2011 Conference Speakers

National perspectives, and what communities are doing to respond to the new realities

Donna Addkison joined the staff of Wider Opportunities for Women in late 2008 as the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project Director and now serves as the Family Economic Security Program Director. She provides strategic guidance for WOW’s projects that target intergenerational economic security with a focus on the working years of Heads of Households through advocacy and organizing in and across states, research into multiple measures of income adequacy and public opinion as well as technical assistance for advocates, service providers and others at the state and local levels. Appointed by Mayor C. Ray Nagin in August of 2006, Donna served the city of New Orleans as its Chief Development Officer with oversight of economic development, workforce development, housing and neighborhood services, environmental affairs and more. Donna served as the President and CEO of the Chamber Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Donna was both a City Executive and Vice President of the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/Hope Community Credit Union – a Community Development Credit Union serving the Southeastern United States. Donna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Honors in Political Science from Mississippi University for Women, which honored her with a Distinguished Alumna Award in 2000, and Master’s Degrees in Political Science from Mississippi State University and Criminal Justice from Troy State University.

Julia Joh Elligers
Program Manager.
Public Health Infrastructure and System, Assessment, Planning & Workforce Development
National Association of County and City Health Officials

Julia Joh Elligers joined NACCHO in 2003 and leads assessment, planning, and workforce development initiatives such as Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP), National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP), and the Survive and Thrive: Roadmap for New Local Health Officials. She also provides training and technical assistance to local health departments and their community partners on community engagement, community health assessments, strategic planning, community health improvement planning, performance improvement, facilitation, and program evaluation. Julia is a political science doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation investigates political factors that explain variability in local governmental public health capacity across the United States. Julia received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Public Policy from Cornell University and her Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Management from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Xiaoyi Huang
Assistant Vice President for Policy,
National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

Xiaoyi Huang is the Assistant Vice President for Policy at the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. Ms. Huang directs NAPH’s policy activities (both legislative and regulatory) for all advocacy issues and leads NAPH’s policy initiatives to protect public hospitals’ short and long term longevity. Prior to joining NAPH, Ms. Huang worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General. Ms. Huang holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University and a Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law.

Irv Katz
President & CEO,
National Human Services Assembly (National Assembly)

Washington, D.C.

Irv Katz is President & CEO of the National Human Services Assembly (National Assembly), the national association of more than eighty of the nation’s leading nonprofit human service and community development organizations. NHSA is also home to the National Collaboration for Youth and the National Collaboration for Families. Prior to joining the National Assembly in 2001, Katz enjoyed a twenty-three year career in the United Way movement, including a variety of positions at the Community Service Council of Metropolitan Indianapolis and the United Way of Central Indiana, serving as the President and CEO of both organizations in sequence, and later as Vice President for Community Impact at United Way of America. Katz holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University, the former a bachelor of arts in English, the latter a masters in social work. He has been recognized repeatedly as one of the Nonprofit Power & Influence 50 by The Nonprofit Times.

Cheryl Little
Executive Director and co-founder,
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center

Cheryl Little has been a tireless advocate for immigrant rights for nearly two decades and is one of this country’s leading experts in the immigration field. Her extensive involvement in immigration issues dates to 1985 when, as an honors law school graduate, she began working at the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, becoming one of the nation’s leading advocates for Haitians in the U.S. Since 1996, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center has provided free legal help to immigrants from all over the world and strives to protect immigrants’ basic rights. The Miami Herald recently described FIAC as “a nationally respected powerhouse on behalf of society’s most vulnerable”. Ms. Little has testified before numerous Congressional committees, as well as the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, UN Special Rapporteur, National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and the Organization of American States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She has been featured in award winning documentaries including Jonathan Demme’s “Killing the Dream,” “Black and White in exile,” “They Call Us Boat People,” and “Abandoned: The Betrayal of America’s Immigrants.” For her dedication and successes on behalf of Haitian refugees, the government of Haiti made her an honorary citizen in May 2002. Ms. Little is currently Vice Chair, American Bar Association, Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities’ Committee on Rights of Immigrants; Member, American Bar Association’s Advisory Committee on Immigration Pro Bono Development and Bar Activation Project; and recently served on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission’s Immigration Detention Standards Committee. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, PBS’s News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Frontline, The Oprah Winfrey Show and CNN, and was named “Person of the Week” by ABC. Ms. Little has co-authored multiple reports, most recently Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody. Additionally, she has authored numerous articles on immigration. Her most recent article, The Human Cost of Immigrant Bashing, was published in the Summer 2008 edition of Americas Quarterly.

Allen is an independent consultant after retiring from the federal government with 34 years of service. Most of his federal service was with the U.S. Government Accountability Office where he led studies on performance measurement, strategic planning, national and community indicator systems, and pandemic influenza. He co-edited the book Meeting the Challenges of Performance-Oriented Government, co-authored a chapter in the Performance-Oriented Government: An Agenda for Practice and Research, and served on the board of advisors and as a peer reviewer of the book, International Handbook of Practice-Based Performance Management. He is a past president of Community Indicators Consortium and is currently leading the Consortium’s national project on integrating community indicators and government performance measures. Allen is serving his community as chair the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria. He is a member of the Executive Steering Committee of the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria, Alexandria’s Homeless Services Coordinating Committee, and the Alexandria City Manager’s Advisory Group. He serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of the National Capital Area and chairs its Community Impact Committee. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from George Mason University and an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Margie McHugh
Co-Director,
National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
at the Migration Policy Institute

The Center is a national hub for leaders in government, community affairs, business, and academia to obtain the knowledge and skills they need to respond to the challenges and opportunities that today’s high rates of immigration pose for local communities across the United States. The Center provides in-depth research, policy analysis, technical assistance, training, leadership development, and information resource services on a broad range of immigrant integration issues. Key areas that are the focus of the Center’s work this year include PreK-12 education; English literacy and workplace skills development; and the involvement of state and local governments in efforts to regulate the settlement of immigrants in their communities, including the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Prior to joining MPI, Ms. McHugh served for 15 years as the executive director of The New York Immigration Coalition, an umbrella organization for over 150 groups in New York that uses research, policy development, and community mobilization efforts to achieve landmark integration policy and program initiatives. Prior to this, she served as deputy director of New York City’s 1990 Census Project and as the executive assistant to NYC Mayor Koch’s chief of staff. She is the recipient of dozens of awards recognizing her successful efforts to bring diverse constituencies together and tackle tough problems, including the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World award. She has served as a member and officer on the boards of directors for both the National Immigration Forum and Working Today; on the editorial board of Migration WorldMagazine; and has held appointive positions in a variety of New York City and State commissions, most notably the Commission on the Future of the City University of New York and the New York Workers’ Rights Board. Ms. McHugh is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and is a frequent commentator on immigration and immigrant integration issues in both local and national news media.

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Demetra Smith Nightingale
Senior Fellow,
The Urban Institute

Washington, D.C.

Demetra Smith Nightingale, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington DC. From 2003 until 2010, she was on the faculty of the Masters of Public Policy Program at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where she taught graduate courses in Social Policy and in Program Evaluation. In 2010 she returned to the Urban Institute where she had previously been for 29 years before joining Hopkins. She is also a Senior Research Affiliate with the Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, and a Senior Research Consultant with the World Bank. She studies social policy and workforce development policy; evaluates programs for youth, families, welfare recipients, and fathers; and conducts research on the labor market, occupations, skills training, and the workplace; and on older workers, youth, veterans, refugees, public assistance recipients, and Native Americans. Dr. Nightingale is the author or co-author of dozens of articles and five books, most recently Repairing the U.S. Social Safety Net, with Martha Burt (2009), and Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy, co-edited by Harry Holzer (2007). She serves on many advisory groups and task forces, was an Expert Advisor to the White House Welfare Reform Working Group in 1992-93, is a member of the Board of Directors of Seedco, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Urban Institute Press. She has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the George Washington University.

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Tom Pollak
Program Director,
National Center for Charitable Statistics

(Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, the Urban Institute)

Washington, D.C.

Tom Pollak, JD, is Program Director of the National Center for Charitable Statistics, a program of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute. Recent research projects include a study of operating reserves of Washington-area nonprofits, a report on the nonprofit environmental movement; and an analysis of private contributions to U.S.-based international development organizations. His current focus is on the development of state and local civic capacity-building projects with the Urban Institute/NCCS Community Platform. He has published in numerous scholarly journals and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, the Washington Post, USA Today, the New York Times, and other national media. He has his JD from Georgetown University and is a member of the Maryland and DC bars.

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Frank Sharry
Founder and Executive Director
America's Voice

Washington, D.C.

Frank Sharry is Founder and Executive Director of America's Voice. With the support of allies in the immigration reform community, he created the new organization in early 2008 to focus on communications and media as part of a renewed effort to win comprehensive immigration reform. Prior to heading America's Voice, Frank served as Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum for 17 years. The Forum, based in Washington D.C., is one of the nation's premier immigration policy organizations, and has been at the center of every major legislative and policy debate related to immigration for the past quarter of a century. Before joining the Forum, Frank was Executive Director of Centro Presente, a local organization working with Central American refugees in the greater Boston area. He initially became interested in immigrants and refugees while teaching in Singapore in the late 1970s. He was hired to assist with the rescue and relocation of boat refugees fleeing war-torn Vietnam and landing in Indonesia. Sharry is a native of Connecticut and a graduate of Princeton University.

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Heidi Shierholz
Economist,
Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

Washington, D.C.

Heidi Shierholz joined the Economic Policy Institute in 2007. She is a nationally recognized expert on labor markets, economic inequality, and minimum wage. Her areas of research include trends in employment, unemployment, and compensation, income and wealth inequality, the low-wage labor market, the minimum wage, and the gender wage gap. She previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto. Heidi was a valued and popular keynote speaker at last year's NAPC conference.

Education:
   Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan
   M.A., Economics, University of Michigan
   M.S., Statistics, Iowa State University
   B.A., Mathematics, Grinnell College

Complete listing of EPI publications by Heidi Shierholz

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J. Joseph Baldwin
Senior Research/Planner,
Health and Human Services Coordinating Council

Pinellas County, Florida

Joe Baldwin is the Senior Research/Planner with the Health and Human Services Coordinating Council for Pinellas County (HHSCC). Joe works with elected officials, policy makers, senior administrators and other stakeholders to provide information and execute plans that will help them effect change in the health and human service system for residents of Pinellas County, FL. He is skilled in strategic planning, building and maintaining community indicator systems, performance evaluation, project management, research, and evaluation. Specific areas of expertise include research design, program evaluation, psychometrics, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and Geographic Information Systems. Joe is on the Board of Directors for the Community Indicators Consortium (CIC), leading the CIC Technology Committee.

John Begala
Executive Director,
The Center for Community Solutions

Cleveland, Ohio

John Begala is an executive, strategist, and community leader with a wide range of experience in both the public and nonprofit sectors. He has had a multifaceted career as a leader in public policy, executive of health and social service organizations, and educator. He served as Executive Director of The Center for Community Solutions from 1998 through 2004 and returned as Executive Director in July, 2008, after several years of retirement. Through the organization’s partnership with Cleveland State University, he is also a Senior Fellow the Urban Center at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on American health care at Baldwin-Wallace College, and lectures on health policy at the Cleveland Clinic/Case Western Reserve University Lerner College of Medicine. Prior to joining Community Solutions, Mr. Begala was senior vice president of The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, one of the nation’s largest public hospitals. He has held leadership positions at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Greater Cincinnati Hospital Association, and the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. In addition, his public service career includes three terms as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and one term as a member of City Council of Kent, Ohio. He has served on numerous public and nonprofit boards and commissions, including the Ohio Counselor and Social Worker Board, WKSU public radio’s community advisory board, and the IngenuityFest Board of Directors.

Martha T. Blaine
Executive Director,
Community Council of Greater Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Martha Blaine, MBA, joined the Community Council of Greater Dallas (CCGD) as Executive Director in 1994, bringing 42 years of nonprofit leadership with performing arts, human services, museums, and international touring exhibits. CCGD, with a budget of $13 million and a staff of 75, is engaged in a wide variety of essential initiatives connecting people to the health and human services they need. The Council administers the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, and manages the regional 2-1-1 Information and Referral Center. Current initiatives include preventing childhood obesity; assuring all children are fully immunized by age two; preventing at-risk children and youth from being arrested; planning services for seniors; transportation for seniors and people with disabilities who don’t drive; and conducting outreach and enrollment activities for people seeking Texas state benefits. CCGD played a critical role in the disaster response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gustav and Ike. In 2009, the Dallas Business Journal recognized Martha Blaine as a “Changemaker” with their Women in Business Award.

Clanzenetta “Mickee” Brown is the owner and principal consultant for Special Project Partners, a writing, research, and project management firm she founded in 2007. Her work includes grant writing, community and social indicator research, support for citizen-led studies, focus group facilitation, project management, and strategic planning; projects have focused on residential care, budget reform, community health, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, civil rights, infant deaths, and postsecondary education. Previously she worked as a Study Director for Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI), staffing community-based, public policy studies and the subsequent citizen-run advocacy efforts on topics including affordable housing, improving race relations, public education reform, higher education as an economic catalyst, attracting and retaining local talent to promote a knowledge-based economy, and access to, protection of, and development near the St. Johns River. Earlier, she was Community Health Manager at Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, after spending 15 years in the banking and financial services industry. Currently, Mickee serves on the executive committee of JCCI Forward and is a Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Commissioner. A 2009 graduate of Leadership Jacksonville, she has served on several community boards. Mickee has a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Studies and a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Management.

John Campey
Executive Director,
Social Planning Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

John Campey is Executive Director of Social Planning Toronto, an independent non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life of all residents of Toronto by linking research with community action. SPT's work is currently focused on poverty and inequality, with particular emphasis on education, housing, income security and the role of non-profit community infrastructure. John is Co-Chair of the Community Social Services Campaign, and plays a leadership role in the national "Save the Census" Campaign, as well as Ontario’s 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction. Before coming to SPT in 2003, John was an inner-city teacher, with a range of experiences including Grades 1 and 2, ESL Reception, Reading Recovery, and Community Outreach. From 1992-1997, John served as Downtown Trustee on the Toronto Board of Education, where his work focused on reducing the barriers to academic success created by poverty, inequity, language, racism, and homophobia. In 2009, John was awarded the City of Toronto's "Pride" award for his leadership in establishing the range of policies and programs - including the "Triangle" Program, that made the Toronto school system a world leader in supporting its lesbian and gay students, staff and parents. John is currently on the Boards of the Social Planning Network of Ontario, the Canadian Education Association, the Canadian Council for Social Development, the Centre for Excellence in Research on Immigration and Settlement, Friends of Community Schools, and the Community Advisory Board for the Triangle Program. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and an Honours B.A. from Queen’s University, and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto.

Phil Dessauer
Executive Director,
Community Service Council

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Phil Dessauer, Jr. has been the Executive Director of the Community Service Council since 1984. The Council is a non-profit, health and human services research and planning organization which serves as a leadership catalyst for improved community action to best support people in need, and stimulate greater investment in human capital—helping individual and families better care for themselves. Phil has been part of many state and local planning groups addressing school/community partnerships, maternal and child health, homelessness, mental health care, family support and preservation, child abuse prevention, long term care, and other issues. In recent years he has focused much of his attention on early childhood education and school readiness; he served as resource staff for the Governor’s Task Force on Early Childhood Education in 2000, and continues to help support the new Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness. The Community Service Council established the Metropolitan Human Services Commission, a partnership which has coordinated policy and resource planning among the major health and human services funders and decision makers in the Tulsa area since 1981. MHSC is a key part of the broader Tulsa infrastructure, including the Council, the United Way, and several highly progressive service organizations, that helps assure a proactive and effective capacity in addressing emerging needs. Phil's "The Perfect Storm" analysis of eight major converging trends has shaped community planning in Oklahoma and nationally. A founding member and past President of NAPC, he consults regionally and nationally on community planning addressing health, education and human service concerns. He has a B.A. degree in political science from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and an M.A. in Urban Studies and Community Development from the University of Tulsa.

Denise M. Groesbeck
Executive Director,
Health & Human Services Coordinating Council for Pinellas County (HHSCC)

Denise M. Groesbeck is the Executive Director of the Health & Human Services Coordinating Council for Pinellas County (HHSCC). The HHSCC works with funders and providers across the community to develop a human service system for citizens that provides seamless, high-quality care based on the best use of available resources. Its structure, comprised of a Policy Board, an Administrative Forum, and four Leadership Networks (Homeless, Health and Behavioral Health, Low-Income Housing, and Disaster Recovery), is designed to engage a broad array of stakeholders in its work. Ms. Groesbeck has over 30 years experience in the field of human services, holding leadership positions in federal, state, county and non-profit organizations. She is a registered Occupational Therapist having earned her bachelor’s degree at Tufts University. She has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the State University of New York and Master’s in Social Work from the University of Minnesota.

Kate Hanley has served as Executive Director of the Tempe Community Council (TCC) for 14 years. TCC serves as the City of Tempe's human services planning and administration department. TCC's most important role is to work with residents to build a healthy, engaged, philanthropic community. TCC works with 50 plus agencies to provide the network of services Tempeans need to live, work and play, today. The Tempe Community Foundation provides support to current programs and will insure the resources needed for the next generation of Tempeans. Kate's educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Family Policy from the University of Arizona, a Master's in Public Administration from Arizona State University (ASU), as well as certification from ASU's Center for Non Profit Management and Kellogg School of Philanthropy. Kate's expertise in program development, implementation, grant writing and evaluation has earned her a 25 year role with the Department of Health and Human Services as a Grant Reviewer and Program Evaluator for Maternal and Child Health initiatives. Though Kate is originally from New York City, she considers Arizona her family home. Like many progressive Arizonans, Kate finds herself compelled to fight the mistreatment of residents targeted due to inhumane immigration polices and practices that place Arizona in the news, at the epicenter of immigration debate and hopefully, responsible reform.

Candace King
Executive Director,
DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform

Villa Park, Illinois

Candace King has served as Executive Director of the DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform since its inception in 1995. The Federation’s work focuses on development of an effective and efficient health and human service system. It is the convener, facilitator and collaboration manager of several important systems change initiatives. Ms. King’s background includes program development and administrative experience in a variety of human services programs in three states, including administration of advocacy and family support programs serving people with disabilities, low income and at risk families, and the elderly. She serves on the Boards of the DuPage Health Coalition, United Way of the DuPage West Cook Area, and the National Association of Planning Councils. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Arts from Barat College.

Suzanne Puryear
President,
The Planning Council

Norfolk, Virginia

Suzanne Puryear is the President of The Planning Council, a regional nonprofit organization that has been planning, developing and managing human services programs for over 60 years. She has over 30 years of experience in program development, service delivery and system redesign in the human services arena, and has worked on the state and local levels and in the public and private sectors. As the Director of Human Services for the City of Norfolk, Suzanne led an urban public agency through major public policy reforms. Upon leaving the public sector, she served as an administrator for a private provider agency, developing customized child welfare and mental health services for states and municipalities. Later, as Executive Vice President of Synapse Consulting, she assisted nonprofit organizations and local government agencies in strategic planning and organizational development. Suzanne holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration from Old Dominion University. She is an alumnus of the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia and the CIVIC Leadership Institute.

Vanessa Sarria
Executive Director,
Community Action Network (CAN)

Austin, Texas

Vanessa Sarria has served as the Executive Director of the Community Action Network (CAN) in Austin, Texas since March 1, 2007. CAN is a collaboration of governmental agencies and public/private organizations working to improve the social, health, educational and economic well-being of the community. CAN enhances awareness of issues, strengthens partnerships, connects planning efforts, supports collaborative strategies to maximize resources and impact, and mobilizes action by reporting on progress made to improve the community’s well-being. Ms. Sarria serves in an advisory capacity to a broad range of organizations and coalitions working to collaboratively enhance equity and opportunity in Austin/Travis County and improve community conditions represented on the CAN Dashboard (http://www.cancommunitydashboard.org/). This wide-range of issues include education, public health, homelessness, affordable housing, behavioral health, health access, unemployment, civic engagement, criminal justice, transportation, air quality, land use, and other quality of life issues affecting the community, especially low-income and other vulnerable populations. Prior to her work with CAN, Ms. Sarria served as a career center manager for Workforce Solutions - Capital Area, workforce development coordinator for the City of Austin, planner for Austin/Travis County Integral Care, policy analyst for the National Public Health and Hospital Institute, and consultant to the National Association of Public Hospitals in Washington, DC. Ms. Sarria received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas in 1989 and subsequently a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in health policy from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, New York, in 1992.

Linda Terry
Executive Director, Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries
Vice President, Social Planning Network of Ontario

Cambridge, Ontario - Canada

Linda Terry, a resident of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, since 1988, immigrated from the U.S., and lived in Chester, England from 1995 to 1998. She is currently the Executive Director of the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. Linda contributes her skills of facilitation and community development to many planning groups in Waterloo Region. Over the past six years, she has focused her work on poverty reduction, including chairing the Cambridge Poverty Roundtable, affordable housing, older adults and new immigrants. Linda has recently been appointed to the Waterloo Region Local Immigration Partnership Council. She has also been actively involved in the provincial poverty reduction strategy through her work with the Social Planning Network of Ontario. Linda has served on many community boards, both local and provincial, including the Cambridge Self Help Food Bank and Planned Parenthood of Waterloo Region; she is currently a member of the board of the Cambridge Shelter Corporation. She has worked previously since moving to Ontario, with Community Living Ontario and the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy. She is a graduate from Boston College (B.A.) and Columbia University (M.A.).

Tracy Viselli is the Community Manager of ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement project focused on community problem-solving in Alexandria, VA. She has worked on several projects focused on increasing civic engagement through technology, including the award-winning TwitterVoteReport, and is the co-founder of TweetProgress and the Nevada Interactive Media Summit. She also has a decade of experience in higher education in technology management and strategic planning and assessment. She has a M.A. in Teaching Writing and Literature from George Mason University.

Ben Warner
Deputy Director,
Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. (JCCI)

Jacksonville, Florida

Ben Warner is the Deputy Director for Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI). Before joining JCCI in 1998, Ben worked in the mental health field and with homelessness issues, for which he was awarded the Michael R. Wilson Social Justice Award in 1997. At JCCI, Ben has staffed community-based public policy studies and advocacy efforts. In addition, he is responsible for JCCI’s annual Quality of Life Progress Report and Race Relations Progress Report. He has served as president of the National Association of Planning Councils and the Community Indicators Consortium. Ben completed his undergraduate studies in Sociology at Brigham Young University. He received his Masters in Social Work from Florida State University.

Suzanne Puryear President, The Planning Council Norfolk, Virginia

Suzanne Puryear
President,
The Planning Council

Norfolk, Virginia