Our Staff

The Rockefeller Institute of Government is the public policy research arm of the State University of New York and is the home of the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy. Through its research studies, special projects, conferences, and publications, the Rockefeller Institute works with the best experts in the nation to enhance the capacity of governments at all levels, and to forge creative solutions to public problems.

Richard Nathan - Director of The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy

In addition to his role with the Roundtable, Richard Nathan is Director of the Rockefeller Institute and the Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. Dr. Nathan has written and edited books on the implementation of domestic public programs in the United States and on American Federalism. Prior to coming to Albany, Dr. Nathan was a professor at Princeton University. He served in the federal government as assistant director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, deputy undersecretary for welfare reform of the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare, and director of domestic policy for the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (The Kerner Commission).

David Wright - Project Director

In addition to his role with the Roundtable, David J. Wright is Director of Urban and Metropolitan Studies at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, SUNY. His research interests focus on the role and effectiveness of community organizations in neighborhood development and in social service delivery. Mr. Wright is currently researching and writing about social capital in majority African-American neighborhoods, and on nonprofit collaboration and public partnerships under welfare devolution. He recently directed national field network studies on the effects of welfare reform on community development corporations, on implementation of the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community program, and on the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative. He is the author most recently of It Takes a Neighborhood: Strategies to Prevent Urban Decline. Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Wright served as Deputy Secretary to New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo for policy and program design.


Lisa M. Montiel - Research Scientist

Lisa M. Montiel is a Research Scientist for the Roundtable and the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Urban and Metropolitan Studies Program. She is responsible for database management, statistical analysis, and research support including a program designed to create a new conventional wisdom about the social conditions and economic prospects of predominately minority neighborhoods in large metropolitan areas across the United States. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. Montiel held teaching and research positions at SUNY Albany in the Department of Anthropology. She received an M.A. in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University and is a Ph.D. candidate at SUNY Albany.

Claire Hughes - Direct of Communications, Writer/Correspondent

Claire Hughes is the Director of Communications and writer/features correspondent for the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, part of the Urban and Metropolitan Studies Program at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. A journalist with 15 years’ experience writing and editing, Ms Hughes previously worked as a reporter at the Albany Times Union, the Capital District Business Review, and business editor for The Record in Troy, NY. She has won numerous awards for journalism, including first place from the New York Press Association for in-depth reporting in 1997, and second place for continuing coverage from the New York Associated Press Association in 2003. Ms. Hughes has a Bachelor of Science in Writing from Syracuse University, Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Anne Farris - Washington Correspondent

Anne Farris is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. and is currently the Washington Correspondent for the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, a research project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Ms. Farris has worked for the national sections of The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has also been a general assignment reporter for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Arkansas Gazette. Ms. Farris is the author of Test Pilot: Stanley H. Kaplan (Simon & Schuster, 2001); contributed to the bestseller book, Bloodsport (Simon & Schuster, 1996); and she wrote two reports for the Carnegie Corporation of New York on the 2000 election reform and immigrant civic participation. In addition to being a print journalist, Ms. Farris is a documentary film reporter for BBC/Current Affairs and other documentary film affiliates in London, England. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in Government and Urban Affairs from St. Louis University.

Patricia Cadrette - Project Administrative Officer

Patricia Cadrette is the Project Administrative Officer for the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, part of the Urban and Metropolitan Studies program at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Ms. Cadrette is responsible for contract management, fiscal administration, and research support. She also assists the director in communications with field associates. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. Cadrette was a senior staff member in the office of a New York State Senator, and previously worked for the Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal and in the Governor’s office.

Roxanne De Hamel - Webmaster

Roxanne De Hamel is Webmaster for the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, part of the Urban and Metropolitan Studies Program at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Prior to joining the Roundtable, Ms. DeHamel was the web coordinator for Union College (Schenectady, NY) and a database administrator for Advance Management Systems. Ms. DeHamel has an Associates of Applied Science degree from Hudson Valley Community College (Troy, NY) and a D.E.C. of Creative Arts from the Dawson Institute of Photography, Dawson College, in Montreal, Canada.