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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