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2001 Rappaport Public Policy Interns
2001 marked the first class of Rappaport
Public Policy Interns. Ten interns
represented four different schools
- Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
School of Public Health, Suffolk
Sawyer School of Management and the
Boston University School of Management.
They worked in state and local agencies
covering health care, finance and
management, education and urban development.
The Rappaport Institute was represented
both at the State House in Representative
Kay Khan's office and at Boston City
Hall in Boston City Councilor Paul
Scapiccio's office.
 Merrell Aspin
Graduate Degree: Harvard, School
of Public Health
Undergraduate Degree: Vanderbilt
Areas of Interest: Public health
Mentor: Patricia McGovern,
Vice President, CareGroup at Beth
Israel
Deaconness
Medical Center
Public Policy Placement: Managed
Care System, Massachusetts Division
of Medical Assistance
Project Description: Merrell
worked as an intern with the Massachusetts
Division of Medical Assistance
in the Managed Care Program,
where
she researched
contracting issues for the Division's
strategic planning process for
their upcoming contracting process.
 Paul Carney
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: Stanford
Areas of Interest: Community and
economic development
Mentor: Susan Tracy, The Strategy
Group
Public Policy Placement: Massachusetts
Housing Finance Agency
Project Description: Paul interned
at the Massachusetts Housing Finance
Agency where he underwrote loans for
the Massachusetts Affordable Housing
Trust Fund. The state legislature created
the Trust Fund to provide funding for
affordable housing projects throughout
the state. The Fund receives $20 million
a year, $14.5 million of which is administered
by MassHousing. Fiscal Year 2001, which
ended July 1, 2001, was the first year
of the Trust. Paul worked with Andrew
Winter, the development officer who
runs the trust, to process the applications
for Trust funding. This involved underwriting
the projects and evaluating the quality
of the proposed projects. Paul then
presented the projects to the Selection
Committee, which was responsible for
approving the projects. In total he
worked on 14 projects and the Trust
Fund met its goal of committing all
of its funds by the end of the fiscal
year. In addition to underwriting projects,
he also worked with Andrew to improve
the processing and recording of projects
for the second year of the Trust. This
included the creation of a database
for all of the projects submitted.
Current Whereabouts: Paul is currently
working in San Francisco as an Associate
for Devine & Gong, Inc., which is
an affordable housing finance consulting
firm that works with nonprofit and
for-profit clients to structure and
obtain financing
for the development and preservation
of affordable housing around the
country.
 Luz
Cázares
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: University
of Chicago
Areas of Interest: Education
Mentor: Ira Jackson
Public Policy Placement: Budget Office,
City of Boston
Project Description: Luz worked at
the City of Boston's Budget Office.
Current Whereabouts: After graduating
from the Kennedy School of Government,
Luz participated in the Rappaport
Institute for Greater Boston's year
long fellowship
program, which is no longer accepting
candidates. She worked
at the Massachusetts Department of
Education's Department of Early Learning
Services
as the Supervisor of Fiscal Management.
After moving to San Francisco in
2004, Luz is now the Director of
Fiscal Services for the Alameda Unified
School District. While she enjoyed
her time at the Massachusetts Department
of Education, she always desired
to work at the local level and is
thrilled to be working in the Alameda
Unified School District.
 Iliana Georgieva
Graduate Degree: Boston University,
School of Management
Undergraduate Degree: St. Michael's
College
Areas of Interest: Economic development
Mentor: Marcia Lamb, Initiative for
a Competitive Inner City
Public Policy Placement: Economic
Development Office, City of Brookline
Project Description: Iliana researched
and provided recommendations on public
policies that will enhance Brookline's
efforts in supporting small businesses
in its commercial areas.
Current Whereabouts: She graduated
in Dec 2002 from BU's Graduate School
of Management and is currently working
as a Project Manager at Marsha M. Morris & Associates,
International, an organizational development
and research consulting practice serving
the non-profit and public sector.
 Rachel P. Klein
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: Univeristy
of Michigan
Areas of Interest: Education and
poverty issues
Mentor: Christopher Gabrielli, Massachusetts
2020
Public Policy Placement: Boston Public
Schools
Project Description and Rappaport
Review Article: Rachel worked at the
Boston Public Schools. She had two distinct
projects that centered on teacher recruitment
and training. First, She worked for
the Director and Associate Director
of Human Resources to develop a plan
for substitute teacher recruitment,
selection, training and retention. Although
BPS only filled about 60% of their need
for substitutes on any given school
day, there was no formal plan for increasing
the pool of subs, the quality of subs,
or the quality of life for substitute
teachers. She helped BPS think about
all of these factors, and wrote an action
plan that was approved and launched
as the Substitute Teacher Initiative
in August, 2001. Her second project
was to help the Teaching and Learning
group think about alternative certification
programs for new teachers. Boston faces
a teacher shortage, as do most school
districts around the country, and has
begun to think about ways to increase
the pool of incoming teachers. Many
school districts, including many large
urban districts, have implemented alternative
certification programs to train and
certify new entrants to the teaching
profession more rapidly than do traditional
teacher education programs.
Current Whereabouts: After graduating
from the Kennedy School of Government,
Rachel moved back to Chicago. She
is now the Director of Evaluation and
Summer
Programming for After School Matters,
a nonprofit organization sponsored
by the City of Chicago, the Chicago
Public
Schools, the Chicago Park District
and the Chicago Public Library that
runs
after school programs for high school
kids (www.afterschoolmatters.org).
 Josh Rubin
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: University
of Chicago
Areas of Interest: Mental health
issues
Mentor: Jerry Rappaport, Rappaport
Charitable Foundation
Public Policy Placement: Office of
State Representative Kay Khan
Project Description: Josh worked
for State Representative Kay Khan. He
focused on several issues relating to
mental health issues.
Current Whereabouts: Josh is currently the Chief Policy Officer for Mental Hygiene at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for the City of New York.
 Laura Siegel
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: Yale University
Areas of Interest: Housing, urban
development, transportation
Mentor: Sam Bass Warner, MIT
Public Policy Placement: Boston Redevelopment
Authority
Project Description and research
links: Laura served her internship
with Rebecca Barnes, Chief Planner
of the
Boston Redevelopment Authority. Laura
also wrote a chapter on the environment
for the 2002 edition of Governing
Greater Boston: The Politics and
Policy of Place. Laura is now Senior
Policy Associate for Business and
Professional People for the Public
Interest (BPI) in Chicago, IL. BPI is
one of the nation's foremost public
interest
law and policy centersand is dedicated
to equal justice and to enhancing
the quality
and equity
of life for all
people living in the Chicago region.
BPI's policy agenda focuses on transforming
segregated public housing, revitalizing
economically disadvantaged communities,
improving public education, and increasing
the supply of affordable housing.
 Derek Sousa
Graduate Degree: Suffolk, Sawyer
School of Management
Undergraduate Degree: University
of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
Areas of Interest: Economic development
Mentor: Charles Baker, CEO, Harvard
Pilgrim Health Center
Public Policy Placement: Executive
Office of Administration and Finance
Project Description: Derek worked
at the Executive Office of Administration
and Finance
 Elizabeth Spinney
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: University
of Maryland
Areas of Interest: Youth issues
Mentor: Tom Keane, columnist for
the Boston Herald
Public Policy Placement: Office of
Boston City Councilor Paul Scapicchio.
Project Description: Elizabeth worked
for Boston City Councilor Paul Scapicchio.
Current Whereabouts: She is currently
working for the Massachusetts Executive
Office of Public Safety. She is a
Disproportionate Minority Contact
Reduction Specialist,
whose role is to analyze minority
overrepresentation in the juvenile
justice system and coordinate
plans to reduce it. Prior to her
position with the Executive Office
of Public Safety, Liz worked at the
Kennedy School of Government.
 Hallie Torrell
Graduate Degree: Harvard, Kennedy
School of Government
Undergraduate Degree: State University
of New York - Fredonia
Areas of Interest: Women's and children's
health and welfare
Mentor: Elaine Ullian, President
of the Boston Medical Center
Public Policy Placement: Boston Public
Health Commission.
Project Description: Hallie worked
at the Boston Public Health Commission.
Current Whereabouts: After graduating
from the Kennedy School of Government,
Hallie worked as a senior
policy analyst for the state
of Massachusetts. In 2004 she moved
to Philadelphia, PA and is now working
in Philadelphia City Hall as the
Deputy Budget Director in the Office
of Budget and Program Evaluation.
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