2010 Speakers

The following individuals are confirmed for the 2010 Summer Seminar:

Amanda Lenhart

Amanda Lenhart Amanda Lenhart is a senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project, where she directs research on teens, children and families. Her other research interests include education, gaming and networked communication tools like mobile phones, social networks, blogging and microblogging. Her most recent reports include Teens, Video Games and Civics; Twitter and Status Updating; Teens and Distracted Driving, Teens and Sexting; and Social Media and Young Adults.

For her research about and knowledge of youth and their use of technology, Amanda has testified before a congressional subcommittee, the FTC and the U.S. States’ Attorneys General. She has also presented her work at numerous academic and non-academic conferences and briefings, as well as to the media. Most recently, Amanda appears on the “PBS Newshour,” NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”

Amanda has been with the Project since its inception in 1999, and prior to that worked in communications and journalism, notably as editorial coordinator of Civilization magazine. She graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a double major in English and anthropology, and earned a master’s with distinction from Georgetown University in communications, culture and technology.

Katie Elfering

Katie Elering Katie Elfering is a consumer strategist at Iconoculture, a cultural trend research firm based in Minneapolis. Her expertise includes general pop culture, media and entertainment, and technology gadgets, and she advises her clients on consumer segmenting. Prior to joining Iconoculture in 2007, she managed marketing communications for an educational technology company and has managed public relations for a diverse portfolio of advertising, architecture and event planning accounts that include brands such as H&R Block, 3M, University of Minnesota, Alberto Culver and PLATO Learning. Katie earned her bachelor’s degree in English and print journalism from the University of Minnesota.

Chris Long

Chris Long As president and chief operating officer of the Cappex family of websites, including MeritAid.com, Chris Long is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company, including sales, marketing, product development and technology. Chris joined Cappex in June 2007 as vice president of product development. In that role, he was responsible for product strategy and feature development for Cappex’s students, college admission professionals, high school counselors and advertisers. Before coming to Cappex, Chris was vice president, product development at Apartments.com, the Internet’s leading destination for online rental listings. In this role, he was responsible for managing the strategic direction and execution of Apartments.com’s product team, including sister sites MovingCenter.com, RentalHomesPlus.com and ApartmentsPlus.com. Chris also served as director of product development for Cars.com, where he developed industry-leading products for private car sellers and buyers. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Anya Kamenetz

Anya Kamenetz Anya Kamenetz is a staff writer for Fast Company magazine. The Village Voice nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize for contributions to the feature series Generation Debt, which became a book published by Riverhead in 2006. Her new book, DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education (Chelsea Green) has been called “a thoughtful and much-needed call to rethink higher education” by best-selling author Dan Pink. She has written for the New York Times, appeared on CNN and National Public Radio, and she has been featured as a “Yahoo Finance Expert.” A frequent speaker nationwide, Anya blogs at Fastcompany.com, The Huffington Post and diyubook.com. Anya grew up in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and graduated from Yale College. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Todd Rogers

Todd Rogers is the founding executive director of the Analyst Institute, which works with leading progressive organizations to bring behavioral science methods and insights to learn what works and what does not in voter contact. His research is currently published or in press in peer-reviewed journals in psychology, political science, marketing, management, organizational behavior and decision science, and in the forthcoming book Behavioral Foundations of Policy. Todd is also a senior researcher with Ideas42 at Harvard University, and he was named a “Rising Star” by Politics Magazine. He was the associate director of the Consortium of Behavioral Scientists, which was a group of eminent researchers in cognitive science, psychology, behavioral economics and marketing that translated behavioral science into political communications strategies for progressives. He earned his undergraduate degree from Williams College and received his Ph.D. jointly from Harvard University’s Psychology Department and the Harvard Business School.

Chris Farrell

Chris Farrell Chris Farrell is economics editor for “Marketplace Money,” American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio personal finance program. An award-winning journalist, Chris is a regular contributor to “Marketplace Morning Report” and chief economics correspondent for American Public Media’s documentary unit, American Radio Works, and Minnesota Public Radio. He regularly writes for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. His latest book is The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More and Live Better. He’s also written two other books—Deflation: What Happens When Prices Fall and Right on the Money: Taking Control of Your Personal Finances. Chris has a weekly column in the Star Tribune. Chris received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and his master’s degree from the London School of Economics.

Tim Ranzetta

Tim Ranzetta is the founder and president of Student Lending Analytics (SLA), an independent research and advisory firm focused on finding the best lenders for students. Prior to founding Student Lending Analytics, Tim was president and chief operating officer of Equilar, a leading compensation research and consulting firm. At Equilar, he built the sales, research and consulting practices, which saw significant growth during his tenure from five to 40 employees. Previously, Tim served in leadership roles with fast growing businesses, including co-founding a leading information security company, which was acquired in 2001. Tim began his career as a management consultant with Bain & Company, and later worked as a research analyst at Massachusetts Financial Services. Tim earned his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor of science degree in finance with distinction from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Margaret Drugovich

Margaret Drugovich Dr. Margaret Drugovich became Hartwick College’s tenth president in 2008. A scholar-practitioner, Dr. Drugovich has presented her research on transformational leadership and consensus making structures in higher education at annual international meetings of the Academy of Management and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. Most recently, she was invited to respond to proposals on the reformation of the federal Pell grant program that were presented at the national president’s meeting of the Council of Independent Colleges.

Before assuming the Hartwick presidency, Dr. Drugovich served as the vice president for strategic communications and university enrollment at Ohio Wesleyan University, overseeing integrated university-wide communications, as well as U.S. and international new student recruitment, admission, and financial aid programs. Before joining Ohio Wesleyan in 1998, she spent nine years at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., serving in several roles, including associate director for institutional research, dean of admission and financial aid, and executive assistant to the president. Earlier in her career, she served as a researcher in health care policy at the Brown University Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research.
A native of Geneva, Ohio, Dr. Drugovich earned the doctor of management degree from Case Western Reserve University, where she also served as a Fellow of the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations. She received her master’s degree from Brown University in medical sociology, and her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Albertus Magnus College.

Jamie Wolfe

Jamie Wolfe Jamie Wolfe is the chief financial officer of NorthStar Education Finance, a position he’s held for the past 20 years. NorthStar operated as a guarantor for its first six years and has been a federal and private student loan lender for the last 14. Due to the collapse of the financial markets and the move to 100% Direct Lending, NorthStar is currently originating private loans for other parties and providing financial literacy programs and debt counseling to school and lender clients. NorthStar continues to manage over $6 billion of its own loans. Over the years, Jamie has been involved in advisory groups working on such topics as the private loan bankruptcy legislation and the ECASLA funding programs. Jamie is currently a member of the American Securitization Forum Student Loan Sub-issuers Forum, a group dedicated to issues surrounding student loan financing in the capital markets. Jamie earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.