Christopher St. John became the Executive Director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy in 1994. From 1975-1994 he worked for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Augusta, Maine. From 1981-1994 he was a registered lobbyist at the Maine State Legislature, where he represented low-income groups on such issues as health care, welfare, unemployment insurance, utility regulation, and taxation. He studied at Harvard College, the London School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Yale Law School. He is on the Board of Mainewatch Institute. mecep@mecep.org

Kurt Wise

Kurt Wise joined our staff as fiscal policy analyst in January 2008. He has a Master's degree in public policy analysis (MPP) from Duke University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining MECEP, Kurt worked as a state budget analyst at the Massachusetts Taxpayer's Foundation. During his graduate studies Kurt worked with Massachusetts State Senator, Stan Rosenberg, and with the North Carolina State Treasurer's office. In addition to strong tax and budget analysis and modeling skills, over the last 15 years Kurt has created and run several small businesses. kwise@mecep.org

Nicole Witherbee

Nicole Witherbee became the federal budget analyst in 2007. She has a Ph.D in Social Policy from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management. Her previous work includes directing policy for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, acting as the Interim Government Affairs Director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, tenant organizing for the Central Mass Housing Alliance, and lobbying for the Coalition to Preserve Affordable Housing. In her years as an advocate, Nicole has worked on issues such as housing, hunger, public assistance benefits, immigration, and homelessness. She also teaches sociology, social movements and research methods at USM. nwitherbee@mecep.org

Deborah Felder

Deborah Felder joined MECEP in October as our first communications director. From 1995-2007, she was the Executive Director of Maine Initiatives, a foundation for social and economic justice. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Maine in public administration/public policy and an undergraduate degree in media communications from the University of Southern California.  Prior to Maine Initiatives, she spent twenty years as a media and communications professional to public, private and non-profit organizations in Maine. Most recently, she served on the board of the Maine Philanthropy Center and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. dfelder@mecep.org

Judy Ward

Judy Ward has been the Administrative Assistant for the Maine Center for Economic Policy since 1998. She previously served as municipal clerk for Winthrop and Wayne, and worked for nine years at the State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in several positions ending with the Supervisor of Licensing. While with the Department of IF& W, she established and was recognized for her dedication to the safety of Maine¹s Youth Campers as the Administrator of the Camp Trip Leader Permit Program, the first of its kind in the country. jward@mecep.org