"Speaking Truth to Power"
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Alumni Services
GSPP Alumni Association Board of Directors - Biographies
Jeff Abramson |
Jeff Abramson went to the Goldman school to change careers and now works daily on the topics addressed in his IPA (small arms trafficking) and APA (nuclear weapons), which makes for a good story. He is deputy director of the Arms Control Association (ACA), a national nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies, and writes for the organization's magazine Arms Control Today, as well as other publications. He also co-chairs the security and development workgroup for the Washington chapter of the Society for International Development. He and his wife live in the “Berkeley of Washington DC,” namely the nuclear-free-zone of Takoma Park, with their recently arrived daughter and two-year-old beagle. Chair, 2008-2009 Committee: Alumni Activities Term: 2007-2010 |
Hector Cardenas |
While he was still in the PhD program, he started The Ergo Group, a policy and technology consulting firm that specializes in bringing the digital age to government agencies and thus helping them to do more and better things for more and more people. He has worked at The Ergo Group since 2000 on projects with the Mexican federal government and with state and local governments in the US. He is the president of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Mexico Talent Network and serves on the California Business Advisory Board of Nacional Financiera (Mexico’s development bank). He is coming back to GSPP in the Spring of 2009 to teach a course on US-Mexico relations. He, his wife and two daughters still live in the Berkeley Hills. Committee: Student Services Term: 2008-2011 |
Stuart Drown |
Stuart Drown has been back in the policy analysis arena full time since May 2006, when he joined The Little Hoover Commission as executive director. The commission focuses on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of California state programs. Previously, he worked as a daily journalist for two decades, both as a reporter and editor. Beats included the oil industry, the Treasuries and related derivatives markets. the business of health care and the rubber, steel and auto industries. He ended his journalism period as city editor of the Sacramento Bee. He lives in Davis with his family. Vice-Chair, 2008-2009 Committee: Alumni Activities, Governance and Strategy Term: 2008-2011 |
Beth Faraguna |
Beth is a senior policy analyst with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). She recently finished their two-year rotational program and now works on projects related to financial markets and federal initiatives aimed at increasing the effectiveness of small businesses, state and local governments, and community-based organizations. Beth came to GSPP after working as a budget analyst and grant manager for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, writing grants to the federal government and pharmaceutical companies to conduct HIV/AIDS clinical trials, in the US and abroad. Prior to that, she was a consultant for Andersen and Navigant Consulting, where she worked on a variety of projects, including an environmental assignment, intellectual property case, and a corporate restructuring. She currently lives in San Francisco and enjoys spending time running, hiking, and skiing in Tahoe. Committee: Alumni Activities (Chair) Term: 2008-2011 |
Christian Griffith |
Christian is the Chief Consultant of the Assembly Budget Committee. As Chief Consultant, Mr. Griffith is responsible for crafting the State’s $84.6 billion General Fund budget and directing the Assembly’s budget process. Previously, Mr. Griffith served as the Director of Fiscal and Administrative Services for the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency where he oversaw the administrative functions for the agency. Prior to that position, Mr. Griffith served as a Senior Consultant with the California Assembly Budget Committee for six years, where he staffed a diverse group of issue areas including human services, health, child development, labor, military, and veterans. Mr. Griffith also worked as a Senior Fiscal and Policy Analyst for the San Francisco Department of Human Services. He received his undergraduate degree from the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University and his Masters in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley. Term: 2009-2012 |
Bill Hederman |
Bill Hederman has decades of executive experience in the energy industry and as a senior government official. As an internationally recognized expert in energy technology and policy innovation, he has addressed more than a hundred conferences on five continents, including the World Energy Congresses in Rome (2007) and Sydney (2004) and the World Gas Conference in Amsterdam (2006). He led the International Energy Agency’s gas technology center as its first permanent executive director and keynoted the World Energy Council conference on electric grid reliability in London (2006). He is also widely published in this field. Mr. Hederman gained prominence as the nation’s top energy cop as the founding Director of the Office of Market Oversight and Investigations, a role the chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recruited him to serve after the California and Enron crises began. For his service he was awarded the agency’s highest award, and he and his management team were jointly nominated by the FERC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairs for the prestigious national Service to America award. Prior to FERC, Bill was VP of Strategic Initiatives and Business Development at Columbia Gas Transmission, the largest business unit of a Fortune 100 energy corporation. He is a member of IEEE-USA’s Energy Policy Committee. As a student at GSPP, Bill's advanced policy analysis on energy conservation in residential buildings, performed for a California state agency, was the first policy proposal to recommend compensating utilities for helping customers conserve energy instead of using more energy. This concept has since been implemented in numerous demand-side management programs and now, in rate "decoupling" programs throughout the nation. He earned an MPP degree from GSPP, a BS in electrical engineering from Notre Dame and an MS in electrical engineering from MIT. Committee: Governance and Strategy Term: 2008-2011 |
John Hird |
John is a professor of political science and public policy and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has taught courses on controversies in public policy, American public policy, public policy analysis, and environmental policy. His research interests include policy expertise and advising, the use of information in policymaking, policy analysis, and environmental policy. John has authored and co-authored several books––the most recent was published earlier this year and entitled Controversies in Globalization and Public Policy. John received both his MPP and PhD from GSPP. He also received an MA in Economics from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and a BA in Economics from Dickinson College. Term: 2009-2012 |
Balasubramanian Iyer |
Balasubramanian (Balu) works as Director, Field Operations with the Asia Foundation. He is responsible for ensuring and supporting effective management of country offices and operations in South Asia. Balu previously served as Asia Program Director for the International Development Exchange (IDEX), San Francisco, from 2001-2006 where he oversaw IDEX's operations, programs, and partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Philippines and Nepal. His previous work experience was with the Aga Khan Rural Support Program and ActionAid in India. Balu holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, from the National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India; Post Graduate diploma in Rural Management, Institute of Rural Management, India; and Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley. Term: 2009-2010 |
Deborah Kong |
Deborah is communications director of Preschool California, a statewide nonprofit policy advocacy organization working to increase access to high-quality preschool for all of California's children, starting with those who need it most. Prior to joining Preschool California, she was a journalist for 12 years. Deborah has also acted as a policy analysis and fund raising consultant to foundations and nonprofits. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from GSPP (class of 2007) and a bachelor of arts degree in English with a specialization in Asian American studies from UCLA. Term: 2009-2012 |
Christine Koronides |
[ Photo & Bio Not Available ] Committee: Development Term: 2008-2011 |
James Lerager |
James Lerager, MPP 1998, is a social documentary photographer and photo essayist, and the founder/director of the Documentary Photography & Research Project. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia and Ghana. In 2004/2005, James was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Colombia, and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in 2007. He is currently the photography editor for the international academic journal Latin American Perspectives. He has had some 35 solo exhibitions of his photography, and is currently exhibiting Central America after the Wars at the Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen in San Salvador, El Salvador; the show will travel to Managua, Nicaragua in 2010. James is the author of the book In The Shadow Of The Cloud (Fulcrum Press), and the forthcoming books Nuclear History: Nuclear Destiny, Mexico: Portraits of Complexity, and co-author of Demanding the Land with Paul Dosh. Committee: Governance and Strategy Term: 2007-2010 |
Rob Letzler |
Rob Letzler is interested in designing incentives and other economic interventions for consumers that are compatible with the psychology of individual decision making. He also has interests in energy policy, which helps him blend in with other GSPP alumni in Washington, DC. On the alumni board, he helps recruit regional alumni activities coordinators and coordinate their activities. Committee: Alumni Activities, Student Services Term: 2007-2010 |
Christine Prince |
Christine Prince is a Senior Program Officer at IREX, responsible for program planning, monitoring and evaluation and financial management for a multi-country media assistance program, based in Beirut, Lebanon with programming activities in Algeria, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain in addition to several regional initiatives. We are providing professional development opportunities to independent media in the region, as well as supporting local efforts to improve the regulatory environment for independent media. Prior to joining IREX, she worked as a program officer on a USAID judicial reform program based in Egypt, producing statistical analyses for monitoring & evaluation. I also provided program support for grants in the West Bank and Gaza and Lebanon. Term: 2009-2010 |
Juanito Rus |
Jan "Juanito" Rus IV - Mr. Rus was born in Chiapas, Mexico and grew up
between Southern Mexico and Southern California. He received his BA/BS in
Political Science and Physics from Kenyon College in 1995 and a Masters in
Public Policy from the Goldman School at UC Berkeley in 2005. His work
experience has varied widely between the public and private sectors and
includes stints in local government purchasing and finance departments in
Southern California, state-wide political advocacy and organizing as
Director of Membership and Communications of the California Association
for Bilingual Education, and corporate finance and real-estate development
as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Stein Group in Mallorca, Spain.
He is currently completing his PhD in Public Policy at the Goldman School
at UC Berkeley, and works as an independant consultant for the California
Office of the Treasurer. Committee: Governance and Strategy Term: 2007-2010 |
Renee Willette |
Renée, based in Oakland, CA, has 8 years of political strategy and policy research experience. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Renée joined the staff of the late-Senator Paul Wellstone's re-election campaign where she served in his research department. In 2004, Renée served as the research director for Inez Tenenbaum's United States Senate campaign in South Carolina. Prior to attending Goldman, Renée worked as a political research consultant for EMILY's List's west region office in San Francisco. While at Goldman, Renée worked for the City of Berkeley and the advocacy group, Green For All, on policy analysis projects. She also served as a graduate student instructor for the Department of Political Science and for the Goldman School of Public Policy. Currently, she is consulting for the political strategy group, New Partners. Committee: Governance and Strategy Term: 2009-2012 |
Last Updated: 10/19/2009