NCSL Staff Directory

As a policy specialist Alison May focuses on early care and learning topics including home visiting and paid family leave. May has more than a decade of experience implementing and coordinating NCSL’s Early Childhood Fellows program. She is dedicated to supporting legislators and legislative staff as they consider policy options connected to child and family well-being. 

As a program coordinator for NCSL’s Children and Families Program, Clare Link-Oberstar supports her team with meeting coordination, data entry and administrative tasks. Prior to joining NCSL, Link-Oberstar worked in direct practice with children and families as a preschool teacher. She is dedicated to supporting her team in its work to connect NCSL’s members with research and field experts on issues impacting children, youth and families. 

As a senior policy specialist, Heather Wilson focuses on policies that support child and family well-being. Wilson comes to NCSL with nearly 15 years of experience leading social and economic policy initiatives, program design and multi-stakeholder movements at the national, state and local levels. She is excited to contribute to NCSL's growing body of interdisciplinary work impacting children and families.

Jenna Bannon serves as associate director in the Children and Families Program. She manages multiple grants in early childhood and child welfare and co-leads the interdisciplinary work on child and family policy. Bannon comes to NCSL with more than 25 years of experience in state legislative policy, working for a governor, state legislators, state agencies and nonprofits. She worked for NCSL from 1998-2000 and is excited to be back working at the national level to support the success of legislators and legislative staff. 

As a senior policy specialist focusing on early childhood policies, Jennifer (Jeni) Palmer’s expertise resides in child care and the early care and education workforce. Prior to joining NCSL, Palmer worked in political communications and in the Iowa House of Representatives. She earned a Master’s in Public Administration and is currently completing an Early Childhood Leadership Certificate, both from the University of Colorado Denver. 

As a senior policy specialist for NCSL’s Children and Families Program, Jill Yordy researches public policy related to child and family well-being. Yordy comes to NCSL with more than eight years of experience in public policy research, practice and advocacy. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. in public affairs from the University of Colorado Denver.

Wade Fickler directs NCSL’s Children and Families Program, which covers child welfare, child support, early care and education, economic security, family law, housing, homelessness and hunger. His previous experience includes policy and communications positions with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Children’s Institute and the City Club of Portland. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, Fickler helped foster civic engagement and voter participation in the fledgling post-Soviet democracy.

Walker Stevens works as a policy analyst in the Children & Families Program at NCSL. Stevens comes back to NCSL for the third time with policy and legal experience in all three branches of Colorado state government. Stevens received a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2022.