President

Patria de Lancer Julnes

Rosenthal Endowed Professor of Public Administration and Director of the School of Public Administration
University of New Mexico
Two-year term expires in Spring 2025; not able to run for re-election

Patria de Lancer Julnes is an internationally recognized scholar and consultant in performance measurement, government capacity building and citizen-driven governance. She brings more than 25 years of experience in public administration, having consulted with government agencies and nonprofits in the United States and abroad to develop effective performance management systems that improve outcomes and serve the public interest. She also has authored or co-authored several books, along with award-winning articles in major journals, including “Promoting the Utilization of Performance Measures in Public Organizations: An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Adoption and Implementation,” selected as one of the most influential articles in the 75-year history of Public Administration Review. She has contributed to ASPA as a life member who has served on the ASPA National Council and in numerous leadership roles, including co-chairing the Center for Accountability and Performance and, most recently, chairing its Ethics and Standards Implementation Committee and Audit Committee.

De Lancer Julnes has worked with governments and universities in Latin America and Europe to improve education in and practice of public administration, building partnerships to improve government capacity, support democratic governance and address the needs of traditionally underserved populations, including helping low-income high school Hispanic students through partnerships with universities, schools, governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations. She has been recognized with awards including Maryland’s 2013 Top 100 Women by The Daily Record; the Officer’s Cross from the government of Spain; Drum Major for Justice Award for civic engagement, IMC, Harrisburg; the Donald C. Stone Service to ASPA Award; the Julia J. Henderson International Service Award from ASPA's Section for Women in Public Administration; and is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (2019).

President-Elect

John Bartle

Dean, College of Public Affairs and Community Service, and Professor of Public Administration
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Two-year term expires in Spring 2025; will serve as ASPA president Spring 2025 - Spring 2027

John Bartle is dean of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service, and a professor of public administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and serves as treasurer. He received two major awards from ASPA Sections: the Aaron Wildavsky Award for lifetime achievement in budgeting and financial management, and the Truitt-Felbinger Award for significant contributions to the field of transportation policy and administration. He has co-authored or edited four books: Innovative Infrastructure Finance: A Guide for State and Local Governments, Management Policies in Local Government Finance, Sustainable Development for Public Administration<, and Evolving Theories of Public Budgeting. He has published 70 articles and book chapters in both academic and practitioner outlets. He has worked with the Nebraska legislature to provide policy advice for more than 10 years. His bachelor’s degree is from Swarthmore College, his MPA is from the University of Texas, his Ph.D. is from The Ohio State University and he has an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the State University of New York in 2016. He worked in city and state government in Minnesota and for state and national nonprofit research organizations on tax policy issues.

Executive Director

William P. Shields, Jr.

Executive Director
American Society for Public Administration

Bill Shields became Executive Director of the American Society for Public Administration, the largest and most prominent professional association for public administration, in January 2014. During his tenure, he has significantly broadened the Society’s professional development programming, strengthened its 60 local chapters and 30 subject matter sections, revitalized its operations and enhanced the quality of its communications. He has recommitted the Society to its core mission of advancing excellence in public service and made considerable inroads in partnering with like-minded organizations on a wide range of activities.

Shields brings to his position more than 15 years of executive and management experience in the nonprofit sector, most recently as Vice President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the nation's leading public policy organization dedicated to ensuring that people with the lowest incomes have affordable and decent homes. In this role, he was responsible for the organization’s operational, financial, membership and outreach functions.

For more than a decade, Shields held senior management and research positions at the National Academy of Public Administration, a congressionally chartered organization established to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient and accountable organizations. As Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Communications, he worked extensively with the Academy’s elected Fellows, the nation’s top leaders in the practice and study of public administration. He served on research teams studying organization and management issues at the U.S. Departments of Defense, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation. He edited more than 50 Academy panel reports on issues ranging from federal compensation issues to FBI reorganization.

Shields served as Director at the Chief Executives Organization, a nonprofit organization of 2,000 chief executives around the world, and in the Executive Office of the Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. He earned his MA in government and BA in journalism from American University, where he has been an Adjunct Professor since 2000. In 2015, he received the School of Public Affairs’ Award for Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Position. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the governing board of NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement. He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC.

District Representatives

District I

Electoral District I includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont
Click here to view the District Map

Michael J. Ahn

Assistant Professor, Public Policy and Public Affairs
University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; term limited.

Michael Ahn is associate professor of public policy and public affairs at McCormack Graduate School, University of Massachusetts—Boston. His research explores technological innovations in government such as e-government, smart cities and artificial intelligence in the public sector, and identifies organizational and institutional factors that facilitate impactful information technology innovations in government. He has published in journals such as Public Administration Review, American Review of Public Administration and Government Information Quarterly, and is a co-author of the Routledge Handbook on Information Technology in Government.

Ahn served as president of Northeast Conference on Public Administration, ASPA's Massachusetts Chapter and Chair of ASPA's Section on Science and Technology in Government. He is an editorial board member for several journals including American Review of Public Administration, Public Organization Review, International Journal of Public Administration and International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age. He holds a Master of Public Administration and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizens and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

Maria D'Agostino

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Public Management
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Three-year term expires in Spring 2024; term limited.

Maria J. D’Agostino is currently chair and associate professor in the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. She has been an active member of the American Society of Public Administration since 2004, when she was a doctoral student, and is a former Section on Women in Public Administration board member, and NY Metro ASPA Chapter President, 2005-2006. She also served as a NECoPA Trustee.
 
D’Agostino has published widely in the areas of citizen engagement and public service. Her recent research has focused on women in public service including two co-edited books, Governing in A Global World (Forthcoming 2017) and Women and Public Administration: Theory and Practice. She recently collaborated as a guest editor for the Women and Public Administration symposium published in Administration and Society, and published A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Difference Women Make. She is a recipient of the Section for Women in Public Administration's Rita Mae Kelly Distinguished Research Award. She is also the co-founder of Women in the Public Sector at John Jay College and recipient of the Faculty Mid-Career Research Award. Dr. D’Agostino received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University—Newark and her Master’s from Padova University Italy.

Malcolm Oliver

Dean
John S. Watson School of Public Service, Thomas Edison State University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2025; eligible to run for re-election

Malcolm K. Oliver serves as dean for the John S. Watson School of Public Service at Thomas Edison State University. The Watson School serves more than 400 adult learners in masters, bachelors and associate degree programs delivered online and designed to support practitioners in the public and nonprofit sectors. He served as associate dean for Excelsior College’s School of Graduate Studies, which enrolls more than 2,000 nontraditional learners in seven online master’s degree programs. He also has served as director for Master of Public Policy and Administration programs at California Lutheran University, National Louis University and The College of New Rochelle. Prior to higher education, Oliver served public agencies in California and Texas as a city planner, where the importance of educating the community about governmental operations and regulations became a passion that led to his career in higher education. As an adult educator, he uses andragogical techniques to provide public and nonprofit sector professionals with an academic experience that has immediate application to the job. He completed his doctorate in public and urban administration from the University of Texas at Arlington, his MPA from California State Polytechnic University Pomona and, most recently, a Master of Science in Instructional Technology from the New York Institute of Technology.

District II

Electoral District II includes: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and West Virginia.
Click here to view the District Map.

Marlon Brown

Chief Administrative Officer
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; eligible to run for re-election

Marlon Brown is a public administration professional dedicated to improving the lives of others through public service. He has extensive experience in state and local government and works for the State of Michigan as chief administrative officer for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to this role, he served in positions at the Michigan State Budget Office, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Supreme Court and the Delaware Senate. Brown also is a former city councilmember and mayor pro tem for the City of Mason, Michigan (2013-2020). He continues to support communities throughout the state as a member of the board of directors for the Michigan Municipal League Foundation. He earned a BA from American University, an MPA from the University of Delaware and a DPA from Valdosta State University. He has been a member of ASPA since 2009 and serves on the executive committee for the Section on Public Performance and Management, as well as the board of directors for ASPA's Michigan Capital Area Chapter.

Diane Disney

Professor and Dean of Commonwealth College
Penn State University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2024; term limited.

A lifelong public servant, Diane Disney has worked at multiple levels for entities as diverse as the U.S. Department of Defense, the Urban Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Project and Penn State. She has successfully managed a 12-campus college, advised a governor on human resource and economic development issues, crafted legislative language to help Defense workers affected by budget cuts and developed housing for low-income, single-parent families.  Her ability to generate collaboration across economic sectors and levels of government is exemplary. Disney has been a tenured management professor at Pennsylvania State University (where she has also been dean and chancellor) and the University of Rhode Island (where she headed the Research Center in Business and Economics), as well as a management consultant to numerous state and federal departments. Internationally she has worked with governments of Slovenia, Croatia, Chile and others to design executive development programs for civil servants to promote civilian control of the military.

Being a board or committee member for more than 40 nonprofits has made her aware of the importance of strengthening Chapters and Sections to foster sound working relationships and networks within ASPA.  Her ASPA service has included membership on selection committees for the Founders’ Fellows and the Elmer B. Staats Lifetime Achievement Award. A member of the Central Pennsylvania chapter, she has been a conference session chair for NECoPA and most recently has served on the Governance Task Force, which has recommended updates to the organization’s bylaws. She has also accepted a three-year term on PAR’s Board of Editors.

A longtime fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, she has served two terms on its board, most recently as chair. She has also received the George Graham Award for outstanding service to the Academy.  Her education includes degrees from Duke (MAT), URI (MBA) and Brandeis (Ph.D).

Thomas Stanton

Adjunct Faculty
Center for Advanced Governmental Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2025; eligible to run for re-election

Thomas Stanton is an attorney who has dedicated his career to strengthening government programs, policies and organizations, including agencies in the Departments of Agriculture, Education and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Small Business Administration, OMB, GAO and CBO. He is a former federal senior executive and former president of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM), dedicated to improving government risk management. At AFERM, he partnered with ASPA to host a Washington, DC-based forum on public sector enterprise risk management. In 2018, AFERM awarded him its Hall of Fame Award. He is an ASPA Life Member.

Stanton is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), served on its board of directors and., for many years, as chair of the NAPA Panel on Executive Organization and Management. He serves on the steering committee of NAPA’s Panel on Social Equity in Governance. In 2017, NAPA awarded him its George Graham Award for Exceptional Service to the Academy. He served as lead staff member on governance and risk management for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. He teaches on the adjunct faculty at the Center for Advanced Governmental Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He also teaches a course at the Yale Alumni College based on his newest book, American Race Relations and the Legacy of British Colonialism.

His published books on finance include Why Some Firms Thrive While Others Fail: Governance and Management Lessons from the Crisis; and A State of Risk: Will Government-Sponsored Enterprises Be the Next Financial Crisis?, which helped lead to the creation of a financial regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He has written extensively for Public Administration Review and other journals. Earlier in his career, NACo awarded him its Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the intergovernmental partnership.

District III

Electoral District III includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Click here to view the District Map

Terry Murphy

Procurement and Contracting Oversight
Miami-Dade County
Three-year term expires in Spring 2025; eligible to run for re-election

Terry Murphy is serving on the board of his local ASPA Chapter as the membership chair. He has been active with his Chapter for the past 20 years and is a past president of the Chapter. He works in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), overseeing procurement and contracting across all departments of the county government. He has been certified as an inspector/evaluator by the Association of Inspectors General. He considers his current employment as a capstone position, following 25 years of service as a political and policy advisor to several elected county officials.

An enthusiastic advocate for the public sector, he always encourages talented students to pursue a purposeful life of public service. He is an adjunct professor in the political science department at the University of Miami.

Ronald Sanders

President and CEO
Publica Virtu
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; eligible to run for re-election

A fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and decorated, 20+-year member of the U.S. federal government’s Senior Executive Service (SES), Ron Sanders is president and CEO of Publica Virtù, a small consulting business dedicated to helping public servants develop smart strategies for their agencies and themselves. Until October 2020, he served as the presidentially appointed chair of the Federal Salary Council. In addition, he served as a career federal civil servant for almost 40 years, most recently as the U.S. intelligence community’s first associate director of national intelligence for human capital (2005-2010) where, among other honors, he earned one of Harvard University’s Innovations in American Government awards and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. As a career-reserved member of the SES, he also served as the first associate director for strategic HR policy with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (2002 to 2005); the Internal Revenue Service’s first chief human resources officer (1998 to 2002); the Defense Department’s director of civilian personnel and founding director of the Defense Civilian Personnel Service (1991 to 1998); and deputy director of civilian personnel for the Department of the Air Force (1989 to 1991). He has co-authored or edited five books, including two published by the Brookings Institution and one by NAPA, as well as numerous articles and monographs in both academic and professional outlets. Sanders earned his DPA from George Washington University.

Miriam Singer

President and Chief Executive Officer
Jewish Community Services of South Florida
Three-year term expires in Spring 2024; not running for re-election.

Miriam Singer, as president and CEO of Jewish Community Services (JCS), is responsible for managing a human services agency providing care for those in need of life-sustaining safety net services. She is a Florida-certified negotiator, certified public procurement officer and holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She has served as a site reviewer for NASPAA since 2016 and is a member of Florida International University’s MPA Advisory Board. Her leadership includes 35 years in Miami-Dade County government, where she began her career as a social worker. She has broad experience in direct delivery, management and operations for human and business services, and has developed and implemented justice and community-based programs serving dual diagnosis (mental health and drug dependent) clients, victims of domestic violence and gang-involved youth.

Singer is known for her dedication to public service and mentoring dozens of practitioners who have continued their service at the state and national levels. She served as the County of Santa Clara, California’s first chief procurement officer (2018-2019), where she restructured the countywide procurement and contracting function, including the transition of more than 400 contracts for two newly acquired hospitals. With an annual budget of $28 million and a staff of 192 personnel, JCS provides more than 40 programs that benefit residents throughout Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. She has held volunteer board governance positions in professional and community organizations, including the Supreme Court of Florida’s Commission on Fairness, Founding Chair; NIGP—The Institute for Governmental Purchasing, Board Member; U.S. Communities Advisory Board, Board Member; California Association of Public Purchasing Officials, Board Member; Coalition of Hispanic American Women, President; and South Florida Water Management District, Board Member. She holds a BA and MPA from the University of Miami.

District IV

Electoral District IV includes: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Click here to view the District Map.

Thomas Becker

Instructor, Paralegal & Business Programs
Des Moines Area Community College
Term expires in Spring 2025; eligible to run for re-election.

Thomas Becker has had three public service careers and has remained active in public service since his retirement in 2019. In 2020, he became president of ASPA's Iowa Chapter. He became a member of ASPA’s National Council representing District 4 in 2023. He is a recipient of ASPA’s National Public Service Award in 2019. He was commissioned as an Air Force officer in 1974, as a distinguished graduate of Air Force ROTC, and designated a judge advocate in 1977 after graduation from the Washburn University School of Law and admission to the Kansas bar. He served 22 years in the Air Force and retired in the grade of colonel in 1999 to accept then-Governor Tom Vilsack’s appointment as state public defender for the State of Iowa, supervising 20 public defender offices and contracting with more than 800 private attorneys to provide indigent defense services. After Vilsack left office, Becker took on new duties as an administrative law judge for the state until returning to the Air Force in a civilian capacity as academic director of the Air Force JAG School. He was responsible for all curriculum oversight, continued approval of the JAG School’s paralegal courses by the American Bar Association, attorney faculty training and development and coordination of the JAG School’s outside teaching responsibilities. He also taught classes in constitutional law, administrative law, legal ethics and government ethics to Air Force attorneys and senior leaders. After retiring from the civil service, he returned to Iowa and began teaching in the paralegal and business programs at Des Moines Area Community College. Becker has served as adjunct faculty at five law schools, regular instructor in trial advocacy programs put on by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and guest speaker in many legal training programs. He conducts online training webinars for criminal defense attorneys through the state public defender’s office and is a volunteer attorney for the Iowa Legal Aid Volunteer Lawyer Project. In 1996, Becker received an advanced degree in constitutional and criminal law from the George Washington University School of Law. He is an active member in good standing of the bars of the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the State of Iowa and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Merlene-Patrice Bourdeau-Quispe

President's Postdoctoral Fellow
Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; eligible to run for re-election

Merlene-Patrice Bourdeau-Quispe is a president’s postdoctoral fellow in the leadership and management area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Her research interests include examining truth and integrity in budgets, especially at the state, county and municipal levels; examining the performance of local governments in execution of their budgets; and furthering the research in performance budgeting by examining if adherence to best practices as recommended by budgetary institutions does, in fact, lead to desired outcomes expressed by citizens. Her work experience includes serving in multiple fiscal positions at the municipal level. She also has worked internationally as a microfinance expert for USAID and the United Nations in multiple countries including the United States, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Peru, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Kenya. Quispe earned her Ph.D. in public affairs from Florida International University. She holds a master’s degree from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from York College.

Ana-Maria Dimand

Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration
School of Public Service, Boise State University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2024; not running for re-election

Ana-Maria Dimand recently completed her Ph.D. in public affairs and a graduate certificate in public finance, procurement and contract management at Florida International University, Miami. Prior to her graduate studies, she served as a legal advisor for a central government organization in Bucharest, Romania, specializing in public procurement. Her research focuses on public management, government contracting, environmental policy, sustainability, innovation and collaborative governance.

District V

Electoral District V includes: Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah
Click here to view the District Map

Galia Cohen

Assistant Professor and Director, Division of Public Administration School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies
Tarleton State University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2025; term-limited.

Galia Cohen specializes in organizational development and human resource management and has more than 10 years of experience in teaching, training and consulting in the public sector. She conducts leadership development workshops and training programs for government employees across the United States. Her training topics include negotiation and conflict management, employee engagement, ethical use of power, effective communication and public speaking and more. She is an affiliated faculty member with the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) in Plano, Texas; the Law Enforcement Executive Program (LEEP) in Raleigh, North Carolina; and the USC Price Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) in Los Angeles, California. She serves on multiple advisory boards including the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) and the Richardson (Texas) Police Department Training Academy. She also is the book review editor for the premier journal in public administration, Public Administration Review (PAR). She holds a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Texas at Dallas and her BA and MA in organizational sociology from Bar-¬Ilan University, Israel. She has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and her research interests include law enforcement collaboration, strategic human resource management, organizational culture and public safety administration.

Juliet Lee

Director, Administration and External Relations
University of Southern California, Sol Price School
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; eligible to run for re-election

Juliet Lee is director of administration and external relations for the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy in Sacramento, California. Her role is managing the Master of Public Administration degree program at the Sacramento campus. She has worked for the university in many capacities including program coordinator for executive education programs, policy outreach manager, alumni and advisory board liaison and student services advisor. She has made her career in higher education, guiding students to lead service. She is a part-time adjunct professor teaching organizational behavior and collaborative governance. She sits on the board of directors for Her Health First and has been an active member of ASPA's Sacramento Chapter for the past decade. Lee holds a doctorate in educational leadership, an MPA from University of Southern California and a BA from UCLA.

Aziza Zemrani

Associate Professor
University of Texas—Rio Grande Valley
Three-year term expires in Spring 2024; term limited.

Aziza Zemrani is originally from Morocco, where she was given an excellent undergraduate education for more than a decade. She held jobs in a variety of top level positions including division chief at the Directorate of Executive Training. She also had the great fortune to work on development projects with USAID, including capacity building for Moroccan institutions. Through this association, she had the chance to attend the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) for her Master of Public Administration.  

Because of GSPIA, Zemrani started her academic career in public administration and got her Ph.D. from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. She is now an associate professor and associate chair of public affairs at the University of Texas—Rio Grande Valley, where she is in charge of its online MPA program. Given her international background and involvement in international public administration conferences, her primary research interest is building better relationships in public administration, especially focusing on cultural competency.

Her professional involvement in ASPA has been a remarkable experience. She joined ASPA at GSPIA when she was an MPA student. Since then, she has joined and served on the boards of different Sections and served as President of COMPA, and is currently the chair of SPOD. She has been active internationally as well, with the honor of being a rapporteur for the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (the international equivalent of ASPA).

International Director


Pan Suk Kim

Professor Emeritus of Public Administration
College of Government and Business, Yonsei University
Three-year term expires in Spring 2026; not eligible to run for re-election

Pan Suk Kim was dean of the College of Government and Business and is professor emeritus of public administration in the College of Government and Business at Yonsei University, South Korea. He served as Minister of Personnel Management (MPM) of the Republic of Korea (2017-2018) and a Secretary to the President for Personnel Policy in the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea (2003-2005). He served for ASPA in various capacities including: National Council member; Chair of the Section on Professional and Organizational Development and board member of the Section on International and Comparative Administration. He has (co)authored several books and published more than 200 refereed articles in Korea and overseas. He was a deputy editor of the International Review of Administrative Sciences; the Editor in Chief of the Asian Review of Public Administration; and the Editor in Chief of the International Review of Public Administration and the Korean Policy Studies Review. He currently serves on the editorial boards of major international journals and has received several ASPA awards including the International Public Administration Award, the Donald C. Stone Service to ASPA Award and the Fred Riggs Award. He received his doctoral degree from American University in Washington, DC and was on the faculties of Austin Peay State University in Tennessee and Old Dominion University in Virginia. He has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University; a Visiting Scholar in Residence at American University; and a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and a member of the International Civil Service Commission of the United Nations (ICSC).

Student Representative


Jennifer Martinez-Medina

Doctoral Candidate
Portland State University
One-year term expires in Spring 2024

Jennifer Martinez-Medina is a public affairs and policy doctoral candidate at Portland State University. As a community-engaged scholar, she does relational and comparative research on transnationalism, (im)mobility and political and social rights across borders. Her work seeks to explain how people's everyday expressions of kinship, community care and citizenship are shaped by interlocking identity formations brought on by globalization, immigration, labor and free-market policies. She examines how groups contest conditions of racial inequality and climate change by studying migrant knowledge systems, remittance transactions, grievances and mobilization techniques within and beyond the state through the experiences of farmworkers, immigrant veterans and other diaspora groups. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she combines her background in public policy and administration with perspectives from other disciplines to employ participatory action research as an approach to co-produced inquiry with practical applications that can be mobilized for social change. She utilizes both qualitative and quantitative research methods and experiment with storytelling, art and a variety of advocacy strategies to communicate findings back to communities of impact. She teaches various American and Latin American politics courses and seeks to continue engaging students through my public scholarship.

COMPA Representative

George Amedee

Professor of Political Science
Southern University at New Orleans
One-year appointment expires in Spring 2024

George L. Amedee, professor of political science at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) is the 2023-2024 president of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA). He came to SUNO as director of urban studies in 1973. He also served as director of the Office of Grants, Sponsored Projects, and Faculty Development and held the Emmett W. Bashful Endowed Chair in public policy and leadership. He served as associate professor in the graduate program of public policy and administration at Jackson State University, while also serving as director of the university's Mississippi Center for Technology Transfer. He also was visiting lecturer and adjunct professor in Dillard University’s urban studies and Southern University A & M in public administration. He served as a member and chairman of the New Orleans City Planning Commission after Hurricane Katrina affected the area, overseeing the revision of the city’s master plan, which earned recognition from the American Planning Association. He also was senior transit planner and coordinator with the City of New Orleans mayor’s office of transit administration and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, and transportation and environmental planner for the New Orleans City Planning Commission. His first academic position was as research associate/adjunct instructor with the Transportation Institute of North Carolina A & T State University. He has published articles in Politics and Policy, the Entrepreneurial Policy Journal, the Journal of Urban Education, the Journal of Race, Gender, and Class, the Africana Studies Journal, the Transportation Research Forum, the Transportation Research Board, annual conference proceedings of the American Institute of Planners and the International Journal of Leadership, Business, and Education. More recently, he co-authored an article with Alma Thornton, Daylan Dufelmeier and Kristie Perry entitled “Community Attitudes toward Policing: Implications for Social Justice” in the Journal of Education and Social Justice (Volume 7: Issue 1). He also was co-author of a chapter with Lisa Eargle, Ashraf Esmail and Jessica Burke: “Hate Crimes or Act of Terrorism? The 2015 Mass Shooting of the Emanuel A. M. E. Nine in Charleston, South Carolina” in Terrorism Inside America’s Borders. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans and master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His Ph.D. is in political science from Northern Illinois University.