Big Ten Democracy Summit

Paul Brown, Associate Clinical Professor, Director, Civic Innovation Center, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland

Catherine Carver, Assistant Director, UMICH Votes, Office of the Provost, University of Michigan

Chris Adams, Director of Student Services and Programs, John Glenn College of Public Affairs, the Ohio State University

Ryan Allen, Associate Dean for Research, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

Matthew Baggetta, Associate Professor, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

Jodi Benenson, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska Omaha

Derek Fulwiler, Director, Population Health Initiative, University of Washington

Jeremy Hoffman, Assistant Clinical Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Public Policy, Penn State University

Laura Lee, Director for Public Affairs, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Kelly LeRoux, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research, Director of Graduate Studies, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois – Chicago

Elyse Levine, Executive Director, USC Capital Campus, University of Southern California

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning, Interim Dean, Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles

Elizabeth Matto, Research Professor, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Mary McGrath, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University

Eleonora Redaelli, Associate Professor, School Director, School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, University of Oregon

Haifeng Qian, Professor, Director, School of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Iowa

Jenna Bednar

• Jenna Bednar is a Political Science and Public Policy Professor at the University of Michigan. She is the inaugural faculty director of UMICH Votes. She leads the campus’s voting infrastructure and is co-chair of the Year of Democracy and Civic Engagement, a campus-wide collaborative effort to elevate democracy-related research. Professor Bednar’s research focuses on institutions' role in how collective action builds social goods.
• Professor Bednar has been a member of the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute since 2011. She earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Jodi Benenson

• Dr. Jodi Benenson is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. She received a B.S. and M.P.A. from Indiana University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in social policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Prior to returning to graduate school, Dr. Benenson worked in the public and nonprofit sectors in the Twin Cities.

Cody Buntain

• Dr. Buntain studies social media and how people use these online spaces during moments of uncertainty and unrest. Central objectives in his work are three-fold: making these space more informative, better sources of connection, and more resilient against manipulation. Dr. Buntain grounds his work in two use-cases: crisis informatics and online political engagement, as many questions that arise in times of disaster and conflict similarly arise in the lead up to elections and moments of social unrest. Socio-technical solutions to these issues are critical to supporting democratic systems. Dr. Buntain’s work has been covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, WIRED, and others.

Kate Burns

• Kate serves as the Executive Director of MetroLab. Before joining, she was a Senior Associate at Cityfi, a firm that fosters innovation and new thinking in the urban environment. Previously, Kate served as the Technology Policy Advisor for Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle, WA, and the Innovation Policy Advisor for Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, MO. These roles included drafting new regulatory schemas for transportation networks, as well as implementing and promoting privacy and surveillance regulations. She has a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri Kansas City, and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Kansas.

Lea Chittenden

• Lea Chittenden is the Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance where she oversees public events, and provides fiscal and operational management for the Center. She is also the Administrative Director for the Certificate in Election Administration (CEA) program. Involved since the inception of the CEA, she has been integral to the growth and development of the program. Before joining the Center, Lea worked on various political campaigns. She has a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Maurielle Courtois

• Political Science major with a minor in Law, Justice, and Social Change graduating in 2025. Maurielle is the co-president of Turn-Up Turnout (TUT), a student organization at the University of Michigan that works to increase student voter turnout. This club is the perfect intersection of her interest in voting rights and politics. TUT is nonpartisan, so everything they do allows undergrad and graduate students to learn unbiased perspectives on local, state, and national issues. 

Jennifer Domagal-Goldman

• Jennifer Domagal-Goldman is the executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge at Civic Nation. Prior to joining the Challenge, Domagal-Goldman directed the American Democracy Project, a national civic learning and democratic engagement network of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
• Domagal-Goldman earned her PhD in higher education from Penn State. She received her MA in higher education and student affairs administration from the University of Vermont and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester.

Ronit Eisenbach

• Ronit Eisenbach is an architect, artist, and educator whose scholarship and multi-disciplinary spatial practice aim to engage others in dialogue about the world we create. She explores how the perception of subjective, invisible, and ephemeral objects affects the understanding and experience of place. She teaches a series of situation-based, design-build studios that frame elements of architecture such as light, color, space, and shadow.
• A graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Rhode Island School of Design, Eisenbach is a current member of the National Building Museum's Education Committee. She is a faculty fellow of NYU's Center for Creative Research.

Elisabeth R. Gerber

• Elisabeth R. Gerber is the Jack L. Walker, Jr. Professor of Public Policy at the Ford School and inaugural Faculty Director of the School’s new Online Master of Public Affairs program. Her research focuses on regionalism and intergovernmental cooperation, sustainable development, urban climate adaptation, transportation policy, community and economic development, local fiscal capacity, and local political accountability. She is a co-PI of the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, an ongoing public opinion panel survey of Detroit adults. She is also the faculty founder of ViewPoint, a software platform for creating, facilitating, and participating in educational role-play simulations.

Paul Helmke

• Paul Helmke has been a Professor of Practice at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Director of the Civic Leaders Living-Learning Center in Bloomington, IN since January 2013. Prior to this he served as the President/CEO of the Brady Center/Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. He is a former three-term mayor of Fort Wayne, IN and former President of the U. S. Conference of Mayors. Helmke, a lawyer, received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale University in 1973 and a B.A. with highest distinction from Indiana University in 1970.

Ben Hovland

• Benjamin Hovland was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on January 2, 2019, to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Mr. Hovland currently serves as Chairman of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC). Mr. Hovland’s career in elections spans over 20 years, including service as Acting Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where he was a driving force behind Congress appropriating $380 million in Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds to enhance election security to the states in 2018.

Derek Kilmer

• Derek Kilmer is the Senior Vice President of U.S. Program and Policy for the Rockefeller Foundation. Mr. Kilmer leads a range of work to engage leaders, civil society actors, businesses, and institutions to advance issues core to the foundation’s mission.
• Before joining the foundation, Kilmer served six terms as a U.S. Representative for Washington. Kilmer passed a landmark economic development law to help economically distressed communities, establishing the most popular program in the Economic Development Administration’s history.
• Before Congress, Kilmer worked as a consultant. Kilmer earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton and a doctorate from Oxford. 

Travis Kraus

• Travis Kraus is an Associate Professor of Practice in the School of Planning and Public Affairs and serves as Director of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, a community engagement partnership program housed in the School of  Planning and Public Affairs. Travis joined IISC in August 2016 and manages the day-to-day operations of the IISC and works with community partners and University of Iowa faculty, staff and students to facilitate engaged-learning projects that promote economic development, social justice, and sustainability.
• Travis earned a Master's degree in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Iowa, where he also earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and a secondary teaching certificate.

James D. Long

• James D. Long is Professor of Political Science, co-founder of the Political Economy Forum, and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the University of Washington. He researches democracy, governance, electoral integrity, voting behavior, corruption, and economic development. Previously, James was an Academy Scholar (Harvard), Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar (US Institute of Peace), and Fulbright Scholar (Uganda). He served as Democracy International’s Research Director in Afghanistan, and has observed elections in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Afghanistan, and Ghana. PhD (Political Science) from UC-San Diego, MSc (African Politics) from the School of Oriental & African Studies, and BA (high honors) from William & Mary.

Elizabeth Matto

• Elizabeth C. Matto is a Research Professor and teacher-scholar-practitioner of democratic education. In September 2023, she was appointed Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Matto earned her Ph.D. in American Politics from George Washington University and is a recipient of the Harry S. Truman Award. Matto serves as Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway’s delegate on civic learning initiatives organized by the Institute for Citizens and Scholars and co-chair on the Presidential Task Force on Civic Engagement and Public Service.
• She is the author of the book, Citizen Now: Engaging in Politics and Democracy and To Keep the Republic: Thinking, Talking, and Acting Like a Democratic Citizen.

Barbara McQuade

• Barbara L. McQuade, BA ’87, JD ’91, is a professor from practice at Michigan Law. Her interests include criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, data privacy, and civil rights. From 2010 to 2017, McQuade served as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Appointed by President Barack Obama, she was the first woman to serve in her position.
• McQuade also served as vice chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and co-chaired its Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee. As US attorney, she oversaw cases involving public corruption, terrorism, corporate fraud, theft of trade secrets, civil rights, and health care fraud, among others. She also serves as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Slate, and National Public Radio, and she has been quoted in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Politico, and other publications.

Steve Mokrohisky

• County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky joined Lane County, Oregon in May 2014. He has served in county government leadership in Oregon, Nevada, and Wisconsin for over 20 years. In 2019, Lane County’s bond rating was raised for the second time in two years to the second-highest rating offered due to efforts to create long-term financial stability.
• Steve received a B.A. from Marquette University and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. He is also a public policy graduate of the Les Aspen Center for Government. In 2021, Steve was elected president of the National Association of County Administrators.

Paul Monteiro

• Paul Monteiro is Maryland’s first Secretary of the Department of Service and Civic Innovation. Before this, President Biden appointed Monteiro as the Director of the Department of Justice Community Relations Service.
• Monteiro worked as an associate director of the Office of Public Engagement at the White House. He worked on multiple of President Obama’s initiatives and as a religious and secular belief community liaison.
• Secretary Monteiro was a Prince George’s County Public Schools Board of Education member from 2018 until 2022. He earned a B.A. in history from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from Howard University.

Gavin Neubauer

• My experience in the local D.C. and Maryland governments has shown me how meaningful relationships and communication are in a democracy. My project, Prince George's Vote, aims to increase both in the wider community our campus is part of. I study how to bring the energy and momentum of political movements in competitive areas to places like Prince George’s County, where only smaller primaries decide elections

Robert Orr

• Robert C. Orr serves as UMD School of Public Policy dean, United Nations under secretary-general, and special advisor to the UN secretary-general on climate change. He is also a past president of NASPAA, the global association of public policy, affairs, and administration schools.
• Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Orr served as the assistant secretary-general for strategic planning in the Executive Office of the United Nations secretary-general from 2004 to 2014 and was the principal advisor to the secretary-general on counter-terrorism, peace building, women’s and children’s health, sustainable energy, food and nutrition, institutional innovation, public-private partnership and climate change.

Hillary Poudeu Tchokothe

• Hillary Poudeu Tchokothe is a junior at the University of Michigan double majoring in Political Science and History within the College of Literature, Science, and Arts Honors Program. Poudeu Tchokothe is currently a Co-President of Turn Up Turnout, a nonpartisan, student-led organization that works to increase civic engagement amongst all students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan. TUT is a proud member of the UMICH Votes Coalition. Poudeu Tchokothe is excited to meet and collaborate with students, faculty, and staff from Big 10 schools across the country so we can all work towards the shared goal of increasing the youth voter turnout rate in all local, state, and federal elections.

Eleonora Redaelli

• Eleonora Redaelli is a professor at the University of Oregon, specializing in American cultural policy, focusing on the arts, humanities, and historic preservation. She has been visiting professor at several institutions such as American University (Rome), Shandong University (Jinan, China), University of International Business and Economics (Beijin), and visiting scholar at Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria, South Africa), University of Ottawa (Canada) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy).
• Eleonora earned her PhD at The Ohio State University in 2008. Prior she worked in the cultural sector in Italy, first, for a public agency and, later on, for a private foundation. 

Mindy Romero

• Mindy Romero is a Research Assistant Professor and the founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID) at the University of Southern California. Romero is a political sociologist with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on political behavior and race/ethnicity. She studies voting patterns and political underrepresentation, particularly among youth and communities of color.
• Romero works with policymakers, elected officials, voter education groups, and community advocates to strengthen political participation and representation. She is President of the Board of California Common Cause.

Jessica Ronan-Frisch

• Jessica Ronan-Frisch serves as the Associate Director of the Eagleton Institute’s Center for Youth Political Participation at Rutgers University—New Brunswick. Jessica is responsible for leading and strategizing the long-term and short-term goals for the Center’s signature programs: the RU Voting and RU Ready programs, as well as the Rutgers-Eagleton Washington Internship Award program. In her role, she recruits and supports a team of undergraduates, develops materials for each program, facilitates the Center’s event series during the semester, and manages its social media and website. She has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Political Science from Rutgers University—New Brunswick.

John Ronquillo

• John C. Ronquillo is the Institute for Public Leadership director and an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. He previously worked at the University of Colorado Denver and DePaul University. Ronquillo studies diversity, inclusion, and social equity; public service ethics and leadership; and indigenous leadership and governance.
• Before his academic career, Ronquillo worked as a policy analyst for the Arizona Association of Counties.
• Ronquillo holds a Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the University of Georgia as well as an MPA and a BA in journalism and mass communication from Arizona State University.

Stephanie Rowden

• Stephanie Rowden is a sound artist whose work encompasses projects for radio, podcast, installation and participatory public art. Drawn to the magnetic qualities of sound and story, her experimental audio documentaries and essays explore human motivations and inter-relationships.
• Rowden has received grants and fellowships from the U-M Institute for the Humanities, ArtServe Michigan / the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Alliance / National Endowment for the Arts, ArtMatters, Inc., the University of Michigan Arts of Citizenship program and Artists Space in New York. She has been an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony and the Ragdale Foundation.

Hannah Smotrich

• Hannah Smotrich is a visual communication designer whose research explores how design can make the possibilities for change visible, accessible, and actionable. She collaborates with other experts across a broad range of fields — public policy, history, law, cultural anthropology, medicine, business — as well as with creative colleagues on projects designed to improve outcomes for individuals and communities.
• Over the course of her career, Smotrich has worked with a range of communities, academic and cultural institutions and government agencies, including the National Gallery of Art, Cultural Tourism DC, Smithsonian Institution, Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, and the US Postal Service.

Celeste Watkins-Hayes

• Celeste Watkins-Hayes is the Dean of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Watkins-Hayes is an internationally recognized scholar researching the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, focusing on HIV/AIDS; poverty; and race, class, and gender studies.
• Dr. Watkins-Hayes holds a PhD and MA in sociology from Harvard University and a BA from Spelman College. Throughout her career, she served in numerous academic leadership positions. She served on the board of trustees of Spelman College for over a decade in various leadership roles, including leading the search process for the college’s 10th president.

Policy Simulation (for invited policy students) - 3-6:30pm

• Led by Elisabeth Gerber, Jack L. Walker, Jr. Professor of Public Policy and Faculty Director, Online Master of Public Affairs Program, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
  
  Students attending the Big Ten Democracy Summit are invited to participate in a policy simulation on the  Building Civic Bridges Act (S. 4196). This bill would establish a national Office of Civic Bridgebuilding to administer grants to support civic bridgebuilding and provide training for skills in civic bridgebuilding. This event will allow students attending the conference to come together and engage in the process of creating legislation. You will take on the part of an individual senator, and, in doing so, learn firsthand about the conversations, positions, and compromises that real legislating requires. Students who complete the policy simulation will receive a digital badge that recognizes their participation and skills developed in this exciting and unique learning experience.

Designing for Participation: Creative Innovation Meets Campus Voting (for invited faculty/staff) - 5-6pm

• Welcome Remarks
  Robert Orr, Dean, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
• Opening Remarks
  Jenna Bednar, Faculty Director, UMICH Votes and Democratic Engagement, University of Michigan
• Panelists
  Hannah Smotrich and Stephanie Rowden, Associate Professors, School of Art & Design, University of Michigan
  Ben Hovland, Commissioner, United States Elections Assistance Commission

Welcome Reception at Thurgood Marshall Hall - 6:30-8pm

Adele H. Stamp Student Union

Welcome Remarks - 9-9:15am
 

Morning Plenary - 9:15-10:15am

• Discussion with Derek Kilmer, Senior Vice President, U.S. Program and Policy, Rockefeller Foundation and former U.S. Representative (D-WA) and Paul Monteiro, Secretary, Department of Service and Civic Innovation, State of Maryland

Morning Session: Innovative Civic Practice Serving Big Ten Students and Communities - 10:30-11:30am

• Breakout A - Broadening the Lens: Students as Agents of Civic Change
  Low turnout on college campuses often becomes a clarion call to engage more students in the voting process itself, as a greater voting yield provides a tangible metric for “success.” Yet, the voting rate indicates a broader disconnect between students and civic engagement in general. What, precisely, does student participation in civic engagement, beyond the act of voting, look like? This session explores obstacles to student’s civic engagement and models developed by Big Ten institutions to encourage greater civic engagement.
  
  Introduction by Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director, All In Democracy Challenge
  Ebonie Johnson Cooper, Associate Clinical Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland and Faculty Director, Nonprofit Executive Education and Training, Do Good Institute (moderator)
  Madelyn Hindman, Graduate Student, Pennsylvania State University
  Hillary Poudeu Tchokothe and Maurielle Courtois, Co-presidents, Turn up Turnout, University of Michigan
  Gavin Neubauer, Founder, Prince George's Vote, Student, University of Maryland
  Jessica Ronan-Frisch, Associate Director, Center for Youth Political Participation, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
   
• Breakout B - Big Ten Universities as Laboratories of Innovation for Democratic Engagement
  Big Ten universities are employing a variety of innovative practices to foster civic engagement beyond voting in their student bodies, including curricular and co-curricular practices, research, and service learning. This panel will share models from universities leading these efforts, discuss their successes and challenges, and explore broader collaboration within the conference to increase impact.
  
  Stuart Shapiro, Professor, Dean, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy (moderator)
  Jodi Benenson, Associate Professor of Public Administration, School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska Omaha
  Ronit Eisenback, Professor, School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, University of Maryland
  Amy Lee, Associate Director, Institute for Democratic Engagement & Accountability, College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University
  Elizabeth Matto, Research Professor, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  Eleonora Redaelli, Professor, School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, University of Oregon
   

Lunch Keynote: Safeguarding Democratic Decision Making - Strategies for Countering Disinformation - 11:45am-1:15pm

• Introduction by Jennifer King Rice, Senior Vice President and Provost, University of Maryland
• Dialogue with Barbara McQuade, Former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Professor from Practice, University of Michigan School of Law
• Moderated by Rafael Lorente, Dean, Professor of Practice, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland
   

Afternoon Session: Big Ten Universities as Partners for Healthy Democracy - 1:30-2:30pm

• Breakout A - Partnership with State and Local Governments
  As primarily public institutions and “state schools,” Big Ten universities are uniquely positioned to foster close relationships with local and state governments and communities. These relationships also offer a pathway to demonstrate the value and contributions of higher education to a broader public. What models for state and local partnership exist within the Big Ten?
  
  Kate Burns, Executive Director, MetroLab Network (moderator)
  Paul Helmke, Director, Civic Leaders Center, Professor of Practice, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
  Travis Kraus, Associate Professor of Practice and Director, Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, College of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Iowa
  Steve Mokrohisky, County Administrator, Lane County, Oregon 
  Mindy Romero, Founder and Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, Associate Professor, Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California
   
• Breakout B - Higher Education's Role in Safeguarding Democracy - Election Systems and Enabling Election Service
  As technology continues to advance, concerns about election security and election fraud continue to rise in contemporary U.S. and international political discourse. This panel will discuss shared expertise from Big Ten institutions that strengthen election systems and administration, modeling the efficacy of partnerships with policymakers and agencies at the state and federal level to address threats to a fundamental tenet of democracy: free and fair elections. 
  
  Introduction by John Ronquillo, Director, Institute for Public Leadership and Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
  Ben Hovland, Commissioner, United States Elections Assistance Commission (moderator)
  Cody Buntain, Assistant Professor; Affiliate Fellow, UMD Honors College – Artificial Intelligence Cluster, College of Information, University of Maryland
  Ryan Allen, Associate Dean for Research, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
  James Long, Professor, Associate Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Washington
   

Afternoon Keynote - 2:45-3:35pm

• Discussion with Former Congressional Members, Senator Ben Cardin and Representatives John Sarbanes and Fred Upton

Closing Plenary  - 3:35-4:25pm

• Challenges Facing Higher Education as Facilitators of Democratic Engagement: The Case for Collaboration
  Elizabeth Matto, Research Professor, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  Robert Orr, Dean, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
  Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
   

Reception in Washington, DC - 6-7:30pm

Evening reception with elected representatives from BIG Ten states. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to meet each other and network with members of Congress from across the states of the conference. Transporation to and from the reception will be provided for registered summit attendees.