Governor's Office

State Capitol, 200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0010

307.777.7434 (phone)
307.632.3909 (fax)

POLICY STAFF

Rob Hurless
Energy and Telecommunications Policy Advisor

Rob is former chairman of the Wyoming Public Service Commission and was publisher of the Casper-Star Tribune. He is active in economic development in the state and in regional electric utility planning activities. He earned a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in history from Montana State University, an M.A. in applied economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. In addition to dispensing advice, Rob enjoys open source software and fly fishing.
rhurle@state.wy.us

Wendy Curran
Healthcare Policy Advisor

Prior to joining the Governor’s staff, Wendy served as executive director of the Wyoming Medical Society, where she also worked as director of public affairs and policy with primary responsibility for government relations, lobbying and communications.  She has worked with legislative committees and other statewide groups involved in discussing healthcare insurance affordability and availability, rural health system enhancements, scope of practice issues, physician recruitment and retention, health professional staffing issues and other topics affecting healthcare and medicine in Wyoming. A Wyoming native, she holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of Wyoming and is a 2001 graduate of the statewide Leadership Wyoming program. She is married and has three children.
wcurra@state.wy.us

Steve Furtney
Natural Resources Policy Advisor

Steve is former Chair, Deputy Chair and Commissioner for the Wyoming Public Service Commission, as well as a former Administrator and Economist for the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Economic Analysis Division. He also served as co-chair for the Wyoming Consensus Revenue Estimating Group from 1991 to 1997. Steve is a graduate of Cheyenne Central High School and the University of Wyoming where he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Economics. In addition to his work on natural resource policy issues for the state, Steve enjoys time with his family, his friends and the incredible outdoor adventure and recreation opportunities that Wyoming has to offer.
sfurtn@state.wy.us
307.777.8506

Katie Hogarty
Health and Human Service Policy Analyst

Katie, a recent University of Wyoming Law School graduate, grew up in Sheridan. She attended Mount Holyoke and Lewis and Clark Colleges and is thrilled to find herself in Wyoming again. Prior to working in the governor’s office, Katie worked as a teaching assistant for legal writing and appellate advocacy in law school. She also worked as a personal assistant to a film director, and counseled Northern Irish teenagers involved in the peace-building process. Katie is interested in women’s issues, juvenile justice, health care, and poverty.
khogar@state.wy.us
307.777.8571

Gary P. Hartman
Juvenile Justice Policy Analyst

Prior to joining the Governor's staff, Gary served as a District Judge for 25 years in the Big Horn Basin.  He has an interest in juvenile and family issues and started the first Family Treatment Court in the State of Wyoming.  He is a University of Wyoming Law School graduate and is admitted to the practice of law in Wyoming and Colorado.  He served four years in the U.S. Air Force and is a Vietnam Veteran.  He and his wife, Betsy, enjoy riding their Honda Goldwing motorcycle.
ghartm@state.wy.us
307.777.5771

Ellen Skinner
Constituent Correspondent and Education Policy Analyst

Ellen grew up in Pinedale, Wyo. enjoying the outdoors at Skinner Brothers Wilderness Schools in the summer, and ski racing in winter. She earned a degree in Range Management from the University of Wyoming where she was awarded one of the first two ski racing scholarships for women. Ellen holds a Masters degree in Communication from Colorado State University where she studied and published a report on the effects of anti-drug messaging on teenagers. For more than 15 years, Ellen has applied her communications, marketing and public relation skills to positions in education (Sublette County School District #1 and Colorado State University), health (McKesson) and energy (XCEL Energy, Pinedale Anticline).  Ellen enjoys the mountains of Wyoming, the view of wide-open spaces and the smell of aspen leaves on a crisp, fall day. She has one grown daughter.
eskinn2@state.wy.us
307.777.8922   

Temple Stevenson
Natural Resource Policy Advisor

Temple has worked on natural resource issues for the Governor since 2004, concentrating on public land issues. Prior to coming to the Governor’s Office she created A Dust Suppression Best Practices Manual for Wyoming’s Coal Mine Haul Roads, assisted federal agencies in drafting environmental documents, and worked as a timber crew leader and wild fire fighter for the U.S. Forest Service. Temple is in her third year of law school at the University of Wyoming College of Law.
tsteve1@state.wy.us
307.777.2817

Steve Ellenbecker
Energy Policy Advisor and Western Governors’ Association Staff Council Representative
 
Steve is a consulting energy policy advisor to the Governor. From 1994-2004, he was chairman of the Wyoming Public Service Commission. In 2004-2005, he served in the Governor’s Office as energy and telecommunications advisor.  He is the Governor’s Staff Council representative in the Western Governors’ Association and the Western Interstate Energy Board. He earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Wyoming.

Laura Ladd
Energy Economics Advisor