Community Broadband Networks Initiative
Jessica Auer — Tribal Broadband Policy Analyst Jessica Auer is a Tribal Broadband Policy Analyst with ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. She supports the team’s work in research, advocacy, and training to promote Indigenous-led broadband initiatives. Jessica is interested in the ways that public policies have shaped markets and structured access to power and resources. She holds a Ph.D. in American History from the University of North Carolina.
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DeAnne Cuellar — Associate Director for Outreach
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Sean Gonsalves — Associate Director for CommunicationsSean Gonsalves is an Associate Director for Communications for ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. Sean was a longtime reporter, columnist, and news editor with the Cape Cod Times. He is also a former nationally syndicated columnist in 22 newspapers, including the Oakland Tribune, Kansas City Star, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His work has also appeared in the Boston Globe, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the International Herald-Tribune.
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Ry Marcattilio — Associate Director for ResearchRy Marcattilio is an Associate Director for Research with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. He is interested in the democratizing power of technology, systems engineering, and the history of science, technology, and medicine. Previously, Ry worked as an Adjunct Professor of American History in Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Minnesota. Ry holds a Ph.D. in American History from Oklahoma State University.
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Christopher Mitchell — Director, Community Broadband Networks InitiativeChristopher Mitchell is the Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with ILSR. He is a leading national expert on community networks, Internet access, and local broadband policies. Christopher built MuniNetworks.org, the comprehensive online clearinghouse of information about local government policies to improve Internet access. Its interactive community broadband network map tracks more than 600 such networks. He also hosts audio and video shows online, including Community Broadband Bits and Connect This!
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Angelina Paniagua — Senior Project ManagerAngelina Paniagua is Senior Project Manager for the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with ILSR. Her experience comes from nonprofit, private sector, and government work. She is bilingual in English/Spanish and is an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She serves as a Vice President on the Association of Latino Professionals for America’s DC Board of Directors. Angelina is a graduate of California State University – Chico and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Guadalajara, Mexico. She holds certifications as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM).
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Christine Parker — Senior GIS AnalystChristine is the Senior GIS Analyst on the Community Broadband Networks team. Christine’s work is focused on illustrating and describing Internet availability and adoption across the United States. Her work supports the team’s advocacy and education efforts centered around developing community-owned broadband networks. With over a decade of experience in data and spatial analysis, Christine is proficient in employing diverse tools and methodologies to drive insights and solutions in her field.
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Jordan Pittman — Digital Equity CoordinatorJordan Pittman is a Digital Equity Coordinator with ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. He supports the team’s work in promoting access to affordable, high-quality broadband service for all, with a focus on those who face systemic barriers to digital equity. Jordan received a B.S. in Rural Community Development from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and has been interested in ways that public policies affect rural places and structured access to resources. |
Composting for Community Initiative
Jordan Ashby — Advocacy & Communications Lead
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Linda Bilsens Brolis — Associate Director for Education & AdvocacyLinda Bilsens Brolis is the Associate Director for Education and Advocacy for the Composting for Community Initiative. Her work focuses on advancing composting at the community level as a tool for reducing waste, regenerating soils, supporting local food production, and fighting climate chaos. Linda manages ILSR’s Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program and leads ILSR’s work advancing on-farm composting.
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Sophia Jones — Policy and Advocacy Project ManagerSophia Jones is the Policy and Advocacy Project Manager for the Composting for Community initiative. She works to advance policies that uplift local, decentralized composting. She also manages certain research, education, and outreach projects for the team. Sophia received her B.A. in Environment and Development Studies from McGill University.
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Clarissa Libertelli — Community Composter Coalition Coordinator
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Cally Neely — Composter Training Program Summer Associate
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Brenda Platt — Director, Composting for Community Initiative
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Julia Spector – Policy & Advocacy SpecialistJulia Spector is the Policy & Advocacy Specialist for the Composting for Community Initiative. She works to amplify the team’s policy and advocacy efforts to advance community composting from the local to the federal level. Julia has dedicated her career to promoting social and racial justice, working at organizations focused on democracy, economic, and youth issues. She received her M.P.A. from New York University and her B.A. in Political Science and Environmental Advocacy from Syracuse University. |
Energy Democracy Initiative
John Farrell — Co-Director of ILSR & Director, Energy Democracy InitiativeJohn Farrell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its work on energy democracy. John is best known for his vivid illustrations of the economic and environmental benefits of local ownership of decentralized renewable energy.
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Katie Kienbaum — Senior ResearcherKatie Kienbaum is a Senior Researcher with ILSR’s Energy Democracy initiative, where she researches and writes about equitable and decentralized clean energy and its impact on communities across the country. Before joining the Energy Democracy initiative, she was a Research Associate with the Community Broadband Networks initiative.
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Maria McCoy — ResearcherMaria McCoy is a Researcher on the Energy Democracy initiative, where she contributes to blog posts, podcasts, video content, and interactive features. Her research focuses on how communities can transition to clean, decentralized energy systems that are both equitable and economically viable.
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Kate Taylor Mighty — Senior Energy Communications StrategistKate is the Senior Energy Communications Strategist at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Before joining ILSR, Kate worked at several policy and campaign organizations based in DC and California, using writing, polling, training, and social media to shift popular narratives about the economy and racial economic justice. |
Independent Business Initiative
Lauren Gellatly — Senior Advocacy and Campaigns ManagerLauren is the Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Manager for ILSR’s Independent Business team where she brings her background in advocacy, economic development, and independent business support. Lauren executes campaign strategies and manages relationships with allied organizations and coalition partners, including a coalition of over 40 independent business groups and alliances — Small Business Rising — advocating for antimonopoly reforms.
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Susan Holmberg — Associate Director for ResearchSusan Holmberg is a political economist and the Associate Director for Research on the Independent Business team. She shapes the strategic direction of the initiative’s research and manages the publication quality for all team content. She writes on corporate power, small business, inequality, and systemic racism. She has been published in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Atlantic, Time, The Nation, and Democracy Journal. Susan holds a Ph.D. in economics from UMass, Amherst.
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Ron Knox — Senior Researcher and Policy Advocate
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Katy Milani — Associate Director for Policy and AdvocacyKaty is the Associate Director for Policy and Advocacy for ILSR’s Independent Business program where she works closely with coalition partners and policymakers on antimonopoly and small business policy and advocacy. Previously she was Director of Advocacy and Policy at the Roosevelt Institute where she led strategic engagement with allies, partner organizations, and elected officials on a range of corporate power policy areas, including banking reform and corporate governance.
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Stacy Mitchell — Co-Director of ILSR & Director, Independent Business InitiativeStacy Mitchell is Co-Executive Director of ILSR and directs its Independent Business Initiative. Her reports and articles about monopoly power have shaped the thinking of policymakers, journalists, and advocates. As a strategist, she has helped build coalitions and win campaigns for policies that dismantle corporate power, level the playing field for independent businesses, and strengthen communities. Full Bio – Contact – Twitter – Bluesky
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Kennedy Smith — Senior ResearcherKennedy Smith is a Senior Researcher with ILSR’s Independent Business initiative. Kennedy is one of the nation’s foremost experts on commercial district revitalization and independent business development. Her work focuses on analyzing the factors threatening independent businesses and developing policy tools that communities can use to address these issues and build thriving, equitable local economies. |
Communications, Development, and Operations
Executive Directors
Stacy Mitchell — Co-Director of ILSR & Director, Independent Business InitiativeStacy Mitchell is Co-Executive Director of ILSR and directs its Independent Business Initiative. Her reports and articles about monopoly power have shaped the thinking of policymakers, journalists, and advocates. As a strategist, she has helped build coalitions and win campaigns for policies that dismantle corporate power, level the playing field for independent businesses, and strengthen communities. Full Bio – Contact – Twitter – Bluesky
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John Farrell — Co-Director of ILSR & Director, Energy Democracy InitiativeJohn Farrell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its work on energy democracy. John is best known for his vivid illustrations of the economic and environmental benefits of local ownership of decentralized renewable energy. |
Board of Directors
Nora GoldsteinNora Goldstein is the Editor of BioCycle, the magazine and website authority on composting and anaerobic digestion, where she oversees such projects as “www.findacomposter.com” and manages conferences related to composting and zero waste. She received the U.S. Composting Council’s “Hi Kellogg Award” in January 2014, and the American Biogas Council’s “Biogas Visionary Award” in October 2013.
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Amy Hartzler
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Chris Lewis
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Kirk MarckwaldKirk Marckwald, the Chairman of the Board, helms California Environmental Associates, a consulting firm that works with a wide range of businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and public institutions to promote conservation. Marckwald has extensive experience with energy and environmental regulation, and prior to founding CEA in 1984, worked as the Under Secretary of California’s Natural Resources Agency, and as a consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund.
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David Morris
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Roy PriestRoy Priest is a Commissioner on the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (Md.) and retired Executive Director and CEO of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Alexandria, Va. Priest has worked in community economic development and finance over his 50-year career, and prior to his current position, served seven years as the President and CEO of the National Congress for Community Economic Development, and 17 years with the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development, including as the Director of the Office of Economic Development.
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Andrew ReicherAndrew Reicher is Executive Director of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, where he started in 1978 and which he has led since 1981. Over his tenure, UHAB’s base of tenant-run and tenant-owned housing cooperatives has grown from several dozen to more than 1,500 in New York City and beyond. He is the 2003 recipient of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives’ highest honor, the “Jerry Voorhis Award.” (Photo credit: Carol J. Ott)
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Gina SchaeferGina Schaefer is the Founder and CEO of 13 Ace Hardware stores in and around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Md. She and her husband employ more than 250 people and have formed an ESOP to begin transitioning ownership of the company to their teammates. She serves on the Board of Directors of CCA Global Partners.
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Jean SuJean Su is the Director of the Energy Justice Program and Senior Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Jean leads a dynamic team that wages strategic litigation and policy campaigns dedicated to fighting the climate emergency by advancing a just, renewable, and anti-racist energy future and ending the historical energy violence inflicted on communities of color and the planet. Jean is the Co-Chairwoman of Climate Action Network-International, the world’s largest network of climate organizations. She also sits on Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s advisory board on Future Electric Utility Regulation.
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