Ralph da Costa Nunez, President
Dr. Ralph Nunez has served as President of the Institute for Children & Poverty since the organization's founding. He has also served as� President and CEO of Homes for the Homeless since 1987. Dr. Nunez holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University, where he has served as Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. He is the Editor of the Journal of Children & Poverty and has authored numerous reports and articles as well as six books. Prior to ICP, Dr. Nunez spent his entire career working in New York City and State government. He was the Deputy Director under Mayor Koch for the Mayor's Office of Homeless and SRO Housing Services, overseeing policies and services administered by all city agencies serving the homeless population.In addition, he also served as a First Deputy Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration and held executive positions with the Mayor's Youth Bureau, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the Legislative Office of Budget Review.

Meg Devlin O'Sullivan, Assistant Director
Meg Devlin O'Sullivan joined ICP in April 2008. Before this, Meg served as an adjunct professor at liberal arts colleges in Virginia and New York. She also worked as a writing tutor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Writing Center. Meg holds a Ph.D. from UNC in American History, with a research focus on the late twentieth-century and issues of sovereignty and child welfare in American Indian nations. She earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with dual majors in History and Women's Studies.

Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, Assistant Director of Research
Dr. Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest joined ICP in September 2008. Prior to that she spent two years as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at The University of Chicago, and a Master of Public Affairs from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington. Additionally, she has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, political science, and Spanish from Indiana University-Bloomington. Since January 2007, Kathleen has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and the Journal of Marriage and Family. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Child Development, Journal of Family Issues, Family Relations, and Health Services Research. Her research interests are in the areas of child support, family structure, poverty policies, and the long-run effects of welfare reform as they each relate to child and family well-being.

GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH MANAGER

Matthew Adams
Prior to joining ICP, Matt Adams worked for Robert K. Futterman & Associates as a GIS Analyst. Matt holds a M.A. in Geography from Boston University, and a B.A. in Geography and Art History from Clark University.

SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

Tania Jospitre
Prior to joining ICP in August 2008, Tania Jospitre worked as a Senior Evaluation Associate for the Urban Resource Institute (URI). At URI she conducted research studies on childhood maltreatment, PTSD, and coping strategies among domestic violence survivors in shelter. During her tenure at URI, she also managed a quality assurance program promoting comprehensive service delivery to ethnically diverse survivors. Tania received her B.A. in Natural Science from Hofstra University and her M.A. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Affairs.

Dori Sneddon
Prior to joining ICP, Dori Sneddon worked at the New York City Department of Homeless Services in the Policy and Planning unit. As a Senior Policy Analyst, she focused on the family shelter system and evaluation of the City's prevention efforts. She also worked in Washington, DC, as a Project Specialist for the Children's Bureau, ACF, US Department of Health & Human Services.� Dori holds a Master's in Social Work with a minor in Public Policy from Columbia University and a B.S. in Social Work from James Madison University.

Farwah Zaidi
Before joining the Institute for Children and Poverty, Farwah Zaidi worked for the Suffolk County Executive's Office of Budget & Management as an Analyst in the Management Unit, where she conducted fiscal, programmatic, and policy analysis for the County Executive. Farwah has also worked for U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and with the Venezuelan Consulate in New York. Farwah received her Master's Degree in Public Policy, and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science with a minor in Spanish Languages and Literature from Stony Brook University.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Concha Mendoza
Prior to joining ICP, Concha worked as a Spanish-English legal translator and as a home-school liaison with the Shenandoah Valley Migrant Education Program. In college, she was a managing editor of The New Journal and she interned with The Shenandoah Valley Herald, a newspaper in her hometown, and with La Hora, a newspaper in Quito, Ecuador. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Yale University.

RESEARCH FELLOW

Przemyslaw Nowaczyk
Prior to joining ICP, Przemyslaw worked as Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant at the Department of Politics, New York University. He holds a Master's in Politics from NYU, and a Master's in International Relations from University of Warsaw.

RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

Oliver Cannell
Oliver joined ICP in November of 2008. Prior to this work, he received a B.A. in History from Yale College. His senior research focused on the history of bilingual education for Puerto Rican students in Hartford, Connecticut and on the island of Puerto Rico. In addition, he has experience working with the New Haven Public School system and with DC Central Kitchen.

Nirupama Hegde
Nirupama received her B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University with a double major in Political Science and South Asian studies. She wrote her senior thesis on social justice organizations catering to the South Asian immigrant population in New York City. Before joining ICP in August 2008, Nirupama worked at the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law and at the New York Immigration Coalition.

Claire McKenna
Claire McKenna joined ICP in January 2009. She is currently working towards an M.P.A. with a focus on Policy Analysis at NYU's Wagner School. During the summer of 2008, Claire worked at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., updating the Welfare Rules Database. Before graduate school, Claire managed survey research at a Wall Street trade association. While in college, Claire worked at the Women's Prison Association, assisting with a time-use study of formerly incarcerated women reentering the community. Claire received her B.A. in Sociology from Fordham University, Lincoln Center campus.

Krista Ruffini
Krista joined ICP in January of 2009 after receiving her B.A. from Boston University with a triple major in Political Science, Economics, and International Relations. She wrote her honors thesis on the economic well-being of low-income families following the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Krista previously worked with elected officials and political parties in Massachusetts and the United Kingdom, assisting with campaigns and constituent affairs.

Laura Sheinkopf
Prior to joining ICP in January 2008, Laura worked at Legal Information for Families Today, where she gave legal information and compassionate guidance to individuals involved with Family Court cases in New York City. Laura received her B.A. from Dartmouth College with dual majors in Geography and Spanish. Her research experience includes a senior honors thesis on media representations and perceptions of health care access among Latino/a communities in New York City.

Shahrukh Tasnim
Shahrukh Tasnim worked for DonorsChoose.org, a New York based nonprofit, before joining ICP in March 2008. She also served as a Research Assistant in an Asian Development Bank-supported research project that aimed to design best-fitted health service centers for low-income people. Tasnim holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from School of Public Affairs at Baruch College. As a graduate Assistant at Baruch, she worked on several research projects including a UN-funded project on representation of HIV/AIDS related news in the media and a project on workforce diversity.

Rebecca Tublitz
Prior to joining ICP in July 2008, Rebecca Tublitz worked at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Rebecca earned her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Barnard College of Columbia University, and wrote her senior thesis on racial ideology and media representations of transracial adoption in the United States. Her research interests include gentrification, race and housing policy.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Chini Sun
Chini Sun joined ICP in March 2008. She graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in Legal and Policy Studies and a minor in Sociology. Before joining ICP, she worked in a real estate law firm and is concurrently involved with The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides free summer camps for children.�� �