External Advisory Board

Jamie Alderslade, Director, Impact and Insights, Citi Community Investing and Development

Jamie Alderslade is the Director of Impact and Insights at Citi Community Investing and Development. In this role, Alderslade oversees Citi’s signature program investments in cities across the country. He previously oversaw communications, policy and research for Citi Community Development and Inclusive Finance, including the sponsorship of the Menino Survey of Mayors. Before his time with Citi, he was the Director of External Affairs at Social Compact, Inc., a national coalition of business leaders dedicated to catalyzing investment in low-income communities.

Alderslade has held economic development roles in both the U.S. and in the U.K. specializing in innovative public and private partnerships that focus on inclusive growth. He has also testified before Congress on issues related to the census and inclusion. In 2014, Next City magazine named him one of the 40 Under 40 Urban Vanguards. Jamie has written several papers exploring the measurement of the informal economy and untapped investment opportunities in low income communities of color.

Alderslade holds a B.A. (Hons) from the London School of Economics and a MSc. from Oxford University.

Andrea Coleman, Government Innovation, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Andrea Coleman works on Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable foundation of Michael R. Bloomberg. She is based in London and co-leads grant programs that help city leaders and their teams in 200 cities around the world to better solve problems and share ideas to improve life for residents.

Prior to joining Bloomberg Philanthropies, Coleman served as CEO of the Office of Innovation at the New York City Department of Education, the largest school district in the United States, where she led the iZone, an incubation lab of 300 schools committed to testing innovative learning models. Previously, Coleman led the International Practice at the Young Foundation, a London based center for social innovation. Andrea Coleman started her career as an elementary school teacher with Teach for America.

Luis Ricardo Fraga, Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership and Political Science, University of Notre Dame

Luis Ricardo Fraga is the Rev. Donald P. McNeill, C.S.C., Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science, Director of the Institute for Latino Studies, and Fellow at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame.  He is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Professor Fraga’s primary interests are in American politics where he specializes in the politics of race and ethnicity, Latino politics, immigration policy, education politics, voting rights policy, and urban politics. His most recent co-authored book is Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences (Cambridge University Press 2012). In 2011 President Barak Obama appointed him to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics where he also serves as co-chair of the Postsecondary Education Subcommittee. In 2011, Hispanic Business named him one of the top “100 Influentials” in the U.S.  In 2013, Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn appointed him to the Immigrant Voting Rights Task Force where he served as co-chair. In 2008 he was appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire to serve on Washington’s New Americans Policy Council.

He received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University.

Bruce Katz, Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University

Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia and is the coauthor of The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism. Previously he served as inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution and as vice president and director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a member of the RSA City Growth Commission in the United Kingdom and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. Katz previously served as chief of staff to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. Katz co-led the Obama administration’s housing and urban transition team. He is also coauthor of The Metropolitan Revolution and The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, editor or coeditor of several books on urban and metropolitan issues, and a frequent media commentator.

Pam Kocher, President, Boston Municipal Research Bureau

Pam Kocher was recently appointed President of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and is the first woman President to lead the organization in its 87 year history.

With a career in public policy and a focus on governmental best practices, Kocher has served as the Research Bureau’s Vice President of Policy & Research since 2017. Prior to that role, she provided state fiscal oversight of the City of Lawrence for both the Baker and Patrick administrations and coordinated the Baker-Polito Administration’s Community Compact initiative engaging cities and towns on best practices. Kocher served as Director of Local Policy in Governor Patrick’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance, was appointed to his Pension Reform Commission and to the Group Insurance Commission. Previously, she was Senior Research Analyst for the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

A resident of Boston, Kocher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Connecticut College and a Master of Public Health from Boston University.

Alan Leventhal, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Capital Partners

Alan Leventhal is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Capital Partners, a private real estate investment firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. He previously served as President and CEO of Beacon Properties Corporation. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Mr. Leventhal is a member of the MIT Corporation and a Trustee of Boston University, where he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2008.

Mr. Leventhal graduated with a BA in economics from Northwestern University, where he serves as a life trustee. He received his Master of Business Administration from Dartmouth College. He serves on the board of the Friends of Post Office Square, as well as the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library. He has received multiple awards, including Outstanding CEO by Realty Stock Review, and Executive of the Year by Commercial Property News’ Office. He also received Ernst and Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2004.

Virginia Mayer, Washington Representative for the City of Boston and Director, National Conference of Democratic Mayors

Virginia Mayer serves as the chief federal liaison to the City of Boston. She took on the role under the late Boston Mayor Tom Menino and now serves Boston Mayor Martin Walsh. Mayer also directs the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. Mayer helped create two key organizations – the Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families. And, as a Program Manager at the Department of Defense, Mayer provided assistance to communities impacted by defense downsizing, both domestically and internationally. She has provided strategic advice to and worked on behalf of cities for her entire career.

Mayer holds a B.A. in Economics and Government from Wells College.

George “Mac” McCarthy, President and CEO, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Dr. George “Mac” McCarthy is President and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Lincoln Institute seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges.

Before joining the Lincoln Institute in 2014, McCarthy directed Metropolitan Opportunity at the Ford Foundation which sought to provide disadvantaged people better access to good jobs and other opportunities for advancement by supporting regional planning, and coordinated transportation and housing development to alleviate poverty and reduce its concentration in metropolitan areas in the U.S. and developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Before taking that position, McCarthy administered a program at Ford that focused on using homeownership to build assets for low-income families and their communities.

McCarthy received a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics at the University of Montana; an M.A. in Economics at Duke University; and, a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

David Miller, Director of International Diplomacy, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and former Mayor of Toronto

David Miller is the Director of International Diplomacy and Global Ambassador of Inclusive Climate Action at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. He is responsible for supporting North American Mayors in their climate leadership and for building a global movement for socially equitable action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. He served as Chair of C40 Cities from 2008 until 2010.

Miller was Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010. Under his leadership, Toronto became widely admired internationally for its environmental leadership, economic strength and social integration. He is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies, and a strong and forceful champion for the next generation of jobs through sustainability. Miller has held a variety of public and private positions and served as Future of Cities Global Fellow at Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2011 to 2014.

David Miller is a Harvard trained economist and professionally a lawyer.

Cathy E. Minehan, co-Chair, Boston Women’s Workforce Council; former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; and Managing Director of Arlington Advisory Partners, LLC

Cathy E. Minehan is an active profit and not for profit board member of entities engaged in major commercial activity, healthcare and education.  Ms. Minehan retired from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in July 2007 after 39 years with the Federal Reserve System, having served as the President and Chief Executive of the Boston Bank and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee from July 1994 on.

From August 2011 to June 2016 she served as Dean of the School of Management at Simmons College, known for its MBA for women and for its all on-line offerings. Ms. Minehan is a graduate of the University of Rochester and is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees.  She holds an MBA from New York University and was named a distinguished Alumna from New York University in 1995.

Currently, Ms. Minehan is a director of Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC, The MITRE Corporation and the Brookings Institution. Over the past 10 years, she has been a board member of Becton Dickinson, MassMutual and VISA.

She also is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital and a Board Member of Partners Healthcare System. Ms. Minehan co-chairs the Boston Women’s Workforce Council which works to end the gender wage gap in Boston.  She is also a member of the board of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and of the board of WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was named the Public Company Director of the Year (New England NACD 2012); NACD Top 100 Directors in 2013; and 2015 Shattuck City Champion (Boston).  She is the recipient of many other honors and distinctions. 

Michael Nutter, David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Policy, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and former Mayor of Philadelphia

Michael Nutter served as the 98th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. As mayor, he managed the Philadelphia through the Great Recession of 2008, and the City’s credit rating was upgraded to “A” by the three major credit agencies for the first time since the 1970s. Mayor Nutter and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu launched Cities United, an initiative — in affiliation with the National League of Cities — dedicated to creating partnerships between cities, non-profits, and others to combat violence and crime among African-American men and boys.

Mayor Nutter is a past President of the United States Conference of Mayors as well as the Pennsylvania Municipal League, an organization that brings together municipal officials from across the Pennsylvania to advance policy initiatives. In January 2018, the Department of Homeland Security appointed him to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He also serves on President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Advisory Council. Mayor Nutter served as a political commentator for CNN and is a Senior Fellow and national spokesperson for the What Works Cities program through Bloomberg Philanthropies.

He is a life-long Philadelphian from West Philadelphia and was educated at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ryan Whalen, Managing Director of Global Partnerships, The Rockefeller Foundation

Ryan Whalen joined The Rockefeller Foundation in 2014. As Managing Director, Global Policy and Advocacy, Whalen leads the development of the Foundation’s strategic partnerships and oversees the creation of high-impact projects that advance the Foundation’s mission and expand its networks around the world.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Whalen worked in senior capacities in New York City Hall, the United States Senate, and on political campaigns at the city, state, and national levels. Most recently he served in the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as Chief of Staff for Government Affairs and Communications. Before that, he was Special Assistant to Senator Charles Schumer, and later became Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. His campaign experience includes serving as Director of Digital and Data for Mayor Bloomberg’s 2009 reelection campaign, and in various capacities for the Mayor’s 2005 reelection campaign, Kerry for President 2004, and Senate races across the country.

Whalen received a bachelor’s degree with honors from Trinity College and a master’s degree in urban planning from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He serves on the Board of Directors of Living Cities, co-chairs the advisory board of The Resolution Project, a social enterprise accelerator, and is a member of Manhattan Community Board 5.