Staff

Eric Andersen -- Fellows and Study Groups Coordinator

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.


Karin Kane Bloom -- Internships Coordinator and Special Events Coordinator

Karin Kane Bloom has been at the IOP since graduating from St. Anselm College in 2000, with degrees in Politics, French and International Relations. Both Karin and Amy Howell serve as the IOP Internships Program Coordinators.  Together, they manage the following IOP programs: IOP Director's Internship Program, the IOP Stipend Program, Research Assistantships with Kennedy School Professors, IOP Summer Senior Thesis Research Grants, IOP KSG Campaign Stipends, IOP Guide to Political Internships and Jobs, Political Internship and Career Advising, IOP's Summer in Washington, D.C. Program, and the IOP's Summer Housing Guide for D.C..  Karin also helps plan various IOP events and works with other public service organizations on campus.  She is married and has a 3 year old son Dillon and baby daughter Kiley.


Kerri Collins -- IOP Staff Assistant

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 -- Assistant Director for Conferences & Special Projects

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 now co-coordinates, with Karin Kane Bloom, the IOP’s Director's Internship Program, the IOP Stipend Program, Research Assistantships with Kennedy School Professors, IOP Summer Senior Thesis Research Grants, IOP KSG Campaign Stipends, IOP Guide to Political Internships and Jobs, Political Internship and Career Advising, IOP's Summer in Washington, D.C. Program, IOP's Summer Housing Guide for D.C. She also helps plan various IOP events and works with other public service organizations on campus. Howell and her husband, Carson, welcomed daughter Katherine Applegate Smith (Kasey) this past spring. They live in Portsmouth, NH, enjoying and exploring the 13 mile New Hampshire coastline.

Kevin Larivee -- Fellows and Study Groups Assistant

Kevin Larivee joined the IOP in January 2007 as the Fellows and Study Groups Assistant.  In this capacity, Kevin works closely with the Fellows and Study Groups Coordinator handling logistical needs of the Fellows program, coordinating undergraduate participation in the program, outreach to undergraduate and graduate students, administrative support as well as advance work and event planning.  Prior to the IOP, Larivee served as a regional field director for democratic congressional candidate Chris Murphy, who now serves as the U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 5th District after unseating a twelve-term Republican incumbent in the 2006 midterm elections.  Kevin received a BA from Bowdoin College in 2006 with a double major in international relations and religion; since, he has continued to maintain a strong commitment to Bowdoin College's belief in serving the common good.

James A. Leach -- Director of the IOP

James A. Leach is the Director of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to his appointment, Leach taught at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University where he was John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs. Before joining the Princeton faculty, he served 30 years as a representative in Congress where he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Leach attended Princeton, the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins, and the London School of Economics. He holds eight honorary degrees, has received decorations from two foreign governments, and is the recipient of the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award from Johns Hopkins, the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association, and the Edger Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club. Leach serves on the board of several public companies and three non-profit organizations -- the Century Foundation, the Kettering Foundation, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and formerly served as a trustee of Princeton University.


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.


Kamron Mitchell -- Forum Coordinator

Kamron Mitchell became the new Forum Coordinator in September 2007. As part of the Forum Office team, Kamron is responsible for assisting the Forum Director in scheduling, organizing, and presenting events in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. Kamron comes to the Institute of Politics via KSG's Executive Education Department, where he has served as a Program Coordinator since 2005. In 2004, Kamron earned a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University. While at Brown, he worked at the Brown Student Agencies, and eventually rose to be VP of Operations. As a lifetime resident of Massachusetts, Kam hopes to witness even more championships for his beloved Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox. Besides sports, he also enjoys watching movies, exercising, reading, bowling, and miniature-golf.

Cathey Park -- WIL and Special Events 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).

Julie Schroeder -- Executive Assistant to the Director

Julie Schroeder, the Institute's Executive Assistant to Director Jeanne Shaheen, joined the staff of the IOP in the Fall of 2001, moving to Cambridge from Frankenmuth, Michigan. She has served four IOP Directors. As Shaheen's assistant, Schroeder is responsible for managing Governor Shaheen's 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 Programs

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 Assistant

Sean Tierney joined the IOP in August, 2007 as the Forum Assistant.  In this capacity, Sean works closely with the Forum Director and Forum Coordinator supporting office administration, undergraduate and graduate student outreach, publicity, and staffing 80-100 Forum events during the academic year.  Before coming to the IOP, 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.  Sean also performed research and press outreach duties as an intern in the office of State Senator and Ways and Means Committee Assistant Vice-Chair Steven A. Tolman during the 2007 legislative session.  Sean graduated in May, 2007 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BA in political science, concentrating in American political management.  A native Cantabrigian, Sean has also served as a volunteer for the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee's "Food for Free" program.


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.


Bill White -- Forum Director

Bill White joined the Institute of Politics in September of 1999 and serves as Forum Director. The Forum host political leaders from around the world and across the country to address and debate the key political and policy issues of the day. Prior to joining the IOP, Bill served as a Special Assistant to the President and worked in the Clinton White House from 1996 through 1999. Bill has also served at the U.S. Department of State, and worked in every Democratic Presidential campaign since 1988. Bill is a graduate of Boston College and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He lives in his hometown of Milton, Massachusetts with his wife and two kids.


Greg Wilson -- Manager of New Media

Greg Wilson joined the Institute of Politics in September of 2002 as the Forum Coordinator, responsible for assisting the Forum Director in scheduling, organizing, and presenting events in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. Before coming to the IOP, Wilson wrote and produced videos for an independent production company; purchased time as a media buyer in the 1996 election cycle and consulted for a strategic communications firm. Previous to his career in communications, Wilson worked on campaigns in Iowa, Arizona, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Wilson also served as a staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary headed by Chairman Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE).