Staff

Dr. Kriss Sjoblom
Research Director and Senior Economist
Emily Makings
Senior Research Analyst
Kim Martinez
Operations Manager

Dr. Kriss Sjoblom

Research Director and Senior Economist

At the Research Council, Kriss Sjoblom has authored reports on numerous issues, including the state’s economy, its tax system, transportation, and housing. Dr. Sjoblom has served on the Washington State Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors since 1995, under Governors Mike Lowry, Gary Locke, Chris Gregoire and Jay Inslee. In 2011, he served on the Commission on State Debt.

A Seattle native, Sjoblom earned an A.B. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D., in economics, from Yale University. Before joining the Research Council, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Haverford College. He is currently a fellow of the University of Washington Economics Department’s Economic Policy Research Center.

Emily Makings

Senior Research Analyst

Emily Makings specializes in state budget and employment policy issues for the Research Council. Previously, Emily was an analyst for the National Mining Association, where she managed the association’s international policy. Before that, she was an analyst in the Tax Analysis Division of the Congressional Budget Office. At CBO, she prepared baseline projections for customs duties and wrote CBO cost estimates of bills under consideration by the Congress affecting federal revenues. A Yakima native, she graduated from Washington State University’s Honors College with a B.A. in economics.

Kim Martinez

Operations Manager

Kim Martinez is our operations manager. She has an extensive background in organizational leadership and operations and is a doctoral candidate from Evangel University with a focus on women in leadership and integral living. In addition to her work with the Research Council, Kim works for the Washington Roundtable as their operations manager.