CARE LAB Announces New Board
Care Lab is thrilled to announce eight new board members. Collectively and individually, our board represents a deep commitment to supporting the well-being of leaders and institutions. They hold extensive knowledge, skills, and experience with bridge-building in a wide range of contexts. Like the leaders our programs serve, they are politically diverse and represent a range of perspectives, fields, and personal experiences.
A critical function of the board will be to grow CARE LAB during this unique time in our country’s history.
“What Care Lab has been able to achieve as a small but dedicated organization has exceeded what I thought possible on the Hill. It’s critical that Care Lab sustain and grow the spaces it has created for senior leaders on the Hill,” says Dean Hingson a board member, founding dinner co-host, and former Chief to Senator Dan Coats (R-IN).
“Right now, the US and the world at large need more groups that are building ‘long-bridges’ between very different people and perspectives. I’m glad to be part of an organization that is actively doing that work,” reflected board member john powell of UC Berkeley’s Othering + Belonging Institute.
Meet The Board
Paul Bock is our board Treasurer and a founding co-host of our Three Dinners. Paul has 30 years of experience in politics and policy, with experience on campaigns, on Capitol Hill, and in government relations. Now a partner at Thorn Run, Paul served for over 12 years as Chief of Staff for Senator Kohl (D-WI). During that time he helped bring colleagues together as the co-founder of the Bipartisan Chiefs of Staff Association. He has previously worked as a partner at Holland & Knight and as legal counsel and political consultant to Capitol Hill Strategies LLC.
Dr. Guenevere Burke is the executive director and co-founder of the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity at the George Washington University (GW). Through seven global, interconnected programs, Atlantic Fellows collaborate across borders and disciplines to address the root causes of inequity. Dr. Burke is a board-certified emergency physician and previously served as president of the District of Columbia American College of Emergency Physicians. She is an assistant professor of emergency medicine, health policy and management at GW. She served previously as a health policy advisor to Senator Grassley (R-IA).
Steve Clemons is contributing editor at The National Interest and is Co-Chair of the European national security think tank GLOBSEC US Initiative. Clemons has served as Editor at Large of The Hill, The Atlantic and Semafor as well as in senior editorial roles at National Journal and Quartz. He is also proprietor of the popular political blog, The Washington Note, and hosts the popular news show, The Bottom Line, on the global network of Al Jazeera English. Clemons previously served as Executive Vice President of the Economic Strategy Institute and the New America Foundation, and was founding Executive Director of the Center for the National Interest.
Liam de-Clive Lowe is Co-founder and Co-President of American Policy Ventures where he works to bring together philanthropists, institutional partners, and policy organizations. Liam previously founded Humanity Forward’s bipartisan policy advocacy fund, which ran innovative campaigns on issues ranging from immigration reform and permitting reform, to economic opportunity and election security. In 2020, Liam designed and led a bipartisan initiative in partnership with Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) to enable the passage of historic bipartisan economic recovery legislation. Prior to his work on Capitol Hill, Liam advised federal and statewide campaigns, and was the founder of the Wednesday Group Speaker Series.
Dean Hingson is an attorney and Capitol Hill veteran with a decade of experience serving high profile Republican Senators. In his time on the Hill, he has notched policy and political wins by working with colleagues across the political aisle. He previously served as Chief of Staff to Senator Coats (R-IN), and is now a Senior Principal at Mehlman Consulting.
Liz Johnson is a seasoned communications and policy strategist with 15 years of experience in the US Senate. She is the Chief of Staff to Senator Mitt Romney and worked previously for Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Outside of the Senate, she has worked as a communications advisor for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and for the Department of Homeland Security. She has also served as president of the US Senate Press Secretaries Association.
john a. powell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the director of the Othering + Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley where he is also a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies. He is the author of several books, including Belonging without Othering: How we Save Ourselves and the World. He has taught at multiple universities, including Harvard and Columbia, has directed centers at the University of Ohio and University of Minnesota, and worked in Mozambique, South Africa, India, and Brazil.
Curtis Amir Toler is a Chicago native and the former leader of one of the city’s most notorious street gangs. He now serves as Director of Community Violence Interruption (CVI) Innovation for Chicago CRED, where he is committed to impacting the culture of violence. Before joining CRED he worked as a gang-intervention specialist, lead trainer, and outreach supervisor at various organizations dedicated to violence interruption and conflict resolution. He speaks to Care Lab dinner participants regularly about de-escalation of group-based conflicts.
Cofounders Sarah Stephens (President) and Justine Williams (Vice President) also sit on the board. Care Lab continues to be supported by an advisory group including Amanda Ripley, Alexander Caillet, Janice Caillet, Andrea Panaritis, John Richter, and Brad Fitch who contribute to our expert content, strategic development, and understanding our “downstream impact” and objectives.
We extend our thanks to original founding board members Sarah Bruno, Mariakarla Nodarse, and Selam Chale for their years of support and service.