Ohio Economics Forum 2021 Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Mark Partridge
C. William Swank Chair of Rural- Urban Policy and Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Development Economics at The Ohio State University
Mark Partridge is the Swank Chair of Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University. Professor Partridge is Managing Editor of the Journal of Regional Science, is the Co-editor of the Springer Briefs in Regional Science and serves on the editorial boards of seven other journals. He has published over 125 academic journal papers and coauthored the book The Geography of American Poverty: Is there a Role for Place-Based Policy? Professor Partridge has received research funding from many sources including the Appalachian Regional Commission, Brookings Institution, European Commission, U.S. NSF, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USDA, Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council, and World Bank. His research includes investigating rural-urban interdependence and regional growth and policy. Professor Partridge is a fellow of the Regional Science Association International and received the NARSC Boyce Award. He also served as Chair of NARSC. Dr. Partridge was President of the Southern Regional Science Association and is an SRSA Fellow.
PANELIST
Dr. Roland Anglin
Dean and Professor, Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Roland V. Anglin is Dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. Dean Anglin is recognized for his scholarly and applied work in the area of economic and community development. Dean Anglin is a passionate advocate for public polices and community-based strategies that create social and economic opportunities for marginalized communities and people.
Prior to his appointment as Dean, Dr. Anglin was Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark and Director of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, an applied research institute at the university. Dr. Anglin began his career at Rutgers University in 1987. He was recruited to the Ford Foundation in 1991, where he spent eight years. Dr. Anglin served first as the program officer responsible for community development and was promoted to Deputy Director for Community and Resource Development. After leaving the Ford Foundation in 1999, Dr. Anglin went to the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (Seedco), a community development financial intermediary. He is the author and co-author of four books and several peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Anglin sits on several public sector, nonprofit, and private sector boards. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago, an MA from Northwestern University, and a BA from Brooklyn College (City University of New York).
PANELIST
Dr. Mark Rembert
Head of Rural Innovation Network, Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), Vermont
Mark Rembert is a regional economist who leads the Center on Rural Innovation's efforts to grow and support the Rural Innovation Network, a nationwide community of committed change agents working to advance the economic future of small-town America. Prior to joining CORI, Mark began his work in rural development in 2008 when his hometown of Wilmington, Ohio, faced the loss of 10,000 jobs. He co-founded Energize Clinton County and later became the Executive Director of the Wilmington-Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, where he developed and led innovative programs that increased the economic vitality of the community from the ground up by catalyzing entrepreneurship, investment in human capital, and community planning. He most recently worked as a management consultant at CFAR where he advised family enterprises, non-profits, and hospitals on issues of strategy, succession, governance, and team performance. Mark earned a Ph.D. in Regional Economics from the Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, & Development Economics, and his policy research has influenced state decision making on the opioid crisis, broadband expansion, and school choice. He also holds a BA in Economics from Haverford College.
PANELIST
Mr. Guhan Venkatu
Group Vice President, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Guhan Venkatu is a group vice president in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He leads the department’s regional analysis and outreach group.
Mr. Venkatu joined the Cleveland Reserve Bank in 1998 as a research analyst. In his tenure with the Bank, he has held positions of increasing responsibility including economist and vice president and senior regional officer of the Bank’s Pittsburgh Branch. His prior research has focused on inflation and inflation expectations, housing and household finance, and factors related to regional economic growth. His research and analysis have been a resource for the public, and he has advised and informed the Bank’s president and boards of directors.
Mr. Venkatu is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, and he previously served as a member of the Ohio Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
PANELIST
Ms. Amanda Woodrum
Senior Researcher, Policy Matters Ohio, Cleveland
Amanda Woodrum is a Senior Researcher at Policy Matters Ohio focusing on issues found at the intersection of health, energy, equity and the economy. After living in New York City and experiencing 9/11, she returned to Ohio determined to make the state the kind of place she wanted to live. She joined Policy Matters Ohio in 2007 after receiving a master’s degree in economics and a law degree from the University of Akron.
At Policy Matters Ohio, she conducts research on the role transportation, energy, health and anti-poverty policy can play to promote a more sustainable and equitable economy in Ohio. She is a recognized progressive leader across these issues, building networks of diverse sets of stakeholders to find common ground and call for better state, local and federal policies. Her work includes efforts to educate and inform policy makers, provide “ammunition” to social justice advocates, and promote a more progressive vision for Ohio in the media. For more than a decade, she has lead a statewide transit coalition, she helped to build the Health Equity Network of Ohio, and is Co-Director of the project to ReImagine Appalachia—a four-state campaign to build a better future for the region. When opportunity arises, she also helps to raise resources for this set of work.