Gratia Rowell

Gratia Rowell joined FOCUS as a Policy Analyst in June 2023, currently specializing in tracking issues relating to alcohol, cannabis, health, employment and payroll, and tax and labor issues.  

Gratia’s interest in public policy has lead her from coast to coast and back again. After growing up in her 800-person hometown of Albany, Vermont, she pursued her undergraduate studies at Simmons College in Boston, making the Dean’s List every semester and earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, in 2018. She subsequently spent a year enrolled in and excelling at Vermont Law School but decided to pivot towards a career in public policy and seek even higher latitudes.  

Gratia came to FOCUS on the heels of earning her Masters of Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Public Policy from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in 2023. During her three years in the Last Frontier, she worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for UAA’s Alaska Center for Energy and Power, studying the Power Cost Equalization program and how it affects the renewable energy transition in rural Alaska, and as a Human Resources Assistant for the Bureau of Land Management. Her varied experience with research, analysis and governmental agencies has made her a valuable asset to the FOCUS team. 

Described by friends as fun, clever, and peaceful, she enjoys baking, biking and hiking with her husband and dogs, binging guilty pleasure reality TV (TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé series in particular!), and catching her favorite band, Misterwives, whenever she can.