People
Broad expertise, exceptional support
The Moynihan Center is staffed by a team of dedicated professionals committed to advancing the Center's mission. With a diverse range of expertise, Moynihan Center leadership, staff, and advisors collaborate to devise innovative programs, foster cutting-edge research, and provide exceptional support to our students, fellows, and the broader community.
Moynihan Center Staff
Carlo Invernizzi Accetti's Bio
Executive Director
Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
Carlo Invernizzi Accetti is Executive Director of the Moynihan Center and Professor of Political Science at The City College of New York (CCNY). He is also Visiting Professor of European Politics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and Associate Researcher at the Center for European Studies of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).
His research is at the point of intersection of democratic theory and comparative EU/US party politics. It combines a historical approach with a concern for contemporary normative issues, relating in particular to the relationship between politics and religion, the rise of populism and technocracy as structuring poles of electoral competition, and the ideological reconfigurations taking place in advanced Western Democracies.
He has published three monographs, two edited volumes, and over two dozen articles in top international peer-reviewed journals on topics such as: populism and technocracy, political ideologies and party politics in Western Europe and the United States, militant democracy, referendums, and the philosophical foundations of human rights.
Professor Invernizzi Accetti is also a regular commentator on European and US political affairs for venues including: The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, La Repubblica, Quartz, Le Monde Diplomatique, and France 24.
Michael Miller's Bio
Managing Director
Michael Miller
Michael Miller is Managing Director of the Moynihan Center. He previously served as a distinguished lecturer of political science at City College. Prior to joining City College, Miller was a program director at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), where he led the Media & Democracy program and the Just Tech program, and served as chief editor for the Just Tech Platform. Miller is a scholar of media, technology, and politics and received his PhD in political science from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY).
Layana Abu Touq's Bio
Senior Program Manager
Layana Abu Touq
Layana Abu Touq is Senior Program Manager at the Moynihan Center. She is also the Co-Founder and Chief Policy Officer of ELNOR, an Ed-Tech nonprofit providing virtual English learning education to refugees in the US and Europe, and an Adjunct Lecturer in the Political Science Department at the Colin Powell School, City College. Her prior roles include serving as the Program Officer of the S Jay Levy Fellowship at City College, and Program Coordinator of the New York Public Interest Research Group. Abu Touq earned a B.A. in psychology with a minor in public policy from the City College of New York and an MSc in International Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Selena Rodriguez's Bio
Operations Manager
Selena Rodriguez
Selena Rodriguez is the operations manager for the Moynihan Center. She is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where she majored in international studies and sociology. Prior to joining CCNY, Rodriguez served as the program associate for the Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network at the Social Science Research Council.
Farida Chickerie Ramkaran's Bio
Program Assistant
Farida Chickerie Ramkaran
Farida Chickerie Ramkaran is the Program Assistant for the Moynihan Center. She earned a B.A. in psychology from The City College of New York. Chickerie Ramkaran has prior experience as a data and research intern at the Social Science Research Council. While an undergraduate, she gained experience as a research assistant at the INTERSECT lab and wrote an honors thesis that explored stigma related to traditional and male-type depression.
Grace French's Bio
Communications Coordinator
Grace French
Grace French is the Communications Coordinator for the Moynihan Center. She earned a B.A. in communications from Westminster University in Salt Lake City, UT. French has prior experience in public relations, journalism, marketing, and non-profit communications.
Advisors
The Board of Advisors is currently under development and new board members will be added in 2024.
Gara LaMarche's Bio
Board of Advisors
Gara LaMarche
Leader-in-Residence, Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York
Gara LaMarche is a longtime advocate for human rights and social justice. He is a Senior Fellow at the Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership at City College of the City University of New York, Senior Adviser to The Raben Group, and Senior Fellow at Encore.org, as well as a consultant to a number of human rights and social justice organizations and leaders.
From 2013 to 2021 he served as President of The Democracy Alliance, a group of donors and movement leaders who provide millions of dollars to strengthen progressive organizations, causes and campaigns. During his tenure, the membership of the Alliance has grown and the group has played a critical role in aligning donors to focus on economic inclusion, democracy reform, climate change and equity, and established funding collaboratives to advance civic engagement in states by communities of color and grassroots campaigns for economic fairness and a healthy environment.
From 2007 to 2011, Gara was President and Chief Executive Officer of The Atlantic Philanthropies, an international foundation focused on aging, children and youth, health, and human rights operating in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States, and Viet Nam. During his tenure at Atlantic, the foundation made the largest grant ever made by a foundation for an advocacy campaign – over $25 million – to press for comprehensive health care reform in the U.S., embraced a social justice framework for grantmaking, and worked closely with governments in several of its geographies to take advantage of opportunities to achieve changes in HIV/AIDS and nursing policies in South Africa, civic engagement and democratic reform in Ireland, a more secure peace in Northern Ireland, and many other areas.
Before joining Atlantic in April 2007, Gara served as Vice President and Director of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Institute (OSI), a foundation established by philanthropist George Soros. He joined OSI in 1996 to launch its U.S. Programs, which focus on challenges to social justice and democracy. During his tenure there, OSI (since renamed the Open Society Foundations) became the leading funder of criminal justice reform, launched and supported a number of fellowship programs in justice, law, medicine and community engagement, established an office critical in the revitalization of Baltimore, and helped create and foster a network of urban high school debate leagues.
Leslie Lenkowsky's Bio
Board of Advisors
Leslie Lenkowsky
Professor Emeritus, Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University
Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky is Professor Emeritus in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and Senior Counsellor to the Dean at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.Â
From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Lenkowsky served as chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a position to which he was appointed by President George W. Bush. Previously, he had served as a director of the Corporation. Â
Before joining the Bush Administration, Dr. Lenkowsky was professor of philanthropic studies and public policy at Indiana University. He has also served as president of the Hudson Institute, an internationally renowned public policy research institute, president of the Institute for Educational Affairs, deputy director of the United States Information Agency, research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and research director at the Smith Richardson Foundation.Â
A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. Lenkowsky received his doctorate from Harvard University, studying under Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He is a regular contributor to The Chronicle of Philanthropy and has spoken frequently to educational and philanthropic groups throughout the United States and internationally on philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, communications, and other topics.
Alondra Nelson's Bio
Board of Advisors
Alondra Nelson
Harold F. Linder Professor, Institute for Advanced Study
Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. As former deputy assistant to President Joe Biden, she served as principal deputy director and acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Nelson’s work at OSTP drove Biden-Harris Administration strategy to create policy that expands economic opportunity, protects civil rights, enhances security, advances equity, and ensures emerging science and technologies work for, not against, our democratic values. During her tenure, Nelson led a team writing the landmark Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which lays the groundwork for policymakers, technology developers and others to better safeguard people’s rights as algorithms and AI reach further into our lives.
Nelson is an acclaimed social scientist and the author of several books, including The Social Life of DNA. Her essays, reviews, and commentary have been featured in national and international media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired and Science. In 2021, she was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from The City College of New York.Â
Andrew Rich's Bio
Ex Officio - Board of Advisors
Andrew Rich
Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean, Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York
Andrew Rich is Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York. The Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of City College. With 4,000 students, the Colin Powell School’s mission is to transform one of the nation’s most diverse student bodies into tomorrow’s global leaders.
From 2011-2019, Rich was Executive Secretary & CEO of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, a federal agency that supports young people pursuing public service leadership across the United States. Before that, from 2009-2011, Rich was President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank and leadership development organization based in New York City.
Rich is Chair of the Board of Friends of the Truman Foundation. He is the author of Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise and has written about the role of think tanks and foundations in American politics and policymaking. He previously taught political science at CCNY and Wake Forest University. He received his BA from the University of Richmond and his PhD in political science from Yale University.
Shelby White's Bio
Board of Advisors
Shelby White
Founding Trustee, The Leon Levy Foundation
Shelby White is the Founding Trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, which was created from the estate of her late husband, who died in 2003. Its largest program, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a center for advanced research and graduate education at New York University, was established in 2007. The Foundation also supports organizations in the arts and humanities, nature and gardens, neuroscience research, human rights, and Jewish culture.
In 2017, Ms. White was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in recognition of her far-reaching philanthropic work. She has been listed as one of the country’s top philanthropists in Business Week’s Annual Review of Top Givers and on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of America’s most generous givers.
Ms. White serves on the boards of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Institute for Advanced Study, The New York Botanical Garden, New York University, Bard Graduate Center, and The Writers Room. She is Chairman of The Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority. She also serves as Chairman of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications at Harvard University.
As an author, Ms. White has written financial articles for publications including The New York Times, Town and Country, Redbook, and Forbes. Her book, What Every Woman Should Know About Her Husband’s Money, was published by Random House (1992, 1994). She has taught seminar courses on philanthropy at New York University and museum studies at The City College of New York, and written articles about both philanthropy and art collecting.
There is a more powerful connection than people think between the world of ideas and the world of practical politics.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan