An on-the-record, by-invitation discussion of long-range trends and issues facing North Carolina, hosted by the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and the Program on Public Life.

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Janet Cowell

State Treasurer, State of North Carolina

Janet Cowell was elected North Carolina State Treasurer in 2008. She is North Carolina’s first woman State Treasurer. She was previously a two-term member of the Raleigh City Council and a two-term Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate (representing Wake County). Cowell has previously been an analyst with HSBC and Lehmann Brothers, coming to Raleigh, N.C., in 1997. While in Raleigh she was also a consultant with SJF Ventures as well as Sibson & Co. and, in 2000, went to work for the Common Sense Foundation.

Art Pope

Deputy Budget Director, State of North Carolina

James Arthur “Art” Pope was recently named the Deputy Budget Director in Gov. Pat McCrory’s cabinet. He is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Variety Wholesalers, Inc., a company that operates more than 350 retail stores in 15 states and employs approximately 7,000 people. Pope served four terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives, from 1989 to 1992 and 1999 to 2002. He is also president of the John William Pope Foundation, a philanthropic foundation named after his father.

John Quinterno

Founder and Principal, South by North Strategies, Ltd.

John Quinterno is a principal with South by North Strategies, Ltd. His areas of expertise include labor market analysis, workforce development, social insurance and postsecondary education. Quinterno possesses an academic background in public affairs and extensive professional experience. Previously, Quinterno worked for the nonprofit North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, where he oversaw the center’s work related to employment, higher education, workforce development and unemployment insurance. He authored well-received studies of the fiscal problems facing the state’s unemployment insurance system (Buddy Can You Spare A Dime?), the challenges facing working families (Making Ends Meet on Low Wages), and ways in which the state’s workforce system could better serve low-income working adults (North Carolina’s Unfinished Transformation).

Thomas Ricketts

Professor of Health Policy and Management, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health; Professor of Social Medicine, UNC School of Medicine.

Thomas Ricketts is Professor of Health Policy and Management and Social Medicine at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Medicine. In the fall of 2010 he was named to the National Health Care Workforce Commission created by the PPACA. Dr. Ricketts is Editor of the North Carolina Medical Journal having previously served as Editor of the Journal of Rural Health from 1990 until 1996. Dr. Ricketts has authored many scientific articles, book chapters and monographs and edited texts on rural health and geographic methods in health services research.

Judith Rizzo

Executive Director and CEO, James B. Hunt Jr. Institute On Educational Leadership and Policy

Dr. Rizzo began her career as a junior high school teacher in the Boston Public Schools. During her 16 year career in Boston, Dr. Rizzo held a number of positions including consulting teacher, bilingual coordinator and director of staff development. She also led the court-ordered desegregation programmatic effort including the coordination of cultural organizations, university support and parent/community involvement. As a principal, Dr. Rizzo developed a model international school and served as principal of record for a trilingual elementary school on the campus of the University of Massachusetts. In 2002, she became the first executive director and CEO of the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy. Dr. Rizzo is responsible for growing the Hunt Institute into a national resource for political, business and education leaders, supporting their development and implementation of effective education policies and programs.

Richard Whisnant

Professor of Public Law and Government, UNC School of Government

Richard Whisnant joined the Institute of Government in 1998. Prior to that, he was general counsel with the N.C. Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources. He had previously practiced environmental law with Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, in Charlotte, N.C., and was a clerk for the Hon. Sam J. Ervin III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Whisnant earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MPP and J.D. from Harvard University.

Contacts

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
Program on Public Life
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CB #3365, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
(919) 962-5936
guillory@unc.edu
www.southnow.org