Fuse Washington

Fuse Staff

Aaron Ostrom, Executive Director
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Aaron Ostrom oversees the hard work and “strategery” behind Fuse’s campaigns to make democracy more progressive. Before coming to Fuse, Aaron served as the Executive Director of Futurewise for eight years, working to protect rural areas and natural resources from irresponsible development while making cities great places to live. Aaron was a co-founder and director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, and also worked as a manager in the City of Seattle’s Strategic Planning Office. Aaron has served as a board member of Smart Growth America and several other non-profits. He has chaired and/or played a critical leadership role in several statewide and regional ballot measure campaigns. He has a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University. For entertainment, he chases his two young boys (Cole & Desmond), and plays basketball with other slow old men. He also aspires to more enthusiastically celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Michael Grenetz, Campaign Director
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Michael works to ensure that Fuse’s campaigns successfully elect progressive candidates and pass serious progressive policy reform. Before joining Fuse, he was the Environmental Advocate at the Washington Toxics Coalition, developing and leading their local, state and national campaigns to reduce pesticides and support sustainable agriculture. Michael has also organized and coordinated campaigns for the California Wild Heritage Campaign and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). He holds a B.A. in religion from Vassar College, and in his personal time, he is a Renaissance man of sorts, with various interests and hobbies.

Cheryl Murfin, Communications Director
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Cheryl Murfin is dedicated to developing effective ways of communicating Fuse’s efforts to create a progressive Washington.
Cheryl has more than 15 years experience in communications management. She most recently served as Executive Director of Seattle Midwifery School, working to protect the right of Washington women to enjoy a safe and empowering birth and ensure that all women have access to the full spectrum of maternity care providers in the state. Prior to that she served as Communications Director for Children’s Home Society of Washington, as an editor for Northwest Parent Publishing and as a reporter and editor for various newspaper and magazines in Puget Sound. She has authored or contributed to two books and has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including Association for Midwifery Educators, the Church Council for Greater Seattle, AMOS and others.

Erik Magnuson: Field Coordinator
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Erik Magnuson is a native of the Pacific Northwest. He attended Claremont McKenna College and graduated with a degree in Political Science and History in 2006. While attending Claremont McKenna College he participated in a semester long full time internship program in Washington DC working as an intern for Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA). After experiencing what Washington DC had to offer, Erik decided to take a more direct route into the world of progressive politics. Erik joined Environment America’s Fellows program and launched Environment Arizona working in Phoenix from 2006 until 2008.

Now after returning to Seattle Erik is Fuse Washington’s field coordinator responsible for organizing and implementing ambitious plans for conquering the world making progressive policy change in Washington state.

Jay Arnold: Technology Director
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Jay Arnold started his career working on software and dabbling in politics and policy and now is trying the reverse. Formerly a test manager at Microsoft, Jay led teams working on Internet Explorer and Windows 95. He serves on the boards of Futurewise and Northwest SEED, and previously was a Trustee of the Municipal League of King County. Jay holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He and his family live in Kirkland.