Public Policy Forum - March 23, 2019

9:30 a.m.

Registration and Coffee

KINSC, Zubrow Commons

9:45 a.m.

Opening Remarks

KINSC, Zubrow Commons

10:00–11:15 a.m.

PANEL SESSION 1 (Choose one)

Housing Policy
Hilles 109

Moderator: Steve McGovern, Associate Professor of Political Science, Haverford College
Panelists:

• Emily Camp-Landis '92, Director of Supportive Housing Clearinghouse, City of Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services
• Caitlin Hutchison '06, Assistant Director at Arlington County Department of Human Services
• John Kromer '71, Planning and Development Consultant/Author/Lecturer

Law and Justice
Sharpless Auditorium

Moderator: Tom Donahue, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Haverford College
Panelists:

• Mark Burgmann '09, Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney's Office
• Jesse Littlewood '03, National Campaigns and Digital Director, Common Cause
• Greg Reed '06, Litigation Associate, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

11:20 a.m.–12:35 p.m.

PANEL SESSION 2 (Choose one)

Renewable Energy
Hilles 109

Moderator: Helen White, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Studies, Haverford College
Panelists:

• Jay Carlis '99, Executive Vice President, Community Energy, Inc.
• Craig Rodine '79, Director, Standards, ChargePoint, Inc.
• Joel Stettenheim '88, President, Norwich Solar Technologies

Health Policy
Sharpless Auditorium

Moderator: Anne Montgomery, Visiting Assistant Professor of Health Studies, Haverford College
Panelists:

• Christen Fornadel '04, Technical Coordinator, Innovative Vector Control Consortium
• Ingrid Walker-Descartes '95, Vice Chair of Education-Department of Pediatrics, Maimonides Children's Hospital of Brooklyn

12:40–1:55 p.m.

Lunch

KINSC, Zubrow Commons

12:40–1:55 p.m.

Poster Session

KINSC, Zubrow Commons

2:00–3:15 p.m.

PANEL SESSION 3 (Choose one)

K-12 Education
Hilles 109

Moderator: Zachary Oberfield, Associate Professor of Political Science, Haverford College
Panelists:

• Scott Sargrad '04, Vice President for K-12 Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, DC
• Avi Wolfman-Arent '10, Philadelphia Education Reporter, WHYY

Global Security and Peacemaking
Sharpless Auditorium

Moderator: Eric Hartman, Executive Director, Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, Haverford College
Panelists:

• John Parachini '82, Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation
• Michael Shipler '99, Associate Vice President, Strategy and Program Quality at Search for Common Ground

3:20–4:25 p.m.

Keynote Conversation with David P. Hackett '76, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP

Moderator: Anne Marie Baldonado '94

David P. Hackett is the North American Practice Group Coordinator for the Banking, Finance and Major Projects Group and a member of the Executive Committee at Baker and McKenzie LLP. Mr. Hackett practices in the environmental and climate change field, where he has been repeatedly recognized for his expertise. Previously, Mr. Hackett was a trial attorney with the Environmental Enforcement Section of the US Department of Justice where he received a Special Achievement Award.

Mr. Hackett will be interviewed by Ann Marie Baldonado, Senior Producer with WNYC Studios. Her successes in radio and TV include 2 decades as a producer NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, where she was also a contributing interviewer. She spent time as a reporter/producer for WHYY in Philadelphia, and as a Talent Producer at Comedy Central. She has also consulted for shows at BuzzFeed News, NPR, and Gimlet.

Sharpless Auditorium

4:30–5:30 p.m.

Networking Reception

Wine and cheese will be available.

KINSC, Rotunda

Mark Burgmann '09

At Haverford, Burgmann majored in English and minored in Sociology, ran on the cross country and track teams, and was involved with a bunch of student organizations, most notably FAB. After Haverford and before law school, he was a special education and English teacher at South Philadelphia High School where he taught from 2009 to 2012. Burgmann earned his Master of Education and Teaching Certification at Holy Family University while teaching.

Burgmann is a 2015 graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law. During his time at Temple Law, he interned at Philadelphia Legal Assistance in the Consumer Housing Unit as well as the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the Education Law Center, the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project, the DA’s Office, and First Judicial District’s Office for Civil Filings. Burgmann was also executive editor of the Temple International and Comparative Law Journal and director of advocacy for the School Discipline Advocacy Service. He also earned a certification in trial advocacy. For his first 3 years at the Philly DAO, Burgmann was a trial division attorney. Burgmann individually handled cases at all trial levels moving his way up from summary traffic citations to jury trials for Attempted Murder.

As of Nov. 2018, Burgmann is assigned to the Law Division in the Post Conviction Relief Act Unit where he reviews defense petitions, writes responding motions, and conducts hearings on issues ranging from ineffective assistance of counsel to newly discovered evidence and DNA testing. He is also involved with the Alumni Board of Trustees for his high school, Roman Catholic H.S., volunteers with Back On My Feet, team South Philly, and the Spina Bifida Assoc. of the Delaware Valley.

Emily Camp-Landis '92

Emily’s focus has been the same since the start of her public service career: to increase access and availability of affordable housing for vulnerable populations. She began in 1996 by working on Philadelphia’s first city-wide application for federal homeless funding as a housing analyst in the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development. This source continues to fund every facet of the community’s response to homelessness and Philadelphia’s annual award now exceeds $30 million. In 2007 she was asked by Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services to assist in creating a permanent housing strategic plan for people with behavioral health challenges. The results include programs which continue to support over 300 households annually, over 500 since inception. Currently she and her staff at the Office of Homeless Services connect Philadelphians experiencing homelessness with supportive housing interventions, serving over 800 households every year. She and her staff embrace their agency’s mission to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring, while looking toward ending homelessness. Emily graduated from Haverford College in 1992 and earned her Master’s degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.

Jay Carlis '99

Jay Carlis co-manages solar project and business development for Community Energy Solar in the Eastern US with a focus on origination. He led the execution of Community Energy’s 180MW of PPAs with Amazon Web Services. Jay has been with Community Energy for over ten years and has over fifteen years’ experience in the clean energy and environmental fields. Jay served two terms as President of the Renewable Energy Markets Association. He has an MBA in Marketing and Sustainable Enterprise from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill and a BA in Sociology from Haverford College.

Christen Fornadel '04

Christen Fornadel, PhD, is an entomologist with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) and Technical Coordinator for IVCC's UNITAID/Global Fund-funded New Nets Project. In her role with IVCC, Christen provides coordination, oversight, and guidance in support of country activities related to the launch, monitoring, and evaluation of novel vector control products. Prior to joining IVCC, Christen was a senior malaria vector control specialist with the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), USAID. At PMI Christen contributed to global strategy and country-level planning for malaria mosquito control, including entomological monitoring, insecticide-resistance management, and implementation of indoor residual spraying and long-lasting insecticide treated nets. Before joining PMI Christen completed her graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her doctoral research focused on the foraging behavior of malaria mosquitoes in rural Zambia. Prior to her graduate work at Hopkins, Christen completed a Fulbright fellowship in Australia, performing laboratory and field studies on a vaccine against the hydatid disease tapeworm. Christen received her BS in molecular biology from Haverford College after completing her undergraduate thesis research on T cell development.

Caitlin Hutchison '06

Caitlin Hutchison has worked for the Arlington County, Virginia Department of Human Services (DHS) since 2009, where she has held a number of positions related to housing and economic wellbeing. As the DHS Assistant Director since 2016, Caitlin has taken a lead role in several recent policy initiatives, including the comprehensive review of Arlington’s Real Estate Tax Relief Program; the coordination of a Countywide Child Care Initiative to improve the access, availability, and quality of child care in Arlington; and the revision of the County’s Family Assistance Center Plan. Caitlin also served as the Acting Housing Assistance Bureau Chief from April - November 2017, and was named one of the Washington, DC region’s “40 under 40” by the Leadership Center for Excellence in 2018. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College, Caitlin holds a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University. Prior to working with DHS, Caitlin was the inaugural Coordinator for the Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee University, and a Program Analyst at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

John Kromer '71

John Kromer is a housing and development consultant who specializes in strategic planning, public agency capacity building, and program and policy development for urban communities and metropolitan regions. As the City of Philadelphia’s Director of Housing (1992-2001), John supervised the expenditure of more than a billion dollars in public investment in support of housing preservation and development activities that improved living conditions for thousands of Philadelphia families.

As a consultant since that time, he has helped design and implement housing and economic development plans for downtowns and neighborhoods in many postindustrial cities. He teaches a popular fall-semester course in “The Politics of Housing and Urban Development” at Penn.

John is the author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Reinvestment Strategies.

Jesse Littlewood '03

Jesse Littlewood has over 15 years’ experience in the intersection of grassroots campaigns, movement building and technology. Jesse has held leadership positions at national advocacy organizations Green Corps, The Public Interest Network and Common Cause. His leadership in the field brought him to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a lecturer, where he designed and taught course titled “Social Change in the Digital Age.” As National Campaigns and Digital Director with Common Cause, a national democracy advocacy group, Jesse built and lead a team that grew the organization’s activist list from 250,000 to over 1 million members and supporters, raised over $7 million online from thousands of small-dollar donors, and mobilized thousands to take online and offline actions that protect and expand democracy.

John Parachini '82

John Parachini is an International/Defense Researcher and the former director of the Intelligence Policy Center at the RAND Corporation. He has led RAND projects on the propensity of terrorists to acquire chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons; foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq; how the U.S. government can capture terrorists' digital information; scenario development for counterterrorism planning; and the danger of terrorists and rogue states acquiring nuclear material expertise from the former Soviet Union. Parachini has testified before both houses of Congress and published articles on terrorism and weapons proliferation in the Washington Quarterly, Arms Control Today, RAND Review, The Nonproliferation Review, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, USA Today, US News & World Report, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday, and International Herald Tribune. Previously, Parachini served as the executive director of the Washington office of the Monterey Institute of International Studies' Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Prior to joining the Monterey Institute, he was a senior associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, where he focused on nonproliferation and arms control issues. Mr. Parachini has taught at Georgetown University, the University of Southern California Washington Policy Center and the City University of New York's Baruch College in the School of Public Affairs. He had short assignments at the U.S. State Department's Operations Center, and the Bureaus of Political-Military Affairs, Intelligence and Research, and Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Mr. Parachini holds a B.A. in philosophy from Haverford College; an M.A. in international relations from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.

Greg Reed '06

Since graduating American University Washington College of Law in 2013, Greg has pursued a career in public interest litigation defending fundamental constitutional rights. At the Institute for Justice, Greg spent five years litigating in both state and federal courts across the nation challenging onerous and anticompetitive laws on behalf of small business owners. Now an associate at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Greg continues his constitutional rights litigation practice in addition to providing pro bono legal assistance for residents of Baltimore's Helping Up Mission, a charitable organization dedicated to helping individuals overcome addiction.

Craig Rodine '79

Craig Rodine is Director, Standards at ChargePoint, Inc. the largest EV charging infrastructure vendor and operator in North America. His work includes advising ChargePoint's policy team on technical and business matters that arise in government deliberations, and sometimes contributing personally as an expert on EV charging standards.

Craig's studies at Haverford were centered in the philosophy of science and mathematics, along with social and political theory. After working as a software developer he earned his Maîtrise de logique mathématique at the University of Paris and did PhD research in the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Cambridge. Consequently, for better or worse he continues to view technology and policy from a social-constructivist and  Latourian perspective.

The electrification of transportation has so far been motivated mainly by the environmental aim of decreasing tailpipe emissions to mitigate air pollution, particularly in densely populated areas. It is also driving transformation or disruption in several major industries, and impacting domains including urban planning, energy distribution, and world trade especially in critical minerals.

Craig is excited and honored to be participating in the CPGC Public Policy Forum, and joining other HC alumni on the Renewable Energy panel.

Scott Sargrad '04

Scott Sargrad is the managing director of K-12 Education Policy at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, Sargrad served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education under then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan, as well as the acting director of the Office of School Turnaround. He joined the Education Department in 2009 as a presidential management fellow in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and also worked as a senior policy adviser in the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. Previously, Sargrad taught mathematics; coached cross country and track and field; and was a special education instructional assistant. He also worked on disability policy and taught English in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Sargrad received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in philosophy from Haverford College and a master’s degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Michael Shipler '99

Michael Shipler serves as Search for Common Ground’s Associate Vice President, Strategy and Program Quality since July 2018. In this role, he leads strategic planning for Search’s multi-country conflict geographies and supports field teams in implementation of high quality programming.

He first joined Search in 2002 as the Children and Youth Program Associate. He went on to become Director of Children and Youth Programs, Director of Programs in Nepal, and Asia Regional Director, overseeing programming in eleven countries and supervised offices in Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste.

In his time at Seach, Michael has initiated a wide range of peacebuilding programs. He established Search’s offices and multi-pronged programming in Nepal, Myanmar, and in Central Asia. Additionally, he founded Search’s Children and Youth Division, which has gone on to play a significant role in creating Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. He co-led a global communications for social change initiative, The Team, which combined the power of storytelling, football (soccer), and television to promote peace and was the co-creator of Madam Prime Minister (Singha Durbar), an innovative political television drama series in Nepal which engages youth in governance and promotes inclusive leadership. He has worked in over 20 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, including some of the most conflict-affected parts of the world, implementing programming ranging from Track II dialogue to security sector reform. While working for Youth for Peace, a youth-led organization in Cambodia, he developed a leadership program supporting young people to avoid violence and contribute to reconciliation in their own communities. He is a former board member of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and the author of The Dancing Country and Other Stories.

Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Michael is holds his MA from Kings College in London.

Joel Stettenheim '88

Joel Stettenheim (class of 1984) is currently President of Norwich Technologies (NT) which is based in White River Junction, VT. NT is clean energy technology company focused on research and development and solar installation. The company’s research and development team works on novel clean energy solutions that include concentrating solar power and the efficient integration of distributed energy resources, such as solar, onto the US electrical grid. As a solar installer, the company is one of the largest in Vermont and New Hampshire doing systems for schools, towns, and businesses. Prior to NT, Joel received a PhD in device physics/materials research from Dartmouth College. Joel’s research, which was published in Nature, was focused on the quantum mechanical behavior of nanoscale electrical-mechanical devices. Prior to Dartmouth, Joel practiced patent law at Testa, Hurwitz, and Thibeault in Boston, having received his JD from Stanford Law School. Prior to law school, Joel worked for several years as a documentary photojournalist doing stories in the US, the Middle East, and Africa.

Ingrid Walker-Descartes '95

Ingrid Walker-Descartes, MD, MPH, MBA- Dr. Walker-Descartes obtained her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology & Immunology at Haverford College, Pennsylvania in May 1995. After Haverford, she took a brief hiatus to prepare for medical school while teaching science to at-risk students in the alternative high school system in New York City public school system. After a year she successfully matriculated to the University Of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry where she obtained her Doctorate in Medicine. Upon graduating from medical school, she then did a residency in Pediatrics at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. Upon completing her residency, she pursued further training to complete a HRSA-funded fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics and Child Abuse at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. As a fellow, she also obtained her also Masters in Public Health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine while obtaining additional clinical training in the care of abused and neglected children. The area of focus later became the board-certified specialty of Child Abuse Pediatrics as of 2013. After fellowship, Dr. Walker-Descartes joined the pediatrics faculty at Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn as a General Pediatrician and a Child Abuse Pediatrician where she has been on faculty for 12 years. She currently serves in the role of Vice Chair of Education, The Clinical Director of Child Maltreatment Services, the Program Director for the Residency Training Program, and the Fellowship Director for the first accredited Child Abuse Fellowship in New York State. Her clinical and administrative oversight plays a significant role in the training of physicians caring for underserved children in Brooklyn. As the Program Director of Pediatrics, she assures that the curriculum implemented to teach the over 60 physician trainees in her charge is culturally-informed and aligned with the needs of the communities that are comprised of majority immigrant families and marginalized populations.

Avi Wolfman-Arent '10

Avi Wolfman-Arent joined WHYY in December 2014. Prior to that he covered nonprofits for the Chronicle of Philanthropy and education technology for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Avi first took a shine to radio at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He earned his undergraduate degree at Haverford College and grew up in the D.C. area. Despite the latter he’s a lifelong Philadelphia sports fan, devoting an unhealthy portion of his conscious thought to the Sixers, Phillies, and Eagles. He lives in South Philadelphia.