[ABOUT]

(they/them)

Rossi started Central House Strategies in August 2020. Previously, Rossi was the Director of Advocacy and Policy for the ACLU of Montana, Director of Advocacy and Policy for the ACLU of Missouri, and the Legal and Public Policy Director for the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. In these positions, Rossi was responsible for implementing legislative and advocacy campaigns, analyzing and drafting policy proposals, lobbying policymakers, building coalitions, and community organizing.

During their career, Rossi built relationships across the political and ideological spectrums and in the private and public sectors. These relationships created highly functioning coalitions with diverse ideological representation. Rossi’s work has led to numerous policy reforms, and they have extensive experience in criminal legal reform, food security, death penalty abolition, housing access, local government, LGBTQ rights, reproductive healthcare and abortion access, and free speech.

Rossi earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana School of Law, where they received the award for personal integrity, courage, and independent thought.

(he/him)

Sam has been a lobbyist, organizer, advocate, and principal during the past four legislative sessions. Sam joined the Central House team in October 2021 after working as the Legislative Program Manager for the ACLU of Montana and Lobbyist for Associated Students of the University of Montana and the Montana Associated Students. He has worked on various issues, including affordable public higher education, public infrastructure funding, protecting tenants’ rights, homelessness, criminal legal reform, voting rights, immigrant and refugee rights, Indigenous justice, and the state budget.

Sam graduated from the University of Montana in 2017 and spends his summers working as a smoke jumper for the U.S. Forest Service. Sam finds joy in Montana’s beautiful public lands, where he enjoys backcountry skiing, rock climbing, backpacking, rafting, and running. He is an avid reader of the classics and philosophy and is in perpetual search of someone with whom to play Scrabble.

(they/she)

Before joining Central House Strategies, Ella was the Program Director for Montana Women Vote and Lobbyist and Community Organizer with Northern Plains Resource Council. They also played a significant role in numerous political and issue-based campaigns, including Medicaid expansion, state legislative seats, US Congress and Senate, and protecting a clean and healthful environment. Ella has been a lobbyist and organizer in the Montana Legislature since 2015 on health care access, Medicaid expansion, childcare, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, Indigenous rights, sexual and reproductive freedom, and decriminalizing poverty.

With relationships at the core, Ella's work centers around building community and fostering nuanced conversations. Ella has a zeal for coalition building and strategic planning, believing that the more we are in community with one another, the stronger our movements are.

Ella Smith was born in Helena and grew up between Montana and Pennsylvania. After studying jazz performance and composition at the University of North Texas, Ella returned home to Montana and fell in love with community organizing. In their free time, Ella enjoys cracking jokes, reading fantasy novels, writing songs, and wandering aimlessly with her dog, Pippen.

(she/they)

Dani’s experience is in engaging community in policy development and planning in local government. From designing streets and parks, to developing housing policy and zoning codes, Dani has led collaborative efforts to reduce barriers to meaningful participation in government. After graduating from Montana State University with a degree in Community Health and minor in Hispanic Studies, Dani worked in bicycle and pedestrian planning with MSU’s Western Transportation Institute. As Community Engagement Coordinator at the City of Bozeman, Dani introduced a new framework for community engagement and co-led the development of the city’s first equity and inclusion plan. Driven by curiosity and connection, Dani asks questions and creates spaces from which new solutions and partnerships can emerge.

Raised in the hills around Helena and the coast of south central Alaska, Dani fills her cup with time outside. She loves going for long bike rides, writing poems, and bringing an unreasonable number of books on a weekend camping trip.