RUST BELT RISING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Development
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Carolyn Grisko, since 1995, CEO of Grisko LLC, a full-service communications agency supporting public policy initiatives on behalf of government, nonprofit and corporate clients. Prior to starting the agency, Carolyn worked in the Richard M. Daley administration and in public radio.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Owner of Connolly 's Quality Caretaking, Property Management and Landscaping, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Deputy Director, Chicago Mayor 's Office of Legislative Council
Claudia Chavez, Deputy Director, Chicago Mayor's Office of Legislative Council and Government Affairs team (LCGA). Staffer at Chicago for Rahm in 2015 and Obama for America in 2012 in Colorado.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Contributing Reporter Fox News, Former Senior Editor / Columnist Chicago Magazine, Executive Vice President Edelman, Chicago 2002 - Present
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Special Projects Director, Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. Illinois State Director, Hillary for America, Campaign Manager, Sean Casten for Congress
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- President of Macomb Community
James Jacobs, President of Macomb Community College 2008-2017, Senior Advisor to Ralph C. Wilson Foundation 2017-present, formerly President of the National Council for Workforce Education.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Director of the Michigan Economic Center, past President Michigan State Board
John Austin, Director of the Michigan Economic Center, Past President Michigan State Board of Education, creator of Great Lakes Economic Initiative for the Brookings Institute.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Chair and Treasurer, Rhodes Scholar, Partner at Mayer
John Gearen, Board Chair and Treasurer, Rhodes Scholar, Partner at Mayer Brown LLP Chicago, former Board Chair of IES Study Abroad and Link Unlimited, current Chair, The Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Editor of the Point Magazine
- Formerly Writer
Jon Baskin, Editor of The Point magazine, University of Chicago, 2008-present, formerly Writer for the Center for American Progress, PhD from University of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- Member of the Advisory Board
Kaitlin Fahey, Chief of Staff, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Campaign Manager for Tammy for Illinois and Tammy Duckworth for Congress, Special Assistant to the Director at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Founder and Board Member of Plymouth Intergenerational Center in Plymouth
Martha Laning, founder and board member of Plymouth Intergenerational Center in Plymouth, Wisconsin, 2009-2013, candidate for Wisconsin State Senate's 9th District, Chair of the State Democratic Party of Wisconsin, June 2015 to present.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Principal, MJC Consulting, a Boutique Political Consultancy Specializing in First - Time Candidates
Matt Cain, principal, MJC Consulting, a boutique political consultancy specializing in first-time candidates.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Chairman, Attorney at Mayer Brown, Former Staffer in the Chicago Mayor 's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Illinois General Assembly
Michael J. Howlett, chair, attorney at Mayer Brown, former staffer in the Chicago Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Illinois General Assembly.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Director of Digital Marketing With Obama for America
Nathaniel Lubin, Director of Digital Marketing with Obama for America 2011-2012, Digital Director of the Inaugural Committee & Director of Digital Strategy at the White House 2015, Founder, Lubin Strategies LLC 2015 to present.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Governor
Paul Kendrick, Executive Director, Governor JB Pritzker's 2018 campaign. Wisconsin Youth Vote Director for President Obama and Senator Tammy Baldwin's 2012 campaign. Opportunity Nation. Obama White House. Co-author of Douglass and Lincoln.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Ohio State Representative
Rep. Kent Smith, third term Ohio State Representative serving Ohio's 8th House District. Master's Degree in Urban Studies from Cleveland State where he also did Ph.D. studies in Economic Development. Rep. Smith has been the elected head of the Democratic Party in Euclid, Ohio since 2006 and prior to his service in the Ohio House, Rep. Smith was a 12-year member of the Euclid School Board. Rep. Smith has been a Resident Economic Expert for Rust Belt Rising since 2019. He was a 2018 graduate of the Rising program.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Director of Business
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief of Staff, Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, 1996 - 2008, State 's Attorney of Cook County Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Secretary, Executive Director, Shriver National Poverty Law Center
Rita McLennon, Board Secretary, Executive Director, Shriver National Poverty Law Center, 1993-2007, Chief Operating Officer, Better Government Association, 2010-2012, Previously Director of Development for the Merit School of Music.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Honorary Chair, Rhodes Scholar
Senator Bill Bradley, Honorary Chair, Rhodes Scholar, US Senator from New Jersey 1979-97, a sponsor of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, candidate for US President 2000, Managing Director Allen & Company December 2000 to present.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Chief Operating Officer, Chicago City Clerk 's Office. Campaign Manager, Bustos for Congress, 2016
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Deputy Director, When We All Vote, Development Director, Organizing for Action, Deputy Marketing Director, Presidential Inaugural Committee, 2013
Job Titles:
- Member of the Auxiliary Board
- Legislative and Political Director for Local 881 United Food and Commercial Workers. Senior Advisor and Campaign Manager to State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, 2013 - 2015