Lisa McMonagle is a senior policy associate with the CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) operations team who works on a range of projects in higher education operations, policy research, and municipal finance. She manages key components of ISLG’s work with CUNY through the Efficiencies for Re-Investment and Innovation (ERI) Initiative—including leading the implementation of ISLG’s Financial Planning Fellowship for CUNY Administrators, managing ISLG’s work within CUNY’s shared services initiative, and by providing detailed policy analysis and research in the higher education space. She additionally served as the project lead for ISLG’s engagement with New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and provides support for ISLG’s municipal finance work with cities including Baltimore, Ottawa, Canada, and Bratislava, Slovakia.

Before ISLG, McMonagle worked in sustainability and in homeless services and served as a legislative fellow in the House of Representatives. She holds a BA in political science and environmental studies from Santa Clara University and an MPA from the NYU Wagner School of Public Service.

Cecilia Low-Weiner is a senior research associate at CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) focused on criminal legal system research, process and outcome evaluation, and strengthening data and analytic capacity within criminal legal agencies. Her work aims to support agencies in using data more effectively to inform decision-making and promote equitable outcomes. Her role brings together data analysis, policy, and practice to ensure that research is applied in ways that are actionable, community-driven, aligned with justice reform goals, and implemented with an equity lens.

Prior to joining ISLG, Cecilia worked with multiple non-profits dedicated to criminal legal research and advocacy. She holds a BA in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in social research from Hunter College. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring the endless food and play opportunities that Brooklyn has to offer with her wife, child, and community of friends.

Leigh Wedenoja, chief economist at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, specializes in education, labor, and health policy research. Her work focuses on assessing the causal impact of public policy using both quantitative and qualitative methods. She has worked with New York State agencies and nonprofit organizations on topics including the care workforce, employment for people with disabilities, civil service exams, K-12 and postsecondary education policy, and the overdose epidemic. Dr. Wedenoja is also a lecturer at the University at Albany in the graduate Department of Education Policy & Leadership and her work has appeared in academic publications and the popular press. Prior to joining the Rockefeller Institute, Dr. Wedenoja served as a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University and as administrator of the US Census Bureau’s Federal Statistical Research Data Center at Cornell University. She holds an MA and PhD in economics from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Carla Sinclair is the CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance’s (ISLG) communications project director, leading the organization’s day-to-day communications efforts as well as longer-term strategies. This includes the editorial development of original project-based content, such as blogs and reports, as well as getting them out into the world, whether it be through an interactive web summary, social media campaign, targeted press, or an event with a community partner (usually a mix of the four, and more). She also spearheads internal and external efforts to strengthen ISLG’s brand through visuals, written copy, and processes used across the organization.

Prior to joining ISLG, Carla was the senior writer for the Center for Alternative Sentencing & Employment Services (CASES), where she worked on internal and external communications efforts to garner support for education, employment, behavioral health, and alternative-to-incarceration programs. Before that, she was an editor at The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, leading the development of products in the employment, criminal records, and juvenile justice portfolios. Carla received a double-major BA in political science and English from Binghamton University. A native Brooklynite, she spends her spare time taking long walks to explore new corners of the city, staying out too late at jazz clubs, and crying over the Mets.