Staff Biographies
Washington, D.C. Office
Emily Burns, Deputy Chief of Staff
Emily grew up in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of two small business owners—her mother runs a veterinary clinic, while her father operates a small welding and manufacturing company. She attended Kenyon College, where she earned a BA in Sociology and Psychology and directed a program to coordinate the college’s community service in the surrounding counties. She has worked in law, financial services, and in Kenya, where she helped the Kenyan Wildlife Service with community development, fisheries management, and sustainable agriculture initiatives. She recently completed fellowships at the New Leaders Council and the Woodrow Wilson Foreign Policy Center, focusing on policy, advocacy, entrepreneurship, community revitalization, and leadership. Emily joined the Garamendi office in 2011 and now serves as Legislative Director, coordinating the Congressman’s policy initiatives from the Washington, D.C. office to best serve the people of California’s third district.
Dante Atkins, Press Secretary
A proud Angeleno, Press Secretary Dante Atkins graduated summa cum laude with highest honors from UCLA, where he majored in classical linguistics. After college, Dante turned his attention from the academic world to political and communications consulting. In these roles, Dante has served as campaign manager for multiple statewide campaigns in California and advised many high-profile clients, including Fortune 500 companies, major labor unions, and California’s health insurance exchange.
Dante is a founding boardmember of the Los Angeles chapter of New Leaders Council, and is proud to be a Political Partner with the Truman National Security Project. Dante speaks several languages, including Spanish, French and German. He joined Congressman Garamendi’s staff in June of 2015.
Nicole McAllister, Scheduler and Legislative Assistant
Nicole was born and raised in Suisun City, California. She graduated magna cum laude from California State University, Chico, with degrees in Political Science, Social Science, and Multicultural and Gender Studies. During her tenure at CSU Chico, Nicole was actively engaged in both student affairs and local government. Nicole held a statewide position on the Board of Directors for the California State Student Association where she discovered a passion for education advocacy. Nicole came to Congressman Garamendi’s office as a Panetta Institute Congressional Intern in Fall of 2014 and continues to work in the office as a Scheduler and Legislative Assistant handling education, arts and humanities, civil rights, women, family, and children’s issues.
Bradley Bottoms, Legislative Assistant
Bradley Bottoms was born and raised in Pacifica, California. He graduated from the University of California, Davis where he studied Sociology Organizational Studies and Political Science Public service while conducting research on workforce development and the political process. In Davis, Bradley served in many positions including the Student Body Vice President and the Chair of the City of Davis Student-City Liaison Commission. Bradley works with the Congressman on various legislative issues including: health, housing, labor, finance, consumer affairs, animal rights, elections/voting, government, homelessness, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and taxes. He also manages our Washington-based constituent services such as Washington DC tours, flag requests, and our DC intern program.
Garrett Durst, Legislative Director
Garrett was born and raised in Woodland, California where he grew up working on his family’s farm. He attended Arizona State University where he received his BA in Sustainability and a minor in Justice Studies. Following college he continued his career in agriculture, working for Tanimura and Antle, a produce grower/shipper in the Salinas Valley. He then returned to Woodland to help manage the family farm prior to joining Congressman Garamendi's staff in Washington, D.C.
Gabriel Sehr, Legislative Assistant
Gabriel joined Congressman Garamendi’s office after receiving his master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago, where his research focused on state-sponsored terrorism and non-state actors in the Middle East. Before his graduate work, Gabriel volunteered for President Obama’s reelection campaign and worked in insurance law in Chicago. He received his bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and has previously studied and the University of Bonn, Germany and the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Gabriel speaks German, Arabic, and works on foreign affairs, judiciary issues, and defense policy for Congressman Garamendi.
William Tran, Legislative Assistant
William is a lifelong Californian and an avid swimmer who has always held a strong passion for foreign affairs and national defense issues. After graduating with High Distinction from University of California, Berkeley in 2012, where he majored in Political Science (International Relations) and minored in Public Policy, William interned briefly in Congressman Garamendi’s Washington, DC office before accepting a position as a full-time staffer. He handles many of the defense issues related to the 3rd District and looks forward to furthering the critical missions at Travis and Beale Air Force Bases.
Betsy Thompson, Legislative Correspondent
Betsy grew up in Redwood Falls, a small rural town in Southwestern Minnesota. She had had enough of the cold Midwestern winters and decided to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. A recipient of a music scholarship as a percussionist for orchestra and other ensembles, she majored in International Studies with a Political Science emphasis. While in school, Betsy participated in Pepperdine’s International Programs, studying abroad in Florence, Italy, for her entire sophomore year and then traveling to Jinja, Uganda, and Kigali, Rwanda, in May of 2014. She was also co-founder and President of Pepperdine’s Amnesty International Chapter.
Betsy briefly interned in Congressman Garamendi's Washington office before accepting a position as Legislative Correspondent. She currently expands our constituent correspondence and outreach campaign, while continuing to work with our natural resources staff on issues that are not only important to the people of California’s Third Congressional District, but issues she cares deeply about as well.
District Offices
John Evalle, District Director
John was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he entered the Air Force in November 1984 as a Civil Engineer Engineering Assistant. He served 30 years and rose to lead in multiple positions at the squadron, group, wing, and MAJCOM levels and retired in December 2014 as the Command Chief Master Sergeant of the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base in the 3rd District. During his military service, John served in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm as well as operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, and South Korea. John is married and has a son and a daughter and upon retirement from the Air Force joined the Congressman's staff to focus on supporting the Military and Veteran communities before assuming his current position as District Director.
Donald Lathbury, Communications Director
Donald serves as Congressman Garamendi’s Communications Director, where he helps coordinate the Congressman’s message and priorities. He first joined Garamendi’s staff in 2009 when Garamendi was California’s Lieutenant Governor. He was elevated to Communications Director upon the beginning of Garamendi’s first Congressional term. Previously, Donald served as Deputy Communications Director in the offices of Speaker Fabian Nunez and Speaker Karen Bass. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Political Science. While there, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley Political Review, Berkeley’s only non-partisan political magazine. As a student, Donald interned for or worked at the ACLU of Northern California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, and a public-interest environmental law firm.
Debbi Gibbs, Deputy District Director
A native of Texas, Debbi has dedicated over 30 years of public service to the people of California. She previously served as Congressman Garamendi’s Chief of Staff in his Washington, DC Office. In addition, she served in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, the California Department of Insurance, Trade and Commerce Agency, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Elk Grove Unified School District. Debbi resides in Elk Grove and together with her husband Bill and has six children and three grandchildren.
Jeannie Klever, District Representative
A California native, Jeannie chose the small town of Sutter, nestled at the base of the Sutter Buttes, as the ideal place to raise a family. After earning her Associate’s Degree in Social Science from Yuba Community College in 1995, Jeannie’s love for the rural community and a heart of service led her to work throughout the nonprofit sector in life skills and self-advocacy training and leadership within a wide array of local and state agencies. Jeannie joined the Congressman’s staff in 2012 as a Field Representative for the Yuba City District office with a special focus on Northern county issues.
Jennifer Lee, Constituent Services Representative and Press Assistant
Jennifer Lee was born and raised in San Francisco, California where she spent much of her time competing in sports and volunteering for the de Young Museum and other local organizations. After graduating from George Washington High School in 2009, Jennifer attended the University of California, Davis where she double majored in Political Science and Communication and interned in Congressman Garamendi’s Davis District Office. Following college she continued her career in public relations working for a local start-up before rejoining the Davis staff.
Jacqueline Hartsough, Constituent Services Representative
Jacqueline Hartsough was born and raised in Davis, California where she was active in several extracurricular clubs at her high school and volunteered teaching Sunday School at her church. She went on to graduate from the University California, Santa Barbara where she earned a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in American Politics. Following graduation, Jacqueline returned to Davis where she began working as a substitute teacher in the Davis School District before joining Congressman Garamendi’s district staff.
Nathan Hodgens, Field Representative
Nathan was raised in Rocklin, California where he enjoyed golfing and hiking in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range. He graduated from University of California, Davis, where he received a BA in both Economics and Political Science. During his time at the University, Nathan organized philanthropic events for Zeta Psi which raised money and awareness for local non-profit groups. For several years, Nathan has worked with local community leaders and elected officials to address issues that are affecting the region. Currently, Nathan proudly serves as Congressman Garamendi’s Solano County Field Representative.
Andrew March, Constituent Services Representative
Andrew was born and raised in Yuba City, California where he spent much of his time enjoying the outdoors and volunteering for local organizations. After graduating from Yuba City High School in 2007 Andrew went on to earn an Associate Degree in Psychology from Yuba Community College. Seeking to further his educational career, Andrew transferred to UC Irvine where he double majored in Criminology, Law and Society and Psychology and Social Behavior. Before joining the staff Andrew interned at the Community Outreach Partnership Center at UC Irvine, which focuses on bringing together community leaders for capacity building initiatives in distressed and under resourced neighborhoods.
