About Us | News | Kennedy School | Harvard

Staff

	Eric Andersen -- Director, Fellows and Study Groups Program Eric Andersen became the Institute of Politics (IOP) Fellows and Study Groups Programs Coordinator in September 2003, responsible for recruiting and fielding applications from fellowship candidates; outreach to the Harvard campus in promotion of the program; coordinating the involvement and participation of student leadership, including coordinating the Student Fellows Selection Advisory Committee; helping the fellows create and develop their study groups; and the daily management of the fellows lives and the overall success of the study groups programs. Andersen joined the IOP in the fall 2001 as the Fellows and Study Groups Programs Assistant. He first came to Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1999 as a staff assistant at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. A rabid Red Sox fan, Andersen also enjoys collecting LP records, deep-sea fishing and is a self-confessed political junkie. He lives in Inman Square with his wife Carey.

	Kerri Collins -- Staff Assistant / Receptionist As the IOP's staff assistant, Kerri Collins runs the IOP's front desk/reception area, handles requests for IOP room reservations, helps staff IOP events, directs incoming phone calls, and assists the Director, Executive Director, IOP Fellows and guests. Kerri graduated with a degree in Travel and Hotel management. Prior to joining the IOP, she worked in guest relations and catering sales departments at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge for 10 years. Kerri is an active volunteer with the Boston chapters of Make a Wish Foundation and the Jimmy Fund.

	John Della Volpe -- Director of Polling John Della Volpe is Director of Polling at the Institute of Politics and has been affiliated with the IOP since the late 1990’s. Each semester, John leads a public opinion survey group of students who develop, field and report on the attitudes of young Americans (Millennial Generation) toward politics and public service. Since 2000, the IOP survey has tracked pre- and post-9/11 attitudes; accurately predicted the spikes in youth turnout in 2004 and 2006; addressed the growing importance of religion in the lives of young people; marked the generational shift in attitudes toward foreign policy; and provided insight into the ways in which Millennials communicate and form opinions. John is a veteran of four presidential campaigns and dozens of other high-profile campaigns in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, John is a member of the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative Board of Advisors and is Founder of SocialSphere Strategies, a Web 2.0 strategy company located in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

	Christian Flynn -- Director of Special Projects and Conferences Christian Flynn is Assistant Director of Special Projects at the IOP. In that role he is responsible for some of Harvard University's highest profile conferences and events for elected officials and political operatives, including: Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress; Campaign for President: The Managers Look at the Presidential Campaign; and IOP Director's Dinners. Flynn also works on program development for undergraduates, including an annual field trip he organizes to Washington, DC for Harvard undergraduates. Flynn has worked at Harvard for 12 years. His previous position was scheduling Senator Kennedy's family during the 1994 Senate campaign. Flynn and his partner, Dan Schutt have a son named Derrick and live in Providence, RI. He can also run nearly 4 miles in scorching heat.

	Amy Howell -- Internships Coordinator In August 2005, Amy Howell joined the IOP as the Fellows and Study Groups program assistant. A New Hampshire native, Howell earned her BA from the University of California Berkeley. In 2001, Amy returned to her home state to embark on an 18-month adventure with the Jeanne Shaheen for Senate campaign, serving as the national travel and fundraising coordinator. Following the campaign, Howell went to work for EMILY's List and the "Every Child Matters Education Fund." Since April of 2007, Amy coordinates the IOP’s Director's Internship Program, the IOP Stipend Program, Research Assistantships with the Kennedy School of Government, IOP Summer Senior Thesis Research Grants, IOP KSG Campaign Stipends, and the IOP Summer in Washington Program. Amy, her husband, Carson and daughter, Kathryn reside in Portsmouth, NH.


	Catherine McLaughlin -- Executive Director Catherine McLaughlin has served as the Executive Director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) since 1994. McLaughlin served as the Director of Alumni Affairs and the Coordinator of the Press and Public Liaison Office at the John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1986 - 1989. She left the Kennedy School in 1989 to serve as the Tour Manager for a nationally known band, New Kids on the Block, traveling extensively in the US and across Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. Over the years, Ms. McLaughin has worked on several presidential campaigns including the Vice President Mondale's campaign in 1984 and the Gov. Dukakis' campaign in 1988. Ms. McLaughlin also served as an advance person during the Clinton administration.


	Cathey Park -- Fellows and Study Group Program Coordinator Cathey Park coordinates the Institute's "Women’s Initiative in Leadership”, (WIL) a program created in September 2006 to address the interest and importance of female students at Harvard in developing leadership skills. She also works on special events and conferences. Before taking this position, Park served as the staff assistant in the Forum Office responsible for student outreach publicity, and staffing 80-100 Forum events during the academic year. Cathey has been at the IOP for three years and previously worked for former Kennedy School Dean, Joseph S. Nye, Jr. A native of Portland, Oregon, she attended Boston University and majored in Political Science.

	Esten Perez -- Director of Communications Esten Perez joined the IOP at the end of August of 2004 as the IOP's Communications Director, responsible for communications outreach, management, and strategy. Before coming to the IOP, Perez' experience included serving as a press secretary for the 2004 Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) in Boston, as a Communications Director for the Women's United Soccer Association in Washington, D.C., and as an account executive with Fenton Communications, a D.C.-based public relations firm. Perez also served for over five years in various legislative positions on Capitol Hill for Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY).
	Bill Purcell -- Director Bill Purcell is the Director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Purcell assumed the post on September 1. Purcell has spent more than 30 years in public service, law and higher education. During his eight-year tenure as mayor of Nashville (1999-2007) the city saw unprecedented economic expansion, an increase in Metro school funding of more than 50 percent, and the development of more than 26,000 affordable housing units. His accomplishments as a civic leader earned him “Public Official of the Year” honors in 2006 by Governing Magazine. Purcell was an IOP Fellow in the fall of 2007. Purcell has served as founding dean of the College of Public Service and Urban Affairs at Tennessee State University since January 2008 and was founder and director of the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt University (1996-99). He served as a legislator in the State of Tennessee House of Representatives (1986-96) and as Majority Leader (1990-96). Previously, Purcell worked as a senior assistant public defender in the Nashville Metro Public Defender’s Office (1981-85). He earned his bachelor’s degree at Hamilton College and his law degree at Vanderbilt University School of Law.

	Julie Schroeder -- Executive Assistant to the Director Julie Schroeder, the Institute's Executive Assistant to Director Bill Purcell, joined the staff of the IOP in the Fall of 2001, moving to Cambridge from Frankenmuth, Michigan. As Bill's assistant, Schroeder is responsible for managing his communication, schedule, travel and time commitments, and oversees the Institute's extensive event calendar. Julie was a news producer back in Michigan for many years and has two grown sons, one of whom was an active student at the IOP during his days at Harvard.

	Laura Simolaris -- Director of National Youth Engagement Laura Simolaris is the Director of the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement, a program that unites 19 colleges and universities around the country who are committed to creating a more civically engaged campus. One program the Campaign administers at Harvard is HVOTE, an intermural competition to register, educate and mobilze Harvard students to vote. She also oversees one of the Institute's newer initiatives, the Policy Group Program, which facilitates students conducting policy research and developing policy recommendations in a number of areas. Simolaris has been with Harvard University since 1999. She began at the Institute of Politics, then left to coordinate special events for the Office of the President. Simolaris recently returned to the IOP as the coordinator of the newly formed National Campaign, and now serves as the program's Director.

	Sean Tierney -- Forum Coordinator Sean Tierney joined the IOP in August, 2007. Before coming to the IOP, Mr. Tierney served as an intern in the governmental relations division of O'Neil and Associates a Boston based integrated public and government relations firm, providing legislative research on public safety, political fundraising, and state regulatory issues. In 2007, Mr. Tierney graduated Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a B.A. in political science, concentrating in American political management. A native Cantabrigian, Sean is firm believer that all politics is local and his hero is the Great Tip O’Neil.

	Terrie Verbic -- Financial Administrator Theresa Verbic is the Institute's Financial Administrator, and has been with the IOP since September 2000. Verbic has been with Harvard University for twenty five years. Verbic began her Harvard career with the University's School of Public Health as a Financial Assistant for the School's Health Policy and Management Department. She then transitioned within the school of Public Health, moving to the School's Continuing Education Office to serve as the office's Financial Assistant.

	Noelia Rodriguez -- Director of the Forum Noelia Rodriguez is the Director of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. Previously, she was selected among a competitive international field of candidates to be an IOP Fellow during the fall 2007 semester. She led a weekly study group that took an inside look at White House communications. She began her career in strategic and crisis communications and media relations in the private sector. In 1994, Noelia was named press secretary, then deputy mayor, to Mayor Dick Riordan in Los Angeles. In 2000, the Mayor appointed Rodriguez to President and CEO of the Democratic National Convention Host Committee in L.A. Her success in that post led to her being recruited by Laura Bush to serve as the first lady’s first White House Press Secretary and Director of Communications, a post she held for the first three years of the Bush administration. Though Noelia is a native Texan, she is still searching for the perfect pair of cowboy boots.