Meet the Judges

Get helpful feedback from experts selected for their knowledge and expertise.

Evaluation Panel

Evaluation Panel members will score and provide feedback on the applications assigned to them using the scoring rubric, and each valid application will receive five sets of reviews that have been statistically normalized. Informed by the resulting rank order of applications after Evaluation Panel review, up to five Finalists will be named. 

Gbenga Ajilore

Senior Economist, American Progress

Randy Albelda

Professor & Senior Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts Boston

Randall Akee

Associate Professor of Public Policy, American Indian Studies, UCLA

Karina Ayala-Bermejo

President & CEO, Instituto del Progreso Latino

M. V. Lee Badgett

Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Megan Bang

Senior Vice President, Spencer Foundation

Tim Bartik

Senior Economist, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Lisa Bates

Associate Professor, Portland State University

Scott Bernstein

Founder, Center for Neighborhood Technology

Marianne Bertrand

Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Andrew Beideman

Program Officer, Pritzker Traubert Foundation

Matt Blakely

Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability, Reinsurance Group of America

Sarah Bohn

Director of Research & Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

Thomas Boston

Professor Emertius of Economics & International Affairs, Georgia Tech

William Bradford

Endowed Professor of Business & Economic Development, Professor of Finance & Business Economics, University of Washington

​Jyothsna Buddharaju

Senior Director, Special Initiatives, Boston University

William Buster

Executive Vice President, Community Investments, St. David's Foundation

Geoffrey Canada

President, Harlem Children's Zone

​Elizabeth U. Cascio

Associate Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College

Karen Chapple

Professor & Chair of City & Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley

Eric Chatman

Executive Vice President & CFO, Housing Partnership Network

Larry Chavis

Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School

Jacqueline Chun

Chief Programs & Operations Officer, The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation

Sam Cobbs

President, Tipping Point Community

Celia Cole

CEO, Feeding Texas

Harin Contractor

Director of Workforce Policy, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies

Salvador Contreras

Associate Professor of Economics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Reid Cramer

Director, Asset Building Program, New America

​Sheldon H. Danziger

President, Russell Sage Foundation

Florence Davis

President, The Starr Foundation

Mekaelia Davis

Director, Inclusive Economies Surdna Foundation

Melany De La Cruz-Viesca

Associate Director, Asian American Studies Center, UCLA

David Dodson

President, MDC

Patricia Donahue

Policy Fellow, George Mason University

Andrew Dunckelman

Head of Education & Economic Opportunity, Google.org

​Gerard D’Souza

Dean, College of Agriculture & Human Sciences, Prairie View A&M University

Pat Eng

President & Chief Executive Officer, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy

William Evans

Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Ellie Forman

Vice President, Corporate Community Relations, Mesirow Financial

Jesscia Fulton

Economic Policy Director, The Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies

Jose Garcia

Program Officer, Ford Foundation

Ellen Gardner

Senior Program Officer, Opportunity Youth, Schultz Family Foundation

Gilbert Gee

Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Dreama Gentry

Executive Director, Partners for Education, Berea College

Bob Giloth

Vice President, Center for Economic Opportunity, Annie E. Casey Foundation

Michael Goldberg

Vice President and Executive Director, Heartland Housing, Heartland Alliance

Susan Gooden

Interim Dean, School of Government, Virginia Commonwealth University

Christopher Grandy

Retired Professor, University of Hawaii (Manoa)

Rodney Green

Professor of Urban Economics, Howard University

Bob Greenstein

Founder & President, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities

Francia Harrington

Philanthropic Advisor, Margot & Tom Pritzker Family Foundation

Raquel Hatter

Managing Director, Human Services Program, The Kresge Foundation

​Hilary Hoynes

Professor of Economics & Public Policy, University of California Berkeley

Catherine Ipsen

Assoc. Director, Rural Institute on Inclusive Communities; Director, Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities, University of Montana

Jay Jaffe

President, Actuarial Enterprises, Ltd.

Sly James

Co-Founder, Wickham James Strategies & Solutions

Reginald Jones

President & CEO, Jacobs Family Foundation & the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation

Ianna Kachoris

Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, Chicago Community Trust

Jessica Kaczmarek

Senior Program Officer, The James Irvine Foundation

Lela Klein

Co-founder & Executive Director, CO-OP Dayton

Rachel Korberg

Program Officer, Ford Foundation

Haydar Kurban

Director, Howard University Center on Race and Wealth

Gina Jackson

Program Director, Native Americans in Philanthropy

Ronald A. Johnson

Fmr. President, Clark Atlanta University

Susan Lambert

Associate Professor University of Chicago

Renée Landers

Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School

Henry Lanier

Board Member, Westport, MA Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Anne Lebleu

Principal, BDT & Company

Susan Lloyd

President Lloyd Consulting, Inc.

Ruth Lopez Turley

Professor, Department of Sociology, Rice University

Fernando Lozano

Professor of Economics, Pomona College

Odetta Macleish-White

Managing Director, TransFormation Alliance

Dwayne Marshall

Vice President, Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga

Annalisa Mastri

Senior Researcher, Mathematica

Aparna Mathur

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Angie Maxwell

Director, Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics & Society, University of Arkansas

Demetria McCain

President, Inclusive Communities Project

Patrick McCarthy

Fmr. President & CEO, Annie E. Casey Foundation

Bonnie McDonald

President & Chief Executive Officer, Landmarks Illinois

Karen Minkel

Home Regional Program Director, Walton Family Foundation

Fernando Montejo

Assistant Vice President for Emerging Technology Initiatives , New York City Economic Development Corporation

Tulaine Montgomery

Managing Partner, New Profit

Jennifer Ng'andu

Managing Director, Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Al Osborne

Senior Associate Dean & Professor of Global Economics, UCLA

Deborah Padgett

Professor, New York University

Nisha G. Patel

Senior Fellow, Social Policy Institute, Washington University in St. Louis; Creative Catalyst, Powered by Shakti

Lizz Pawlson

Senior Director, Portfolio Strategy & Management, Blue Meridan

​James Peoples

Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Maria Socorro Pesqueira

President, Healthy Communities Foundation

Howard Pickett

Associate Professor of Ethics and Poverty Studies, Washington & Lee University

​Daniela Pineda

Vice President, Integration & Learning Division, First 5 LA

Andrea Plaza

Executive Director, Encuentro

Dwight Poler

Senior Advisor; former Head of Europe, Bain Capital

Ryan Priester

Program Officer, Chicago Commitment, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Zeenat Rahman

Director of the Inclusive America Project, Aspen Institute

Lynette Rawlings

Founder & CEO, The Policy Academies

Craig Richardson

Founding Director, Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, Winston-Salem State University

Bob Reid

CEO, JF Maddox Foundation

Bill Rodgers

Professor of Public Policy & Chief Economist, Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University

Art D. Rodriguez

Vice President & Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid, Carleton College

Chrystina Russell

Executive Director, Global Education Movement, Southern New Hampshire University

Stephanie Russo Carroll

Assistant Professor, University of Arizona

​Kelly Suzanne Saulsberry

Director of Policy & Outreach, City of Chicago

​Rachel Schneider

Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Aspen Institute

Eldar Shafir

Professor of Behavioral Science & Public Policy, Princeton University

Trina Shanks

Director of Community Engagement, University of Michigan

Thomas Shapiro

Director, Institute on Assets & Social Policy, Brandeis University

Lateefah Simon

President, Akonadi Foundation

Anne-Marie Slaughter

CEO, New America

Michael Smith

Director, Youth Opportunity Programs & Executive Director, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, Obama Foundation

Deborah Smolover

Managing Partner, New Profit

Brenda Solorzano

Headwaters Foundation

Laura Staley

Senior Officer, Gates Foundation

Michael Stoll

Professor of Public Policy, UCLA

James Sullivan

Gilbert F. Schaefer College Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

​Anne Stuhldreher

Director, Financial Justice Project, County of San Francisco

Emilia DiMenco

President & Chief Executive Officer, Women's Business Development Center

David Takeuchi

Professor & Associate Dean for Faculty Excellence, University of Washington

Mark Turner

Founder and CEO, Optimal Solutions Group

Ajoy Vase

Program Manager, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Jennifer Warlick

Associate Professor of Economics & Public Policy, University of Notre Dame

Jennifer Wei

Organizational Effectiveness Officer, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

Michelle Weise

Senior Vice President of Workforce Strategies, Strada Education Network

Rachel Welborn

Associate Director, Southern Rural Development Center

Harry Williams

President & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund

​Claudia Withers

COO, Civil Rights Corps

​​Gay Young

Vice President, Donor Services, The New York Community Trust

James Ziliak

Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics, University of Kentucky

Andrea Zopp

President & CEO, World Business Chicago

Selection Committee

In partnership with Lever for Change, the Selection Committee will review the top-scoring submissions and select up to five Finalists based on considerations that may include, but are not limited to, rank order, organizational capacity, geographic diversity, and feasibility. The donor will make final determination of the Finalists and Winner of the Economic Opportunity Challenge. 

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