Who We Are
Cognitive Policy Works is comprised of a growing community of experts in social and clinical psychology, cognitive linguistics, media studies, educational leadership, strategic forecasting, and entrepreneurship. Together we offer a powerful range of perspectives on the political process and the skills necessary to impact positive change in the world.
Joe Brewer
Joe Brewer is Founder and Director of Cognitive Policy Works. He is a social change strategist and facilitator of idea implementation for people seeking to innovate at the intersection of the advocacy, policy, and technology worlds. Throughout the last decade Joe has sought to understand human values and behavior through the study of cognitive semantics and complex systems with the goal of helping build livable communities for the 21st Century. Much of his work has focused on values, identity, and modes of thought that shape cultural understandings of political and social issues.
Joe is interested in developing new practices that empower people to manage large-scale social change while solving problems through collaboration. He would like to see greater levels of trust and cooperation arise through a culture of sharing that enhances life satisfaction and well-being for people everywhere. Joe is dedicated to making Cognitive Policy Works into a world-class educational center and consulting firm that trains people to manage the change process through the application of strategic planning tools and insights into the political, cultural, and psychological aspects of social change.
He contributes to the Strategies for Change project of WWF-UK as a principal researcher at IdentityCampaigning.org.
A collection of Joe’s writings can be found here.
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David DenHartog
As a passionate student of the world, David seeks opportunities to learn and share his knowledge with others. His travel experience through forty-three different countries, and six continents, formal undergrad and graduate education, teaching, administering, and education consulting continue to fuel his enthusiasm for education reform and innovation. Awarded state and national teaching awards, David has found numerous opportunities to share his educational insights.
Serving as a School Designer for Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound (www.elschools.org) has offered him a chance to formally work within the school reform arena. David has helped start numerous new schools around the United States. He also supports schools that are transforming to provide inventive, fulfilling educational opportunities for teachers and students. A significant part of his experience has been working with school leaders, assisting in creating structures that foster engagement, rigor, and healthy relationships.
Well aware of the political ramifications and hurdles within reform movements, David has put his research into practice. His advocacy, along with grassroots organizing and community-building, has helped shift the lens from which individuals approach both social and educational changes. No doubt, David’s zeal will continue to be fueled by the significant needs that our country and world face in the days ahead.
Roy Eidelson
Roy Eidelson has been a practicing clinical, research, and political psychologist for over 25 years. Dedicated to applying “psychology for progressive purposes,” Roy’s current work focuses on how five conflict-engendering core concerns–about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness–pose important opportunities and obstacles for constructive social change.
Formerly the executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, Roy is president of Eidelson Consulting (http://www.eidelsonconsulting.com) and president-elect of Psychologists for Social Responsibility (http://www.psysr.org). He is also an associate director of the Solomon Asch Center at Bryn Mawr College and an associate member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Program in Ethnic Conflict. Roy received his A.B. degree from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Eric Haas
Eric Haas is an educator and researcher whose work focuses on the policymaking process, with specific emphasis on the framing of education, health care and immigration. He is a Senior Research Associate at WestEd in Oakland, CA and is a principal in Cognitive Strategies, a strategic communication consulting firm. Formerly, Eric was a Senior Fellow at the Rockridge Institute, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, and a K-12 teacher and administrator.
Eric’s work has been published in academic journals and books as well as in the popular press, and he has conducted numerous presentations and workshops. In 2004, Dr. Haas was awarded a visiting fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Lancaster (England) for his work on framing and discourse analysis. While serving as assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, Eric was active in the New England Educational Research Organization and was awarded its Outstanding Achievement Award in 2007.
In addition to his research, Eric is an experienced trainer, including work with organizations such as the California School Employees Association, Public News Service, and the New Leaders Council. His training ability is built on his years as a K-12 and university educator. In addition to his work at the university level, Eric has served as a middle school principal in Phoenix, AZ, and as a middle school math and science teacher in London, England and Caracas, Venezuela. He began his work in education in the Peace Corps, directing the World Bank’s Bassa Science and Technology Center and teaching high school physics in Buchanan, Liberia.
Eric received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a JD from the Catholic University of America Law School, and a PhD in educational leadership and policy studies from Arizona State University.
Colin Lingle
Colin Lingle is a doctoral student in political communication at the University of Washington’s Department of Communication. His research addresses relationships between political discourse, traditional news media and independent news producers, with a special focus on conceptualizations of the public. As an instructor, he works with students in journalism, new media, public speaking and environmental communication.
His consulting is informed by his career as a copywriter, producer, creative manager and editor, including positions in print, online and in television. He completed his M.A. at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University.
Sara Robinson
Sara Robinson is one of the few trained social futurists in North America. Her particular area of interest is the role religion, culture, and other cognitive frameworks play in the way individuals and societies imagine the future and choose their strategies for approaching and managing change; and especially how personal and social fears are used—or overcome—to alter the change equation.
As a Fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, her weekly columns at www.ourfuture.org focus on long-term trends in social and political change. Ms. Robinson’s skill set includes trend analysis, scenario development, futures research, social change theories, systems thinking, and strategic planning. She also holds a BA in Journalism from the USC Annenberg School of Communication, and has worked as a columnist or editor for several national magazines.
Ms. Robinson’s blogging career began in 2006, when she joined David Neiwert at Orcinus to write on the psychology and sociology of authoritarian political and religious movements. She is also a founding member and managing editor of The Group News Blog, the successor to Steve Gilliard’s original News Blog, where she still posts occasional lighter and more personal pieces. Her recent work has also appeared online at Firedoglake, DailyKos, OpenLeft, and Alternet; and in print at The Progressive Christian; and she makes frequent media and in-person appearances speaking on issues related to long-range planning and policy. She will complete her MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston in 2009.
A collection of Sara’s writings on health care can be found here.
Anthony Valterra
Anthony’s fascination with the way in which people’s psychological framework and the world around them interact began when he got his BA in Religion from Carleton College. He focused on the social and psychological impacts that religion had on its adherents and on the wider community of which it was a part. He continued to push this line of reasoning with a Masters in Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University. Focusing on how beliefs can be used to influence a community Anthony did his field research in Colorado Springs, CO at the New Life Church pastored by the now infamous Ted Haggard. Of that experience he said, “I learned more about how to shift the consciousness of a community in one summer with Ted Haggard then I learned in an entire year at school”.
After his degree Anthony moved into the private sector and applied his knowledge to the field of branding. He worked for Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, Lamplighter Studios and Electric Pen. During that time period he also worked to convince the State Department that, if there was to be any long term hope of peace, communication work that reached teenagers should be undertaken in the Middle East. Since that time he has worked as a consultant for a variety of communication organizations in Washington D.C. His areas of expertise are in the fields of religion, young adults, advergaming and cross cultural communication.
Dashielle Vawter
As a passionate seeker of change, Dashielle Vawter values opportunities to learn new skills and perspectives and use them to envision creative new solutions. Her ability to combine efficacious thinking, international perspectives, and ethics in the pursuit of sustainable solutions comes from years of integrating experiences in different fields. She studied Peace and Conflict Studies at UC Berkeley, then went on to explore nonprofit management and non-denominational ministerial training.
Dashielle got her start as a Development Associate at Peace Action West where she raised $10,000 monthly while collaborating with the political and communications departments to build organizational contacts in swing districts and to create a messaging guide on nuclear weapons. During this time Dashielle also lectured on the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, history and policy at both UC Berkeley and Berkeley Community College. Upon reading Don’t Think of an Elephant! and Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision Dashielle immediately realized the potential cognitive science had to affect our political discourse and policy making in positive ways. She forged a relationship with the Rockridge Institute and worked as a Public Affairs Intern and eventually as a consultant. During her time there she wrote and published her first two articles on political frames: Framing “Preemptive War” and American Values.
Dashielle went on to work for the Al Franken for Senate campaign where she organized and led student democrats at universities all over the state of Minnesota as a regional organizer.
Most recently Dashielle has accepted a position as Development Director, Production Coordinator, and Assistant Producer at East Bay Pictures International, whose current project is a feature length documentary on urban farming in the Bay Area and the broader issues of food justice and security. Other areas of interest and study include human rights, NAFTA, immigration and prison reform.
