Tracie Sharp
State Policy NetworkTracie Sharp is president of State Policy Network, the capacity building service organization of free market, state-focused public policy think tanks. Ms. Sharp has been an active leader in the state-focused think tank movement since 1988, serving on the SPN board of directors since its founding in 1992 and hired as president in August 1999. Prior to assuming leadership of State Policy Network, Ms. Sharp was executive director and one of the founders of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon's state-focused, market-oriented think tank. During her tenure (1991-1999), Cascade became the leading free market voice in the state, thriving on nationally-recognized public policy research, most notably in the areas of k-12 education reform and social security privatization. Previously, Ms. Sharp worked with Washington State radio commentator and political pundit John Carlson, serving as director of programs at the Washington Institute for Policy Studies in Seattle. Ms. Sharp is a graduate of the University of Washington.