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Staff Bios
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Ralph
Martire |
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Ralph Martire is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. Mr. Martire teaches a Master's level class on education finance and fiscal policy for the University of Illinois and Roosevelt University. In February, 2011, he was appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Education Equity and Excellence Commission. He is a distinguished lecturer on public policy for Roosevelt University and has taught fiscal policy seminars for various universities and the International Fulbright Scholar Program. Ralph has received numerous awards for his work on education policy reform, including the 2007 Champion of Freedom Award, presented by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to individuals whose professional work embodies Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, commitment to equal educational opportunities.
Mr. Martire graduated from Indiana University Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in history and received his JD from the University of Michigan. He is married to Mary Kay Martire, and has two children, a son Nicholas, and a daughter Valerie. He coaches Little League baseball, boys basketball and girls soccer.
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RON P. BAIMAN, Ph.D. Director of Budget and Policy Analysis (312) 332-1480
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Ron P. Baiman is the Director of Budget and Policy Analysis at CTBA. Prior to joining CTBA, Ron was a Research Economist for the Illinois Department of Employment Security where he analyzed and reported on state labor market, and state revenue collection, data. Before this he worked as a researcher at Loyola University’s Center for Urban Research and Learning, the Institute of Government and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois, and the Center for Urban Economic Development at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he researched topics such as Wal-Mart’s impact on local economic development, the impact of Illinois minimum wage increases, Chicago Living Wage Ordinances, and exit polls from the 2004 Presidential election. Ron has received research grants from the Russell Sage Foundation and from the Woods Fund of Chicago, and has taught classes on international and regional economics at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Roosevelt University where he was an Assistant Professor of Economics. He has also published papers on regional, public, and international political economics in a number of peer reviewed journals; co-edited a book: Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism that received the Choice award for “Best Academic Title” in 2000; and has served on the Editorial Board of the Review of Radical Political Economics for many years. Ron holds a Ph.D., and an M.A. with Honors, both in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York City, He did graduate work in Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated “very good” (Magna Cum Laude) with a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics from Hebrew University, Israel.
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KATHY MILLER Director of Communications and Development (312) 332-1481
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Kathy Miller
is Director of Communications and Development at CTBA. Kathy’s
career in the nonprofit sector extends from legislation and advocacy
to nonprofit management and fund development. She has been a
consultant on fundraising, governance and communications to local,
state and national nonprofit organizations, including service as an
adviser to NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. Kathy has directed training
programs for the Center for Nonprofit Success and the national
ACLU’s Fund Raising Faculty. She held prior positions as Development
Director of the Evanston Community Foundation, Associate Director of
the ACLU of IL and as national ACLU lobbyist on race and sex
discrimination where she led the successful campaign to amend Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect pregnant workers.
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YERIK KASLOW
Director of Education and
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Yerik Kaslow joined CTBA in 2008 as a Research Associate with prior experience in the areas of education, housing, and community development. He was promoted to Director of Education and General Policy Analysis in June, 2011. Yerik's role now includes guidance and direction on CTBA's data assessment, research project management, and state and federal policy analysis. He will also propose policy positions and take a leadership role in identifying new opportunities to keep CTBA on the cutting edge of current issues.
Prior to joining CTBA, Yerik worked in the mortgage industry for four years, and was most recently employed at the National Opinion Research Center as a research associate, working on projects involving housing finance and assessment of the Federal No Child Left Behind program. He also spent time in New Orleans, working as a community development analyst with Seedco, where he evaluated Hurricane Katrina recovery grant applications, and helped write policy proposals regarding regional recovery work.
Yerik received his Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago in June 2008, focusing on labor markets, workforce development, and empirical methods. While there he served as both vice-president and president of the Harris School student government, and was recognized as part of the Chicago Leadership Fellows program at the Harris School. He was awarded distinction for his thesis, which examined the methods used to assess the effects of immigrants and immigration on the labor market outcomes for native workers. Additionally, he has performed research examining how the acquisition of English helped shape the labor market outcomes of non-native English speakers in the United States. He completed his undergraduate degree at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, studying Literature, History, and German.
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AMANDA KASS Research and
Policy Specialist,
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AMANDA KASS joined CTBA in 2011 as Research and Policy Specialist, Pensions and Local Government. She will head CTBA’s Illinois Retirement Security Initiative (IRSI). Before joining CTBA, Amanda completed an MA in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her master’s thesis focused on post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Haiti, which underscored the importance of fiscal policy in ensuring the public sector has the capacity to deliver crucial services. Before graduate school, she was a Geographic Information Systems Analyst for Stantec Consulting Services, an engineering consulting firm in Columbus, OH. Two notable Stantec projects included a City of Columbus, OH sewer and sanitation systems remediation study and mapping for FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. Amanda obtained her BA from Ohio State University where she double-majored in International Studies and Geography.
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JENNIFER R. LOZANO Research Associate
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JENNIFER LOZANO joined CTBA as a Research Associate after receiving her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At UNC, she worked closely with the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity on North Carolina’s Earned Income Tax Credits. Jen interned at the North Carolina Attorney General’s office and the North Carolina State Board of Education. She also worked with the North Carolina Access to Justice Commission to create legislation on mandatory pro bono work for lawyers in North Carolina. She was selected to be the Region VI President for the student division of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Jen was also a member of the International Moot Court Client Counseling Team. She has also served on the fundraising committee of the non-profit organization, Girls on the Run of the Triangle. Before attending law school, she received her bachelor’s degree in both Communication Studies and Sociology from Northwestern University. She is a life-long Chicagoan, having grown up in the Portage Park neighborhood and attended Lane Tech. |
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TRACY A. SCHONBERGER Administrative
Director
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TRACY SCHONBERGER is the Administrative Director at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, with over fifteen years of administration and management experience. Tracy has been on staff at CTBA since its inception in 1999, and provides overall day-to-day operational, financial and administrative management for CTBA. Prior to joining CTBA, she was a legal secretary during which time she worked with Ralph Martire. Tracy’s time in the legal sector provided her with tremendous organizational and computer skills that have equipped her with the expertise necessary to meet the time sensitive nature of CTBA's work.
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