Shannon Jones, Executive Director

Shannon Jones is the founding director of the Cowen Institute, which opened its doors at Tulane University in March 2007. She oversees the Institute’s staff, activities, and budget. Shannon, a New Orleans native, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and Information Technology from Tulane University. Prior to her current position, Shannon handled project management for the Bring New Orleans Back Commission’s Education Committee and was responsible for coordinating Tulane President Scott Cowen’s efforts to effect systemic change in the public school system of the city of New Orleans. Prior to venturing into the nonprofit sector, Shannon spent five years as the Product Manager for Broadband Products at Cox Communications, a national telecommunications firm. At Cox, Shannon managed product strategy, development, marketing, communications, and finance for the company’s broadband products, including high-speed internet and telephone services. Prior to that, she coordinated communications for the New Orleans Superdome, as well as assisted in the development of the brand strategy for the New Orleans Arena when it opened in 1999. She currently serves as a board member for the Louisiana SPCA, Louisiana Appleseed, and the Foundation for Math and Science Education, which supports two New Orleans charter schools (New Orleans Math and Science Charter High School and New Orleans Math & Science Academy). She is also on the advisory board for Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans and Educate Now.

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Nash Molpus, Associate Director

Nash Molpus, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, holds a Master’s degree in Southern Studies with an emphasis in non-profit management from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor’s degree in English from Furman University. Prior to joining Tulane University, Nash served as the Health and Education Legislative Assistant for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA). After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she focused on public education in New Orleans and worked specifically with the K-12 school system on the reopening of schools, FEMA reimbursement issues, and funding provided by Congress. In this role, Nash maintained relationships with local, state, and federal governments; tracked legislation; and assisted in writing legislation. Nash worked closely with the stakeholders in public education and was instrumental in creating the legislation that provided restart and impact aid for K-12 schools affected by the storms. Prior to her employment in the United States Senate, Nash worked for two years at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation as a Project Coordinator for all projects related to civil rights at the University of Mississippi. She worked with community leaders in the Mississippi Delta to partner with local schools to provide supplemental services such as arts programs, enhanced libraries, and civil rights curriculum.

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Michael Schwam-Baird, Assistant Director for Research

He leads the Applied Research program at the Cowen Institute and is charged with informing the process of public education improvement in New Orleans with high quality information and applied research. Prior to coming to the Cowen Institute, Michael worked at the Boston Consulting Group in Washington, DC and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and a Masters degree in economic and social history from the University of Oxford. He also attended New Orleans Public Schools and remains a proud Lusher Lion.

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Steve Cruz, Office Manager

Steve joined the Cowen Institute in July 2007 to assist in the daily operations of the office and to serve as the Institute’s receptionist. Steve assists with administrative duties and maintaining everyday office operations and functions, logistics for meetings and special events, office schedules and activities, and financials for the Institute, including expense reconciliations and payables. He also assists with workforce recruitment and hiring of staff and/or student employees. Steve was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and has resided in the New Orleans area since 1980. Steve began his employment with Tulane in December 1990 in the Office of Medical Affairs at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic as the Assistant to the Sr. Vice President. In December 1998, he was recruited by the Dept. of Health Systems Management at Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, where he enjoyed eight years in a dynamic academic environment as Budget & Administrative Coordinator.

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Emily Remington, Program Manager, College Readiness Initiatives

Emily joined the team as Program Manager, College Readiness Initiatives where she developed and launched the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program in four New Orleans’ high schools. The program is called AdvanceNOLA. Emily is a graduate of the George Washington University’s Master of Public Policy program, with a concentration in education policy. During graduate school, she had internships with the Education Trust and Save the Children. After graduate school, she relocated to Austin, Texas, where worked as a legislative aide in the 80th Session for Representative John E. Davis. Most recently, she worked as a program coordinator for the National Center for Educational Achievement. In this capacity, she visited public schools with large populations of minority and economically disadvantaged students that were high performers on state math and science tests. This on-the-ground research helped her to understand how systems can be successful. During this time, she was also involved with the National High School Center in the development of two papers, one on the use of data and the other on the collaborative curricular practices of math and science teams.

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Felicia Brown, Program Manager, University-Based Initiatives

Felicia has a background in university administration, specifically in the areas of community affairs and program development, as well as student success and academic affairs, working with both undergraduate and graduate student populations. She has served as Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Studies at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and as Special Assistant to the Dean at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. Her previous experience in national and federal public policy and governmental affairs includes serving as legislative assistant to former U.S. Senator John C. Danforth (R/MO) and as a political/field staffer with the Democratic National Committee. Felicia brings extensive knowledge of the charter school movement from her tenure as director of governance and corporate initiatives with the former DC Public Charter School Resource Center. At the Cowen Institute, she is responsible for coordinating Tulane’s resources and constituent groups to support education reform efforts at the school-level as well as with the education nonprofit community.

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Tara O’Neill, Policy Manager

Tara holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and English from Trinity University in San Antonio, a Master’s Degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans. Before joining the Cowen Institute, she worked for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities in Washington, DC. Prior to moving to Washington, she worked on hazard mitigation planning in southeast Louisiana and state housing policy in Texas.

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Laura Mogg, Senior Research Analyst

Laura received a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Tulane University in 2002. After graduation, she worked for a non-profit dedicated to labor organizing, and later, a commercial real estate firm. In 2008, she received a Masters degree in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans.

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John Haffner, Policy Analyst

John Haffner joined the Cowen Institute in October 2009. As a member of the policy team he works on the Institute’s legislative and advocacy efforts to improve public education. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Boston University and a law degree from the University of Alabama. He has been admitted to the Alabama State Bar and is a member of the American Bar Association. Prior to joining the Cowen Institute, he worked on political campaigns in Florida and Alabama and practiced law in Mobile, Alabama. He also clerked with the Alabama Attorney General’s office and served on the Judiciary Committee staff of Senator Russ Feingold in Washington.

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Oscar A. Barbarin, Ph.D., Cowen Institute Fellow

Dr. Barbarin is the Hertz Endowed Chair in the Department of Psychology at Tulane University in New Orleans. He earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Rutgers University in 1975 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in social psychology at Stanford University in 1983. His research has focused on the social and familial determinants of ethnic and gender achievement gaps beginning in early childhood. He has developed ABLE, a mental health screening tool for young children. He is principal investigator of the PAS initiative, a national study whose focus is the socio-emotional a and academic development of boys of color. His work on children of African descent extends to a 20 year longitudinal study of the effects of poverty and violence on child development in South Africa. He served as President of the American Orthopsychiatric Association from 2001-2003 and was elected to the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development. He recently joined the team as the first Cowen Institute Fellow.

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Amy Mahfouz Argenti, Media Consultant

Amy, a Louisiana native, joined the Cowen Institute in 2008. Amy has over fourteen years of public relations, marketing, and strategic communications experience having worked in Washington, DC for organizations that include the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and in New York City for companies that include Money and Fortune Magazines. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University and is a member and/or volunteer of several nonprofit and philanthropic entities that include the Make-A-Wish Foundation and For The Children reading program. She is an Institute of Politics fellow, a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute, and a founding board member of Mays Preparatory Academy Charter School.

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