Gordon Hintz (MPA ’01) announced he will be running for Winnebago County Executive in 2025. Hintz served Winnebago County for 16 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly (2007-2023), including four years as the assembly minority leader and three years on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. He currently serves as the director for the Wisconsin Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, promoting issues of mutual benefit and concern to both labor and management.
Dominique Williams (MPA ’11) joined the Obama Foundation as director of corporate and foundation relations. Previously, she worked for Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a nonprofit community development organization that supports community development initiatives across the U.S., for over 12 years.
Ken Smith (MPA ’18) was featured in a recent story in OnMilwaukee about St. Hyacinth Catholic Church in Milwaukee. Smith wrote the nomination application for the church to be designated a Milwaukee County Landmark, and the church was formally designated in 2023. He works as an urban planner with the City of Glendale, Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee County.
Ari Brown (MPA ’19) talked with Wisconsin Public Radio about how recent changes to state law – including the shared revenue program – are affecting fire and police department staffing in the City of Milwaukee. Brown works as a senior research associate at the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Lauri Luosta (MIPA ’21) recently presented his paper on The Cross-Border Spillover Effects of Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries on Child Protective Services Reporting and his dissertation work investigating how sports gambling legalization has impacted payday lending use at two different conferences. Luosta is pursuing a PhD in consumer behavior and family economics at the UW–Madison School of Human Ecology.
Will Keenan (MPA ’22) accepted an offer to join the Federal Highway Administration – Wisconsin Division Office as a transportation planner. He previously worked for the Federal Highway Administration – Colorado Division Office as the air quality, climate, and research programs manager.
Amalie Zinn (certificate in public policy ’22) co-wrote an op-ed with Linna Zhu on their recent research on the relationship between homeownership and inheritance. In the article, they discuss the role of housing policy in reducing racial wealth disparities that are reproduced across generations. She presented her work at the Association for Public Policy & Management’s 2024 fall research conference. Zinn is a research analyst at the Urban Institute
Mark Moralez (MPA ’23) was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Fellowship, a four-year national fellowship program that trains doctoral students to become leaders in their respective fields, with a focus on advancing health equity policy. Moralez is currently pursuing a PhD in educational leadership and policy analysis at UW–Madison.
John O’Malley (MIPA ’23) was featured in a recent story by the UW–Madison UniverCity Alliance about a new Homestead Credit Incentive program in Adams County. A report that O’Malley created while completing his internship at La Follette went on to inspire the new incentive, which helps workers in the county buy houses and supports construction of new homes.
Gabriel Stowe Terrell (MPA ’23) will join Yale’s Clean and Equitable Energy Development certificate program in January. The certificate is an online cohort program that equips participants to develop and evaluate clean energy projects that deliver tangible financial, social, and environmental benefits to local communities. Terrell is a senior management consultant, climate and infrastructure practice at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Sarah Nehls (certificate in public policy ’24) recently presented her working paper titled “Political Surrogacy in a Ubiquitous Age: Biden and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Campaign” as a part of a discussion panel at the National Communication Association’s annual convention in New Orleans.
Kao Lee Yang (MPA ’24) is one of the recipients of the annual Outstanding Women of Color Awards, which are awarded by the Universities of Wisconsin and were announced at UW–Madison’s November Diversity Forum. Yang is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience through the Neuroscience and Public Policy combined degree program.