Research

Barbara Gault, Ph.D., Executive Director & Vice President

gault@iwpr.org

Barbara Gault, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Vice President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Since joining the Institute in 1997 she has focused on a wide range of issues of importance to women and their families, including poverty, access to education, health, work-life balance, political engagement, and the need for expanded preschool and child care options for working parents. Her publications include Resilient and Reaching for More: Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and Their Children, "The Costs and Benefits of Policies to Advance Work Life Integration" as well as The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery, The Price of School Readiness: A Tool for Estimating the Cost of Universal Preschool in the States; and Working First But Working Poor: The Need for Education and Training Following Welfare Reform. She has testified in Congress on low-income women’s educational access, has spoken on women’s issues in venues throughout the country, and has appeared in a range of print, radio and television media outlets. Prior to joining IWPR, Dr. Gault conducted research at the Office of Children’s Health Policy Research and served as a staff and board member of organizations promoting human rights in Latin America. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. from the University of Michigan. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Coalition on Human Needs, and is a Research Professor of Women’s Studies at the George Washington University.

Robert Drago, Ph.D., Research Director

Robert Drago, Ph.D., joined IWPR as the Director of Research in 2010. Prior to joining IWPR, Dr. Drago held positions as Senior Economist in the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and Professor at the Pennsylvania State University in the departments of Women’s Studies and Labor Studies. Dr. Drago has also served as a Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, past President of the College and University Work/Family Association, a Director of and Professor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Human Resources and Economics. In addition to joining the IWPR staff, Dr. Drago is a Professor and Senior Lecturer at Melbourne University. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from University of Tulsa and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst. Dr. Drago conducts research regarding time use among parents of infants, workplace flexibility, biases against caregiving in the academic workplace, the decline of women in intercollegiate coaching, and public policies for working families.  He has published multiple articles and books, including his latest books Unlevel Playing Fields: Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination, 3rd Edition, and Striking a Balance: Work, Family, Life, both published by Dollars & Sense. [Click here for Dr. Drago's Curriculum Vitae.]

Ariane Hegewisch, Study Director

Ariane Hegewisch has been a Study Director at IWPR since the summer of 2008; prior to that she spent two years at IWPR as a scholar-in-residence. She is responsible for IWPR’s research on workplace discrimination and is a specialist in comparative human resource management, with a focus on policies and legislative approaches to facilitate greater work family reconciliation and gender equality, in the US and internationally. She has a particular interest in public sector developments. Prior to coming to the USA she taught comparative European human resource management at Cranfield School of Management in the UK and worked as a policy advisor on gender and employment in local government in the UK. She is German and has a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MPhil in Development Studies from the IDS, Sussex. 

Jane Henrici, Ph.D., Study Director

Jane Henrici, Ph.D., is a Study Director at IWPR and an anthropologist who studies gender, race, and ethnicity and their relationship to policy and development. She received her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996; her doctoral and early postdoctoral research focused on the effects of development tourism and non-profit export projects on gender and ethnicity in Peru. Between 1998-2003, Dr. Henrici was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Research Scientist working with an interdisciplinary project on the effects of welfare reform in the US (Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study). Based on that material, Dr. Henrici co-authored Poor Families in America’s Health Care Crisis: How the Other Half Pays (Cambridge 2006) and edited Doing Without: Women and Work after Welfare Reform (Arizona 2006) while she taught anthropology full time at the University of Memphis. In 2006, she returned to research on development and women outside of the US supported by a Fulbright Scholar Award to Peru where she also lectured in anthropology and gender studies at Pontificia Universidad Católica. She has published on women and poverty, health care, job training, tourism development, free trade, fair trade, and non-profits/NGOs. Dr. Henrici has been with IWPR since January 2008, currently directs two of the Institute’s projects, and is a researcher and analyst for several others. In addition, she is adjunct professor in anthropology at George Mason University. In 2009, Dr. Henrici was elected to serve in the American Anthropological Association as Councilor to the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology and as President-Elect of the Association for Feminist Anthropology, for which she’ll serve as President 2011-13.

Jeffrey Hayes, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate

Kevin Miller, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate

Kevin Miller, Ph.D. joined the IWPR staff in July 2008 after working with IWPR as a consultant for over a year. Dr. Miller holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and political science from the University of Illinois and recently received his doctorate in Social Psychology at the Ohio State University where his dissertation was on religious beliefs, beliefs about the nature of homosexuality, and the personal and political attitudes people hold about gay men and lesbians. Over the last year, he has worked on IWPR projects relating to the costs of state preschool expansions, the status of girls, and paid leave.

Layla Moughari, Research Program Associate

Layla Moughari joined IWPR in September 2009 as Research Program Associate. Previously, Layla was Senior Government Affairs Assistant at the Mortgage Bankers Association and worked as an IWPR work-study student focusing on the demographic composition of paid sick leave recipients in the U.S. labor force. Layla was a New Leaders fellow at the Center for Progressive Leadership and has worked with the National Council of Women’s Organizations and the American Association of University Women’s Lobby Corps. Additionally, Layla co-authored "Work-Life Policies for the Twenty-First Century Economy,” with the Mobility Agenda. She has a Masters degree in Public Policy, focusing in Women’s Studies, from the George Washington University, and graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Women’s Studies and a B.S. in Psychology.

Claudia Williams, Research Analyst

Claudia Williams joined IWPR in August 2007 as a Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellow. She studied Economics at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Her interests are focused on gender, poverty and development. She participated in the Mexican Colloquium of Mathematical Economy and Econometrics with a paper titled “Gender Wage Gap in Mexico”; where using the Mexican Family Life Survey she studied gender and returns to education among Mexican adults. Claudia studied abroad in Montreal in the fall of 2005 where she took a women’s studies class and focused her research on feminist economics. She was part of an American University summer institute program in the summer of 2005 where she got involved with North American issues. Before joining IWPR she lived in Metepec, Mexico and worked full time as a research assistant at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Claudia is excited about learning and working on women's issues and living in DC. Claudia enjoys running, yoga, reading and writing in her blog.

Allison Helmuth, Research Assistant

Allison Helmuth joined IWPR in October 2008 as a Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellow.  Originally from Ohio, she is a 2007 graduate of Wittenberg University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and minors in Women's Studies, Writing, and English.  Her senior thesis criticized the philosophical contradictions pertaining to race and class in Euro-American feminist research methodology.  In 2006, she studied gender and development in Kingston, Jamaica with the School for International Training.  She returned to Kingston in 2007 and joined the University of the West Indies as a visiting student in the Gender and Development Postgraduate Unit and the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies.  Under the auspices of a Fulbright Award and the supervision of UWI economist Dr. Michael Witter, she conducted independent exploratory research on urban backyard chicken rearing in Kingston's underserved communities.  She plans to release a report in spring 2009.

Sunhwa Lee, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher

Dr. Sunhwa Lee earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago, where she focused on gender inequalities in East Asian labor markets (e.g., South Korea and Japan). At IWPR, she works on many projects that analyze data from national surveys. Her recent projects include research on the impact of disabilities on women’s work participation, and the importance of work supports on women’s job retention. Dr. Lee’s research also focuses on older women’s economic issues including Social Security preservation, access to pensions, employment, and poverty issues. Before joining IWPR, she was in faculty at the Sociology Department of American University, and taught courses on social/economic inequalities, family, and social research methods.

Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher

Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., is the former Director of Poverty, Education, and Social Justice Programs at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She is currently the Executive Director of the National Council of Negro Women, where she formerly served as the Director of the Research, Public Policy, and Information Center for African American Women. She is continuing her connection to IWPR as an Affiliated Scholar. Her work examines the causes and consequences of poverty on the well-being of low-income women and families while identifying effective programmatic strategies that result in poverty reduction. Dr. Jones-DeWeever has authored or coauthored numerous publications including When the Spirit Blooms: Acquiring Higher Education in the Context of Welfare Reform; Saving Ourselves: African American Women and the HIV/AIDS Crisis; and The Women of New Orleans and the Golf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery. A highly sought-after speaker, Dr. Jones-DeWeever’s policy perspectives have been distributed through a variety of media outlets including CNN, ABC News Now, National Public Radio, BBC Radio International and the New York Times. Her areas of expertise include poverty in urban communities, inequality of educational opportunity, and the impact of welfare reform on women and communities of color. Dr. Jones-DeWeever received her Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Voices. Women Vote Action Fund.

Lois Shaw, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher
shaw at iwpr.org

Areas of expertise: Contact her with questions about: Social Security, older women's issues

Lynette Osborne, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher

Lynette Osborne, Ph.D., is an Affiliated Researcher at IWPR. Dr. Osborne is a sociologist who studies gender and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She earned her Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2006; her dissertation focused on the perceptions of women in engineering education. Dr. Osborne was the 2006-2007 ExxonMobil Scholar in Residence at the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education (CASEE) where she edited a manual for writing NSF grants on gender and STEM. She is an Assistant Professor in the University Honors Program (UHP) and an adjunct instructor in the Sociology Department at The George Washington University. At GWU, Dr. Osborne teaches courses on gender, feminist theory, and research methods. She also conducts program evaluation research for the UHP. Dr. Osborne has been with IWPR since 2007 where she has contributed to several projects. Currently, she is working on the evaluation project with the Girl Scouts of America. In this capacity, Dr. Osborne will conduct an evaluation of Girl Scout workshops geared toward promoting girls' interest in STEM fields.

Development and Communications

Ryan Koch, Development Director

Ryan Koch joined IWPR in 2007 as the Development Director. He earned his MS in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin and as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech he majored in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. His area of study and interest has been and remains focused on issues of race, class and gender. Ryan comes to the IWPR after several years successfully writing grant proposals for the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development and the Memphis Housing Authority. He spent most of his time working with the Housing Authority's Humans Services programs and the City's homeless Continuum of Care. Ryan is responsible for ensuring the Development Department runs smoothly and is excited about helping IWPR identify new funding opportunities and expanding its support.

Jennifer Clark, Development Coordinator

Jennifer Clark joined IWPR in 2009. She graduated from Boston University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in American History and International Relations. In her role as Development Coordinator, she will be helping the Development Department with membership services and locating sources of funding for IWPR projects, as well as assisting with various communications tasks. Prior to joining IWPR, she spent some time on the campaign trail, working on the Finance staff for Mike Signer during his 2009 run for lieutenant governor of Virginia. Her interest in fundraising and development as a way to advance causes and organizations she supports began when she interned with EMILY’s List during the 2008 election cycle. She is excited to be returning to a research environment, especially with an organization that provides crucial, women-centered information to policymakers and other organizations. Although her quest for adventure and thirst for knowledge has led her to different settings, she will always consider herself a North Carolinian.

Janet Mullen, Director of Finance and HR

Janet has been affiliated with IWPR since February 2004 as a Consultant and more recently as a member of the staff. She attended Hood College where she received a BA in Management. IWPR is her first experience at a non-profit company. Janet has worked for several corporations, nearly all of which were small entrepreneurial companies where she wore many hats. In the mid 1990’s she was certified by SHRM as a Professional in Human Resources. Janet is responsible for the financial recordkeeping and reporting, as well as office and human resources administration.  She is the staff liaison to the Finance, Audit, and Personnel committees of the Board.

Jocelyn Fischer, Special Assistant to Dr. Heidi Hartmann

Jocelyn Fisher currently serves as the Special Assistant to Dr. Heidi Hartmann. She joined IWPR in 2010.  Jocelyn attended Smith College as an undergraduate, and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. After graduating,she interned at Child Trends and served as a statistics tutor. She also formerly served as an intern with IWPR immediately following graduation. She is thrilled to be at IWPR, where she will have the opportunity to combine her interests in women’s issues and economics.

Elisa Garcia, Office/Program Assistant

Elisa Garcia joined IWPR in 2009 as the Office and Program Assistant. Originally from Texas, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Kenyon College in 2008 with a double major in Psychology and Spanish. While at Kenyon, Elisa conducted research projects investigating the effects of early education on low-income children’s language skills, and for her senior honors thesis, designed a second-language reading intervention for Head Start preschoolers. Prior to joining IWPR, Elisa interned for the Child Development branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and for eight months taught English in Granada, Spain at a bilingual elementary school.

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IWPR Board of Directors

Lenora Cole, Chair
University of Maryland University College

Esmeralda O. Lyn, Vice Chair
Hofstra University

Carol Greene, Treasurer
Goldens Bridge, NY

Cynthia Lloyd, Secretary
Population Council

Heidi Hartmann, President
Institute for Women’s Policy Research

WIlliam Baer
Bloomingdale's

Mariam Chamberlain
National Council for Research on Women

Robert Corti
Avon Foundation

Ellen Delany
Delany, Siegel, Zorn & Associates, Inc.

Holly Fechner
Covington & Burling LLP

Lynn Gitlitz
Business Development Consultant

David A. Goslin
American Institutes for Research

Ellen Karp
Anerca

Susan Meade
Phillips Oppenheim

Emily van Agtmael
Van Agtmael Interiors

Sheila W. Wellington
New York University

Marcia Worthing
Avon

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IWPR Program Advisory Committee

Barbara Bergmann
American University

Nancy Duff Campbell
National Women’s Law Center

Joe Cordes
The George Washington University

Nikki Daruwala
American Rights at Work

Cynthia Deitch
The George Washington University

David Fasenfest
Wayne State University

Sarah Gotbaum
SCG Associates

Caren Grown
American University

Cindy Hall
Women’s Policy, Inc

Cynthia Harrison
The George Washington University

Rufina Hernandez
National Education Association

Catherine Hill
American Association of University Women

Lisalyn Jacobs
Legal Momentum

Joan Kuriansky
Wider Opportunities for Women

Sara Melendez
The George Washington University

Daniel Moshenberg
The George Washington University

Christine Owens
National Employment Law Project

Afeefa Syeed
Al Fatih Academy

Elena Silva
Education Sector

Deborah Weinstein
Coalition on Human Needs

Nancy Zirkin
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

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