Staff Bios

Ralph received the 2008 Friend of Education Award presented by the Illinois Education Association-NEA, for meritorious efforts on behalf of the students, staff and public institutions across Illinois by demonstrating in both word and deed support for great public schools.  Ralph also received the 2007 Champion of Freedom Award, presented by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to individuals who carry out Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s commitment to equal educational opportunities through their professional and personal activism, and the 2004 Ben C. Hubbard Leadership Award, presented annually by Illinois State University to an individual whose leadership has significantly benefited education in Illinois.

A frequent lecturer on fiscal policy, Ralph continues to teach at the undergrad and graduate student levels, including a Master's level class on fiscal policy and a Doctoral class on the politics of education at Illinois State University, and an undergraduate class on public policy for Benedictine University.  In 2009, Ralph will design and teach Masters' level programs for both Roosevelt University and the University of Illinois.  Ralph also has and has taught tax policy seminars for the International Fulbright Scholar Program, the National Labor College and the national Women in Government lecture series. In 2007, he keynoted Arizona State University's first national conference covering the issues involved with Latino high school drop-outs.  Ralph has been featured as a tax policy expert for numerous television and radio news programs such as WTTW, the Chicago PBS affiliate, and WPWR, the Chicago NPR affiliate.  Prior to joining CTBA, Ralph was a partner in a law firm, with a sophisticated transactional practice focused on intellectual property, structured finance and mergers and acquisitions.  Mr. Martire has conducted domestic and international seminars on technology, patent and trademark development and licensing, has served as a lecturer at Northwestern University Law School on intellectual property transactions, and as a member of the Northwestern Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property Advisory Board. 

Mr. Martire served as the deputy issues director for Dawn Clark Netsch in her gubernatorial campaign, and issues director for David Wilhelm in his run for the United States Senate.  He is also a former candidate for the Cook County Board.  His prior appointments include serving as a member of both the Cook County State's Attorney's Council on Hate Crimes Prosecution and Cook County Special Task Force on Domestic Violence.

Mr. Martire graduated from Indiana University Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in history and received his JD from the University of Michigan.  He is married to Mary Kay Martire, and has two children, a son Nicholas, and a daughter Valerie.

Jim Nowlan is a Senior Fellow with the University of Illinois, Institute of Government and Public Affairs and an adjunct professor of public policy at Knox College. In addition, he currently serves as Director of Research with the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and as Project Director with the Illinois People’s Budget Project.  Prior to these positions, Jim served as president of the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois from 1991-94.  Nowlan considers himself a jack-of-all-trades in government and politics. Former Illinois Governor James Thompson called on Jim to take over troubled state agencies on three occasions and to assist his administration in eight different capacities.  In recognition for his work in the public arena, Jim received the 1994 award for "distinguished leadership as a public administrator" from the Illinois state capital chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, and the 1995 Ben C. Hubbard Award for Leadership in Education from the Illinois State University College of Education.  Jim was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1968, at age 26. Four years later Governor Richard B. Ogilvie asked Jim to be his running mate as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, when they were narrowly defeated.  Former U.S. Senator Charles Percy asked Nowlan to manage his successful campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 1978. The following year, U.S. Representative John B. Anderson called on Jim to organize his national presidential campaign. Nowlan's planning work for Anderson was described as "brilliant" in the Washington Post book, Pursuit of the Presidency.  His book Inside State Government is considered by many to be required reading for executives in Illinois state government. In a 1989 book, A New Game Plan for Illinois, Jim presented a specific, dramatic platform for Illinois in the 1990s. Nowlan and Samuel K. Gove are co-authors of Illinois Politics and Government: The Expanding Metropolitan Frontier.  Jim writes frequently for the Chicago Tribune and Crain's Chicago Business.  Active in public service, Jim has been a founder, officer, or board member of numerous nonprofit groups, including the Stravinsky International Music Awards, the Illinois Tax Foundation and the Committee of 100 of Voices for Illinois Children. In the 1970s, Nowlan owned and operated a group of community newspapers in central Illinois.  Nowlan received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in political science from the University of Illinois.

Heather O’Donnell is the Policy Director for Health Care and Human Services at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.  Heather has extensive experience in the areas of tax policy and public health care finance, with a particular focus on Medicaid and indigent care funding.  She was appointed by the Illinois Attorney General to serve on Illinois’ Task Force on Health Planning Reform.  Heather was also appointed by a committee of business and civic leaders to serve as a Director on the Cook County Health and Hospital System Board, the independent governing board that oversees the County’s public hospitals and clinics.  Prior to working in the public interest sector, Heather practiced law for seven years, specializing in corporate tax law.  Heather is licensed to practice law in Illinois, has an LL.M. in taxation, and is a certified public accountant. 

 

Ron P. Baiman is the Director of Budget and Policy Analysis at CTBA.  Prior to joining CTBA, Ron worked as Research Economist for the Illinois Department of Employment Security analyzing and reporting on state labor market, and state revenue collection data. He also worked at Loyola University’s Center for Urban Research and Learning, the Institute of Government and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois, and the Center for Urban Economic Development at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he researched topics such as Wal-Mart’s impact on local economic development, the impact of Illinois minimum wage increases, Chicago Living Wage Ordinances, and exit polls from the 2004 Presidential election. Ron has received research grants from the Russell Sage Foundation and from the Woods Fund of Chicago. He has also taught classes on international and regional economics at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Roosevelt University where he was an Assistant Professor of Economics; published papers on regional, public, and international political economics in a number of peer reviewed journals; co-edited a book: Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism that received the Choice award for “Best Academic Title” in 2000; and has served on the Editorial Board of the Review of Radical Political Economics for many years. Ron holds a Ph.D., and an M.A. with Honors, both in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York City, did graduate work in Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated “very good” (Magna Cum Laude) with a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics from Hebrew University, Israel.  

 

Bukola Bello joins CTBA as the Director of the Illinois Retirement Securities Initiative (IRSI).  As the newest addition, she brings over seven years experience in administrative, nonprofit and state government with expertise in research and statistical economic analyses pursuant to pension legislation.

Prior to joining CTBA, Bukola worked as a Pension Analyst for the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA - a legislative commission with the Illinois General Assembly).  During her tenure at COGFA, she co-wrote and authored seven published retirement reports including the first ever published Handbook of Illinois Pension Case Law and submitted over ninety-eight analytical summaries of legislation affecting the Illinois Pension Code. 

Her passion for community service was channeled into her work on the Leadership Springfield Board of Directors, the Positive Options Referrals and Alternatives (PORA) Board of Directors and numerous committees as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  She also holds membership in the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP).

Bukola received a Master of Arts with honors in Legal Studies with a Graduate Certificate in Law for Human Services and Social Work.  She received a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Her research background includes presenting qualitative data to doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and assisting with an Associate Professor’s publication entitled “Two Warring Ideals: Double Consciousness, Dialogue, and African-American Patriotism Post 9-11.  Her work also includes various reports at the behest of state Senators and Representatives. 

Kathy Miller is Director of Communications and Development at CTBA. Kathy’s career in the nonprofit sector extends from legislation and advocacy to nonprofit management and fund development. She has been a consultant on fundraising, governance and communications to local, state and national nonprofit organizations, including service as an adviser to NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. Kathy has directed training programs for the Center for Nonprofit Success and the national ACLU’s Fund Raising Faculty. She held prior positions as Development Director of the Evanston Community Foundation, Associate Director of the ACLU of IL and as national ACLU lobbyist on race and sex discrimination where she led the successful campaign to amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect pregnant workers. 

Kathy has served on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Illinois and the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, Victory Gardens Theater, Planned Parenthood of Chicago, National Coalition to Ban Handguns and was a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Council. She is a founder of United We Learn, a grassroots organization that supports equity in public school education.'

Yerik Kaslow is a Research Associate at CTBA. Yerik came to CTBA in 2008 with prior experience in the areas of education, housing, and community development.

Prior to joining CTBA, Yerik worked in the mortgage industry for four years, and was most recently employed at the National Opinion Research Center as a research associate, working on projects involving housing finance and assessment of the Federal No Child Left Behind program. He also spent time in New Orleans, working as a community development analyst with Seedco, where he evaluated Hurricane Katrina recovery grant applications, and helped write policy proposals regarding regional recovery work.

Yerik received his Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago in June 2008, focusing on labor markets, workforce development, and empirical methods.  While there he served as both vice-president and president of the Harris School student government, and was recognized as part of the Chicago Leadership Fellows program at the Harris School.  He was awarded distinction for his thesis, which examined the methods used to assess the effects of immigrants and immigration on the labor market outcomes for native workers.  Additionally, he has performed research examining how the acquisition of English helped shape the labor market outcomes of non-native English speakers in the United States.  He completed his undergraduate degree at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, studying Literature, History, and German.

Tracy Schonberger is the Administrative Director at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, with over fifteen years of administration and management experience.  Tracy has been on staff at CTBA since its inception in 1999, and provides overall day-to-day operational, financial and administrative management for CTBA.  Prior to joining CTBA, she was a legal secretary during which time she worked with Ralph Martire. Tracy’s time in the legal sector provided her with tremendous organizational and computer skills that have equipped her with the expertise necessary to meet the time sensitive nature of CTBA's work.