WILL FRIEDMAN, PH.D. | President

Will Friedman joined Public Agenda in 1994, became associate director of research in 1996, and was the founding director or our public engagement department in 1997. On January 1, 2011, he became president of Public Agenda, succeeding Ruth A. Wooden.

JUDITH WEISSMAN, CPA | Senior Vice President, Director of Finance

Judith Weissman joined Public Agenda as the Director of Finance and Human Resources in 2011. Judith also has a background as a Certified Public Accountant and an ESL teacher.

MISSY CRISSMAN | Executive Assistant to the President

Missy Crissman joined Public Agenda in 2012 as Executive Assistant to the President. In addition to this role she is the Board of Directors liaison, coordinates donor stewardship activities and supports our Vice Presidents.

JOAN AUSTIN | Administrative Assistant

Joan works in our administrative unit to ensure that Public Agenda’s office is properly managed. Prior to working at Public Agenda, she worked extensively in Social Security administration.

CAROLIN HAGELSKAMP, PH.D. | Vice President, Director of Research

Carolin Hagelskamp works on the development, management, and implementation of Public Agenda's quantitative and qualitative opinion research studies, and on collaborative projects between Public Agenda’s research and public engagement departments.

DAVID SCHLEIFER, PH.D. | Senior Research Associate

David Schleifer works on the development, management, and implementation of Public Agenda's research studies and on collaborative projects between Public Agenda’s research and public engagement departments.

CHRISTOPHER DISTASI | Research Assistant

Christopher DiStasi works within the Research Department, assisting at all levels of Public Agenda’s research projects.

JEAN JOHNSON | Senior Fellow & Special Adviser

Jean Johnson is a Senior Fellow and Special Adviser for Public Agenda who has worked with our organization since the early 1980s. During that time, she has authored or co-authored Public Agenda studies on education, families, religion, race relations, the federal budget, retirement, welfare, and health care.

STEVE FARKAS | Senior Research Fellow

Steve Farkas is the principal author of over a hundred major opinion studies on a range of issues from public education, families, poverty and immigration, to social security, crime and foreign policy.

JOHN IMMERWAHR | Senior Research & Public Engagement Fellow

John Immerwahr is the author or co-author of numerous Public Agenda national and regional studies on education and children. In addition, with Public Agenda's president and co-founder Daniel Yankelovich, Dr. Immerwahr co-authored several studies of public attitudes toward foreign policy.

LUCRETIA KEENAN | Research and Public Engagement Intern

Lucretia assists both the public engagement and research departments with research and analysis, event and focus group coordination, and various administrative tasks.

ALISON KADLEC, PH.D.

Senior Vice President and Director of Public Engagement Programs

Alison Kadlec, Senior Vice President, is director of public engagement programs and the Center for Advances in Public Engagement at Public Agenda. She leads the design and implementation of all of our public and stakeholder engagement work.

ISAAC ROWLETT | Senior Public Engagement Associate

Isaac Rowlett is a Senior Public Engagement Associate in the Public Engagement Department, where he designs, manages and implements projects across the country.

MICHELLE CURRIE | Senior Public Engagement Associate

Michelle Currie leads a variety of field-based qualitative research and engagement projects and works on project development, management and evaluation of the public engagement initiatives.

MONICA FOUST, PH.D. | Public Engagement Associate

Monica is a public engagement associate in the Public Engagement Department, where she leads field-based qualitative research and engagement projects and works on the development and management of public engagement initiatives.

SUSAN SHELTON, PH.D. | Public Engagement Associate

Susan is a public engagement associate in the Public Engagement Department, where she designs, manages and implements projects across the country.

KATIE BARTH | Public Engagement Assistant

As the assistant for Public Agenda’s public engagement department, Katie provides the public engagement team with overall logistical support.

JYOTI GUPTA | Senior Public Engagement Fellow

Jyoti is a Senior Public Engagement Fellow who has been deeply involved in Public Agenda's work with Achieving the Dream, leading the research and writing for the Cutting Edge Series on faculty engagement, scaling successful interventions, and strengthening institutional capacity to use data to inform change...

MARTÍN CARCASSON | Senior Public Engagement Fellow

Martín works with the Public Engagement team to develop, coordinate, and implement a wide range of engagement initiatives.

GWEN WRIGHT | Senior Public Engagement Fellow

Gwen Wright is a Senior Public Engagement Fellow at Public Agenda's Center for Advances in Public Engagement (CAPE). She works on the development, coordination and implementation of public engagement initiatives.

ALLISON RIZZOLO | Director of Communications

As Director of Communications, Allison develops the communications strategy and coordinates all media outreach for Public Agenda. She oversees the dissemination of Public Agenda reports and resources and often works directly with reporters to help them develop their stories.

MICHAEL L. ROJAS | Webmaster & Communications Associate

Michael oversees the continued development and content-management of Public Agenda's website, as well as assist the organization more generally in the creation, formatting, and management of its presentational media.

MEGAN ROSE DONOVAN | Communications Assistant

Megan Donovan works within the Communications Department on editorial projects, drafting press releases, media monitoring and managing Public Agenda’s online social platforms.

PIA WALLGREN | Director, Project Development

Pia Wallgren supports Public Agenda’s mission and growth by developing the organization’s fundraising from foundations, government agencies, individuals, as well as other public and private institutions.

DANIELLE STOUCK | Development Associate

As Development Associate, Danielle is responsible for building and maintaining partnerships between Public Agenda and its funders, assisting the Development Team with proposal development and donor relations.