three years. Ingram was one of the ten initial election security advisors for CISA in 2024. He has extensive experience in teaching security principles to groups of election officials from small to large and from novice to experienced.
Susan Lapsley
Contractor
Susan Lapsley has served as an Election Security Advisor for Region 9 for CISA, supporting election officials in California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific territories. Prior to that, Ms. Lapsley was Deputy Secretary of State and Counsel for the California Secretary of State. Ms. Lapsley’s responsibilities included voting technology review, testing, and certification in California, implementation and oversight of the statewide voter registration database, coordination of election cybersecurity for the Office of Secretary of State, and implementation of the federal Help America Vote Act, which includes the management of over $400 million in federal funds. Ms. Lapsley has also served as Deputy for Elections for the Nevada Secretary of State. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University, School of Law.
Ryan Macias
Contractor
Ryan Macias has spent over 20 years providing subject matter expertise in election technology, security, and administration to election officials across the U.S. and election management bodies (EMBs) abroad. Macias has advised thousands of election stakeholders on strategies and methods for building resilience in the election infrastructure, technology, and processes. Previously, Macias worked for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) as the Acting Director of the Voting Systems Program. He also spent more than 10 years working for three California Secretary of States from both parties.
Amelia McClain
Contractor
Amelia McClain brings more than a decade of election communications and public service experience to the Exchange. Prior to her role as Creative Director for Ready for Tuesday, Amelia worked with The Elections Group and the City and County of Denver as a communications specialist and Certified Colorado Election Official. Her expertise in strategy, design, brand management, front-end web development, writing and media relations–combined with an enthusiasm for creative solutions and working with diverse communities–has helped jurisdictions and election support organizations earn recognition for engagement, innovation and accessibility.
Mike Moser
Contractor
Mike Moser is an election and cybersecurity expert who supports election officials at the intersection of election administration, technology, and security. He is a former IT Cybersecurity Specialist at the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) and Director of Election Security and Technology for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to strengthen democratic infrastructure. Mike has more than a decade of experience in elections and is a CISM-certified professional dedicated to fostering secure, transparent, and resilient election systems.
Michael Pattullo
Contractor
Michael Pattullo is a security and risk management professional with over five years of direct service to the election community. He has supported state and local election officials in preparing for emerging risks to election operations across cyber, physical, and information domains. His work centers on translating threat and risk analysis into practical guidance that election officials can use to strengthen preparedness and resilience, helping safeguard election infrastructure while strengthening public trust in democratic processes.
Chris Piper
Contractor
Chris Piper has worked in election administration roles since 2003. He was appointed Commissioner and Chief Election Official for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2018 serving until 2022. Since then, he has worked with election officials across the country and served as executive director of a nonpartisan nonprofit before co-founding Advance Elections and joining Election Security Exchange as an Election Security Consultant (Contractor).
Noah Praetz
Contractor
Noah Praetz administered elections in Cook County, Illinois for two decades before co-founding The Elections Group in 2020 and launching Ready for Tuesday in 2026, bringing a systems-level perspective to election administration and focusing on breaking down siloed functions to build more resilient, well-coordinated operations. He consults on election administration, operations, and security, and has published widely on election integrity and testified before committees of the U.S. House and Senate. Noah also serves as a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago and an adjunct professor at DePaul University College of Law.
TJ Pyche
Contractor
A former county-level election administrator, TJ Pyche brings frontline experience to national conversations about how institutions adapt under pressure, translating emerging risks into practical systems, training, and leadership strategies that strengthen public confidence. In his current role as Vice President at Ready for Tuesday, TJ advises public institutions and civic organizations on trusted communications, operational resilience, and workforce development in high-stakes environments. He serves on the AI + Elections Clinic Advisory Board at Arizona State University’s Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory and is a senior fellow at the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. He is the creator of several ongoing training series and programs, including Books and Ballots.
Rebecca Roberson
Contractor
Rebecca Roberson is an election and communication expert, working at both local and federal levels. Her portfolio includes program development, program expansion, project management, and communications management. Now at Ready for Tuesday, Rebecca has previously worked for several jurisdictions along Colorado’s Front Range, serving voters during her tenure with the Denver Elections Division and the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s office. Rebecca has also worked for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and was a part of the team that created and launched the first National Poll Worker Recruitment Day in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Will Senning
Contractor
Will Senning began his career in elections in 2011 as an election administrator and attorney in the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office. In 2013, he was named Director of Elections for Vermont and served in that role for 11 years, overseeing 12 statewide elections. In early 2024, Senning took a position with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security as the Election Security Advisor for Region 1 (New England), where he served until early 2025.
Trevor Timmons
Contractor
Trevor Timmons joined The Elections Group in 2023 after serving the Colorado Secretary of State’s office for nearly thirty years and as Chief Information Officer from 2007 to 2023. He has also served in several national positions, including chairperson of the EI-ISAC Executive Committee, as a member of DHS’s SLTT Government Coordinating Council, and as an Advisory Board member to the Election Security Research Forum. Timmons has been an invited speaker and panelist at multiple conferences including RSA, DEF CON, NASS, NASED, MS-ISAC and EI-ISAC.
Matthew Tlachac
Contractor
Matthew Tlachac spent 17 years as an election official at both state and local government levels in Ohio. Working with two Ohio Secretaries of State, he worked closely with local boards of elections throughout the state and ran and advised on projects and programs centered around voting technology and data. He also held director positions for local boards of elections in two counties, where he focused on creating a culture of operational efficiency and accuracy. Matthew currently serves as the State and Local Director for at Ready for Tuesday, where he focuses on providing training, resources and guidance to election officials.
Spencer Wood
Contractor
Spencer Wood has spent the last seven years working full-time to protect election infrastructure. A former Election Security Advisor & Cybersecurity Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Chief Information Officer for the Ohio Secretary of State, he has extensive experience helping officials mitigate cyber, physical and operational risks. He currently consults through the Election Security Exchange and is excited to continue his service to the election community.