Bill Abolt is a vice president at Aecom Technology Corporation, where he focuses on energy, sustainability, cities and infrastructure. Prior to joining AECOM, he was a vice president at Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. He developed and led its Sustainability, Energy and Carbon Management National Practice and directed consulting projects for clients including Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy, Sustainable Chicago 2015 and the Lincoln Park Zoo Nature Boardwalk. Before Shaw, Abolt served as Environment Commissioner, Director of the Office of Budget and Management and Chief of Management, Office of the Mayor, for the City of Chicago, where he was responsible for developing Chicago's strategy to become one of the greenest cities in the United States. Abolt has over 30 years of experience managing complex energy, environmental and public issues and programs. He is a member of the Green Ribbon Committee of the Chicago Climate Action Plan; the Midwest Advisory Council of the Natural Resources Defense Council; the Civic Consulting Alliance Leadership Council; the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, Neighborhood and Placed-based Assets Strategy Team and a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. He has developed and taught graduate courses on subjects including public budgeting, energy and climate policy, urban sustainability, intergovernmental management and capital and development finance. He received his MPA from Northern Illinois University.
Jessica Ashley is a content strategist, award-winning author, and certified coach.
She earned a BA in Journalism from Truman State University and an MA in Women Studies and Speech Communication from Oregon State University. Jessica’s thesis examines the heirlooms matriarchs pass down to their daughters, and the oral history these possessions preserve, and was the first-ever documentary accepted as a thesis into the school library. She served as an instructor of women studies at Oregon State University and gender studies at Western Oregon University. Jessica launched a national feminist zine when that was a radical act of communication, was a founding editor at Yahoo's first women's site, contributed to many major digital publications from Forbes to Scary Mommy, appeared as a guest expert on morning shows across the country, and served as a panelist on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday Life Class on single motherhood.
Jessica is the founder and voice of Single Mom Nation online community and its sister podcast, and helps women thrive through transition at Divorce Coach for Moms. She is the author of three independent divorce and self-care guides, and a forthcoming publication with Rockridge Press. She responds to both Jessica and Ashley.
Kevin Budelmann is the president and co-founder of Peopledesign, a design strategy firm based in Michigan. Kevin oversees the firm’s strategic direction and helps manage client relationships as designer, strategist and change catalyst. Budelmann has been a designer at Herman Miller Inc, served as the president of APDF (Association of Professional Design Firms) and AIGA West Michigan (Professional Association for Design) and is on the board of IxDA (Interaction Design Association). His co-authored book, Brand Identity Essentials (Rockport 2010) has been translated into six languages and is available worldwide. He received a Master of Design Methods from IIT Institute of Design and is a frequent speaker and guest blogger on brand and design innovation.
Carlos Faerron Guzman
Currently teaching:
Planetary Health: Health in the Anthropocene
Dr. Faerron is currently an Associate Professor of Global Health at the University of Maryland Baltimore, Graduate School. He is also the Director of the Centro Interamericano para la Salud Global (CISG) in Costa Rica and acts as the Associate Director of the Planetary Health Alliance at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Faerron follows a framework of equity in health and human rights as guiding principles and firmly believes in progress in health through community empowerment, action/research, and participatory education. Dr. Faerron holds adjunct positions at the School of Medicine/Universidad de Costa Rica, the School of Professional Studies/Northwestern University, and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Dr. Faerron began his career as a primary care doctor in a rural area of Costa Rica, where he worked closely with migrant and indigenous populations. His work seeks to redefine the meaning of leadership in global health through innovative educational approaches. Dr. Faerron follows a framework of equity in health and human rights as guiding principles and firmly believes in progress in health through community empowerment, action/research, and participatory education.
William Lester
William Lester is the MPPA faculty director and a scholar of political science, public policy, and public administration. His interests include leadership and ethics, public administration, disaster response, public organization theory, public personnel, and American politics. He has published in Public Administration Review and The Public Manager, among other journals and book chapters, and is on the editorial board of Public Voices. He has a recently published book in the American Society for Public Administration Series entitled Transforming Disaster Response: Federalism and Leadership. Lester was named a 1999 Civitas Scholar and was also a 2009 participant in Minnowbrook III. Lester was named a Fulbright scholar (2013), teaching and researching at The National Research University-Higher School of Economis in Moscow. He received his MPA and PhD from Texas Tech University with specializations in public administration, American politics, and political theory.
Jeffrey Ryan
Jeffrey R. Ryan, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Jacksonville State University Dr. Jeff Ryan is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with an extensive background in disaster response, preventive medicine, epidemiology, clinical trials, and diagnostics development. Dr. Ryan has authored more than 45 scientific, peer-reviewed journal articles. In addition, he has authored five textbooks on various subjects in emergency preparedness and response. During his tenure at Jacksonville State University, Dr. Ryan served as Professor and Head of the Department of Emergency Management. Dr. Ryan is a recipient of the U.S. Army’s Legion of Merit and was awarded the U.S. Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Medal for leading the Army’s preventive medicine efforts in Hurricane Andrew relief.