INTERIOR PAGE

ECONOMICS

J. Scott Moody is an economics adjunct scholar with the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. Scott has worked as a Tax Policy Economist for over 12 years. He is the author, co-author and editor of over 100 studies and books. He has testified twice before the House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress. He has been interviewed by countless newspapers and radio and television stations. His work has appeared in Forbes, CNN Money, State Tax Notes, The New York Sun, Portland Press Herald, Hartford Courant, The Oklahoman and Albuquerque Journal. Mr. Moody is currently on the Board of Directors of The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER, formerly ACCRA) and on the editorial board of the Journal for Applied Research in Economic Development co-published by the University of Southern Mississippi and C2ER.

LEGAL

Will Wray is a legal scholar with the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. Will practices trial and appellate litigation in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Will has a degree in Middle East Studies
from Brown University, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Brown Spectator. He now litigates at Donoghue Barrett & Singal. Prior to joining that firm, Will was an associate at Brown Rudnick LLP, where he represented clients in state and federal court. Will has interned with both the Honorable William E. Smith, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, and the Honorable Paul A. Suttell, Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Will is the President of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Federalist Society.

EDUCATION

Gertrude F. Jones serves as an educational community outreach adviser for the Center. An innovative state leader who is recognized and celebrated as a businesswoman and community champion,
Gertrude has led and advocated for educational reform, financial operations, diversity initiatives, community organizing, business development, and marketing for many different organizations throughout the state of Rhode Island, while partnering with others nationwide. Following her post as Vice President of Community Relations of Lifespan, Rhode Island’s top health system comprised of four hospitals, Jones has continued to serve on many boards and commissions, including the United Way of Rhode Island, Johnson and Wales Corporation, Dorcas Place International Institute, Opportunity Industrialization Center of Rhode Island, Roger Williams Day Care Center, The National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Rhode Island Chapter (former President), and the RI Advisory Committee of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

While serving as a member of the Providence School Board, Jones was chosen by the Commissioner of Education to represent RI as part of a team of Rhode Island officials to explore innovative educational practices in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Subsequently, she was elected as President of the Providence School Board, forming strong community support from the business, political, and educational sectors of Rhode Island. Jones’s passion for educational reform and child advocacy are hallmark characteristics of her strong leadership and unwavering commitment to equality and excellence. She continues to be involved in many community groups studying issues on education, civil rights, healthcare disparities, etc. Jones has held positions in the financial field including the former Old Stone Bank, Citizens Bank, Metropolitan Insurance Company and Brown University. Jones received her B.S. degree in Business Management from Johnson and Wales University. She currently resides in Rhode Island with her husband and is the proud mother of three daughters.

Dr. Matthew Ladner is an education scholar with the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for Educational Choice and the Goldwater Institute and is the Senior Advisor of Policy and Research for the Foundation for Excellence in Education and previously served as director of state projects at the Alliance for School Choice. Ladner has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform and coauthored the Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress and Reform for the American Legislative Exchange Council. Ladner has testified before Congress, the United States Commission of Civil Rights and numerous state legislative committees.

HEALTHCARE

Sean Parnell is president of Impact Policy Management (IPM), a Washington, DC-area full-service public policy firm, and manages political advocacy projects for free market and limited government causes.  He currently operates the web site www.TheSelfPayPatient.com and is the author of the soon-to-be-released book The Self-Pay Patient. Before founding IPM he was president of the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on defending the First Amendment. Prior to joining IPM Parnell was Vice President of External Affairs at The Heartland Institute.

Gary Alexander was former Secretary of the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and more recently served as Secretary of Public Weflare in Pennsylvania. Gary is the architect of the landmark RI Medicaid “block grant” waiver. Alexander formerly served as policy director for RI’s Lieutenant Gover and as a healthcare budget analyst for the Massachusetts Senate Comittee on Ways and Means.

SPECIAL 2011 PENSION TASK FORCE

Rich Danker: Project Director for Economics at American Principles Project, Danker manages initiatives on public employee pension reform and monetary policy. He presented and won approval for model pension reform legislation at the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization of nearly 2,000 state legislators. His work on pension issues has appeared in Investors Business Daily, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Washington Examiner, among others. He is a columnist with Forbes Opinions. Danker has a master’s degree in public policy and business administration from the Pepperdine School of Public Policy and Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Eileen Norcross: a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Norcross is lead researcher on the State and Local Policy Project. Her work focuses on the question of how societies sustain prosperity and the role civil society plays in supporting economic resiliency. Her primary research interests include fiscal federalism and institutions, state and local governments, and economic development.

Bob Williams: President of State Budget Solutions, a non-partisan organization advocating for fundamental reform and REAL solutions to the state budget crises. Bob is a former state legislator, gubernatorial candidate and official with the General Accountability Office. Bob is a national expert in fiscal and tax policies, election reform and disaster preparedness. Because of his unique experience and expertise, Bob is a frequent guest on talk radio and at public forums. His commentary on state budget solutions appears frequently in newspapers, journals and online publications.

Williams is the Founder and Senior Fellow of the Freedom Foundation, a public policy organization in Olympia, Washington, dedicated to the advancement of individual liberty. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University. Bob worked as a GAO auditor of the Pentagon and Post Office before moving to Washington state where he served five terms in the Washington state legislature and was the 1988 Republican nominee for governor. He is a former certified public accountant. Currently Bob is the private sector chair of the ALEC Tax & Fiscal Policy Task Force.

Jonathan Williams: director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Prior to joining ALEC, Williams served as staff economist at the non-partisan Tax Foundation, authoring numerous tax policy studies. His work has been featured in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes and Investor’s Business Daily. With Dr. Arthur Laffer and Steve Moore, Williams co-authored Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer Economic Competitiveness Index. He has been a contributing author to the Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report and has written for the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In addition, Williams is a contributing author of “In Defense of Capitalism” (Northwood University Press, 2010).

In addition to testifying before numerous legislative bodies across the US, Williams is a frequent guest on talk radio shows and has appeared on numerous television outlets, including the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Fox Business News. Williams graduated magna cum laude from Northwood University in Midland, Mich., majoring in economics, banking/finance, and business management. While at Northwood, he was the recipient of the prestigious Ludwig von Mises Award in Economics.

Jagadeesh Gokhale: a Cato senior fellow, Mr. Gokhale is currently a member of the Social Security Advisory Board. He is recognized internationally as an expert on entitlement reform, labor productivity and compensation, U.S. fiscal policy and the impact of fiscal policy on future generations. He works with Cato’s Project on Social Security Choice to develop reforms for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Gokhale served in 2002 as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Treasury and in 2003 as a visiting scholar with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He was the senior economic adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1990 to 2003. Gokhale holds a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University.