Duncan Clauson

Snohomish County, Washington

Duncan
Clauson

My work spans elections administration, union leadership, and civic engagement. I help teams understand systems and solve complex problems.

Master of Public Administration, UW Evans School of Public Policy & Governance
Certified Washington State Elections Administrator

Professional

The work

Snohomish County Auditor
2017 – Present
Elections & Voter Outreach Specialist

Lead civic engagement and education for 540,000+ registered voters across four election cycles annually (five in Presidential Election years). Built a language access plan, translate up to 315 candidate statements and ballot measures, automated four major administrative workflows using PowerAutomate and Microsoft tools. Recognized with three national Election Center awards, including the 2025 Professional Practices Independence Award.

Civic Education Language Access Program Management Public Speaking
AFSCME Local 1811-CA
2021 – Present
Vice President

Lead organizer of AFSCME Local 1811-CA, representing 500 workers across nine county departments. Guiding the local through an active rebuild of solidarity, organizing, and labor-management committees while preparing members for 2027 contract negotiations. Holds relationships with management and navigates adversarial labor-management dynamics simultaneously. Translates complex policy and contract language into plain-language communications for diverse audiences.

Labor Negotiation Stakeholder Alignment Coalition Building
Carbon Washington
2014 – 2017
Co-Director Operations

Scaled Washington State's first major carbon pricing campaign from an unfunded grassroots effort to a $1.5M operation with 12 staff. Built a bipartisan coalition spanning government, business, nonprofit, and community sectors. Secured endorsements from a former U.S. Secretary of State, a former King County Executive, and legislators from both major political parties. The campaign drew national media attention, earned 1.265 million votes, and produced rigorous post-election research that contributed to ongoing climate policy conversations nationwide.

Campaign Management Policy Communications Data Informed Strategy

Beyond the desk

The full picture

1981 Ford F-100
Maintaining and restoring a 45-year-old truck teaches you that most problems are solvable if you're willing to learn the system and some still catch you by surprise. Same problem solving, different application.
Building & Making
Home addition, deck, and ongoing projects. There's something clarifying about work where you can see exactly what you built at the end of the day.
Moving Meditation
Movement is how I think. Single day through hike of the Enchantments Traverse in 2025. Run, lift, play.
Pacific Northwest
Camping, hiking, and living in a place worth protecting. My environmental work has always been personal, not abstract.
Food Systems
Sourdough, fermentation, apple harvests, homemade sausage. Building systems to feed a family well without lifestyle inflation.
Family
Married, father of two young kids. The reason the work has to matter and the finances have to be honest.

How I work

Management philosophy

"Complexity is only a problem when it's hidden. Make it visible, make it legible, then let people act."

01
Operational infrastructure first

The pipelines, workflows, and calendars that make complex work repeatable at scale. Good systems make good people more effective.

02
Translation as leadership

The same information presented three different ways to three different rooms. Carbon tax economics for voters. Labor policy for frontline workers and executives simultaneously. Election outreach for 500K voters.

03
Consistency over heroics

Sustained daily action builds more than any one-off effort. Restoring a truck, building and organizing a local union, outreach to hundreds of thousands of voters, raising children, and maintaining a fitness practice all run on the same principle of small consistent action over singular heroic efforts.

Field Notes

Writing & thinking

Occasional writing on civic systems, outreach practice, and what it looks like when complexity gets made legible.

Coming soon. In the meantime, connect on LinkedIn.

Let's connect

Open to conversations about civic engagement, elections administration, environmental policy, and what makes outreach actually work.