 John Tillman, CEO
jtillman@illinoispolicy.org
John Tillman serves as CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. A successful entrepreneur, John has built and led organizations in the arenas of political activism, retailing, e-commerce, and internet access. His years of experience in the business world have given him firsthand knowledge of the power of free markets and the importance of accountable government.
John previously served as president and COO of the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation during their start-up phase. Prior to his time with Sam Adams, he served as president and director of Americans for Limited Government, where he helped ALG grow from a single, part-time employee in May of 2004 to a staff of approximately 25 that had a significant impact on political activity in 13 states in 2006. An experienced speaker on the principles of liberty and the role of government in our society, John has appeared in media outlets ranging from Fox News to National Public Radio, and is a regular guest on top Chicago radio shows.
John has been involved with a number of civic organizations, including serving in the voluntary capacity of village president in his community. He is a former vice president of the Board of Directors at the Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club in Chicago. John and his wife, Julie, live in the north suburbs of Chicago, where they are raising their 10-year-old daughter, Lauren.
 Kristina Rasmussen, Executive Vice President
krasmussen@illinoispolicy.org
Kristina Rasmussen serves as the Executive Vice President of the Illinois Policy Institute, where she directs the Institute's operations, legislative outreach, and policy research. She develops and advises decision makers on liberty-based public policy solutions, and specializes on budget and tax issues, health care, and economic competitiveness.
Kristina's opinion pieces have been featured in the Washington
Post, Forbes Magazine, Chicago Tribune,
National Review Online, Investor's
Business Daily, the State Journal-Register and The
Hill, among others. Her television appearances include CNN, CSPAN,
Fox Business News, and Al Jazeera English, and Fox Chicago News and she
has been a guest on numerous radio shows.
Kristina came to the Institute from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), where she amplified the pro-taxpayer message by serving as Director of Government Affairs. In addition to her extensive tax and budget advocacy, Kristina worked on telecommunications, transportation, and state transparency issues.
Kristina completed her Master's degree in Political Management at George Washington University, where she was named a Bryce Harlow Foundation Scholar. Kristina graduated summa cum laude from Randolph-Macon Woman's College with a B.A. in Political Science. Kristina and her husband live in Springfield, Illinois.
Click here to view policy reports, articles, and other work by Kristina Rasmussen.
 Heather Wilhelm, Senior Fellow, Communications
hwilhelm@illinoispolicy.org
Heather Wilhelm, the Institute's senior communications fellow, comes from a background in marketing, public relations, corporate communications, online news, web development, magazine editing, and print journalism.
Heather's written commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, RealClearPolitics.com, the Washington Examiner, and the National Review Online. In 2005, she received a Phillips Foundation Fellowship for her written work promoting constitutional principles, a democratic society, and a vibrant free enterprise system.
Heather currently sits on the board of governors for Opportunity International, a Chicago-based microfinance group providing small business loans to impoverished entrepreneurs around the world. She holds an M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Political Science from Northwestern University. Click here to view policy reports, articles, and other work by Heather Wilhelm.
 John M. O'Hara, Vice President of External Relations
johara@illinoispolicy.org
John M. O'Hara is vice president of external relations at the Illinois Policy Institute. Before joining the Institute, John worked as the assistant director of communications at The Heartland Institute. Previously, he served as a political appointee under U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. Prior to that, John was a Collegiate Network journalism fellow at The American Spectator. He has been active in political campaigns at the state and federal level, including one presidential campaign.
John is the author of A New American Tea Party, a book chronicling the history and principles of the tea party movement, and a contributor to BigGovernment.com and The Daily Caller. He has appeared as a commentator on a number of local and national radio and television programs including The Dennis Miller Show, Mancow, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Savage Nation, Milt Rosenberg's Extension 720, Fox News Channel’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, America’s Newsroom, Strategy Room, and Fox & Friends, Fox Business Network’s Happy Hour and Cavuto, as well as MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews.
John graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A. in Philosophy and a concentration in the Integrated Program in Humane Studies. He studied ancient philosophy and ethics at King’s College, University of London and he was managing editor of The Kenyon Observer.
 Collin Hitt, Director of Education Policy
collin@illinoispolicy.org
As director of education policy, Collin Hitt manages all education policy research and advocacy for the Illinois Policy Institute. The Institute produces leading research on charter schools, school choice, service privatization and school funding in Illinois.
Collin's work has earned coverage from national and state media outlets, such as the Illinois Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Education Week and The Christian Science Monitor, and the nationally syndicated radio segment Family News In Focus. His written commentaries have appeared in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, the State Journal Register, the Peoria Journal Star, and the Chicago Sun Times.
Collin has also served as a visiting fellow at the Maine Heritage Policy Center and a research consultant to Americans for Prosperity of Illinois. His is an alumnus of the Institute for Human Studies, as well as a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. While at SIU he earned his B.A. in philosophy and political science and later served as a research assistant at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. He has taught school in rural France, and has served on the board of directors of the Springfield Area Arts Council. Collin is a native of Springfield, Illinois, where he currently resides.
 Kate Campaigne Piercy, Director of Government Reform
kpiercy@illinoispolicy.org
Kate Campaigne Piercy, Director of Government Reform, joined the Illinois Policy Institute in April of 2008. Previously, she worked for the Heartland Institute as a legislative specialist for health care and welfare reform.
Prior to returning to her home state of Illinois in 2007, Kate worked as a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where she worked with the late Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Kate concentrated on foreign policy and defense while helping complete the Ambassador's final book, Making War to Keep Peace (Spring 2007). While in D.C., she also worked as a research assistant for Mrs. Lynne Cheney, focusing on education policy while researching for Mrs. Cheney's children's books on American history. Previously, she worked in development for the Federalist Society. Kate has written commentary in the Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Wall Street Journal, Ottawa Times and has written book reviews for the American Enterprise Institute. Additionally, she has provided commentary in various radio interviews throughout the state, especially from coverage on the Institute's transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org.
Kate graduated cum laude from Georgetown University in 2003 where she majored in Classics and received a minor in English. Click here to view policy reports, articles, and other work by Kate Campaigne Piercy.
 Brian Costin, Director of Outreach
bcostin@illinoispolicy.org
Brian Costin, Director of Outreach, joined the Illinois Policy Institute in January of 2010. Previously, he worked for the Heartland Institute as assistant director of government relations. Brian has been active in the Institute’s Liberty Leaders project, which he now leads, and founded the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition, where he won the 2010 Government Watchdog Award from the Sam Adams Alliance for his work exposing government waste & fraud in his hometown of Schaumburg.
Brian graduated with distinction from North Park University where he received a Master in Management of Nonprofit Administration. While attending North Park University, Brian worked for UPS in operations management and business development. As an undergraduate at Illinois State University, Brian completed a Bachelors of Science degree, double majoring in Economics and Politics & Governance.
Brian’s work has earned coverage from national and state media outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, and Chicago Tonight. He is a regular guest on the nationally syndicated television show First Business and the Mornings with Ray Hanania radio show. Click here to view policy reports, articles, and other work by Brian Costin.
  Daniel Anthony, Director of Marketing and Communications
daniel@illinoispolicy.org
Daniel Anthony serves as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Illinois Policy Institute. His professional experiences span both the non-profit and corporate arena.
Previously, Daniel worked with Saatchi & Saatchi S – the marketing and sustainability consulting division of top global ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi. He worked in both a client management and planning/strategy capacity to develop marketing and communications strategies around issues of sustainability and corporate stewardship for some of the largest companies and most popular brands including Coca-Cola, General Mills, NBC Universal, Wal-Mart and Frito-Lay. Prior to his work with Saatchi he served as the Director of the National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology, a Washington, DC non-profit that focused on finding solutions to real-world problems through technology innovation.
Daniel brings a global perspective to his work. He was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and went on to spend his teen years in Mexico and Singapore working on various social justice and humanitarian aid projects with his family. Following his time abroad he settled in Illinois. Daniel completed his BA in foreign languages and linguistics in Normal/Bloomington, IL at Illinois State University and his MBA in international business at The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.
He practices regular community volunteerism and has worked with local organizations including StreetWise and Chicago Youth Programs. Daniel lives in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. He is fluent in Spanish and enjoys writing short fiction and adding to his 400+ movie collection.
Lee Williams, Investigative Reporter
lee@illinoispolicy.org Lee Williams is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked at newspapers in two states and a U.S. Territory, and most recently at a free-market think tank in Wilmington, Delaware.
His stories, which have focused on civil rights abuse and government accountability, have earned more than a dozen of the nation’s top journalism awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Medallion and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award.
More importantly, his work has resulted in positive change, including multiple investigations by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S Commission on Civil Rights, as well as numerous legislative and criminal probes.
Before becoming a journalist, Lee worked as a police officer and served in the U.S. Army.
 Katie Truesdell, Manager of External Relations
katie@illinoispolicy.org
Katie Truesdell, Manager of External Relations, came to the Illinois Policy Institute with a background in print journalism, communications, and development within the pro-liberty political arena. At the Institute, she works in partnership with CEO John Tillman to execute all event and fundraising operations.
In April 2009, she was awarded a Phillips Foundation fellowship grant to complete an independent journalism project. Katie graduated cum laude from Hillsdale College in 2006 where she majored in American Studies and was selected to be a member of the Herbert H. Dow II Program in American Journalism. As a participant of this program, she worked for her college newspaper during her four-year tenure and served as Editor in Chief during her senior year.
 Michael Demkovich, Marketing and Communications Associate
michael@illinoispolicy.org
Michael Demkovich joined the Institute in August of 2009. As a marketing and communications associate, Michael handles the design and formatting of the Institute's policy work, as well as website management. He also oversees the Institute's Milton Friedman Internship Program.
Originally from the Chicagoland area, Michael spent the year prior to joining the Institute in Washington, DC, as a participant in the 2008-2009 Koch Associate Program. Through the program, he worked at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation as a Communications Associate and briefly stayed on after the program to work on Americans for Prosperity's health care initiative. Michael previously held internships with the Sam Adams Alliance and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.
Michael graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising.
 Amanda Griffin-Johnson, Public Policy Analyst
amanda@illinoispolicy.org
Originally from Alaska, Amanda came to Illinois to study economics at the University of Chicago. Reading Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom inspired her to become more active in promoting free markets. In 2008, Amanda was an intern with the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York. She also founded Students for a Free Society, the only free-market student group at the University of Chicago. After serving as an intern for the fall quarter of 2009, Amanda joined the Illinois Policy Institute as a full-time staff member in December. Her interests include health care policy, tax reform, and transparency.
Amanda graduated with general honors from the University of Chicago in 2009 with a B.A. in economics.
 Mark Cavers, Research Associate
mcavers@illinoispolicy.org
In this role, Mark assists the Department of External Relations with outreach, event planning, and fundraising. He came to the Institute as an intern in the fall of 2009 with a background in Political Science. Mark graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 2009 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science.
 Ashley
Muchow, Public Policy Analyst
amuchow@illinoispolicy.org
Ashley Muchow joined the Illinois Policy Institute in June of 2010.
Originally from St. Louis, Ashley came to Illinois to attend Loyola
University Chicago to study economics and finance. While attending
Loyola, Ashley interned with SmithBucklin Corporation as a market
research and statistics intern and after graduating from Loyola in May
of 2009 worked with the CIT Group, Inc. in their asset leasing legal
division.
In early June, Ashley joined the 2010-2011 Koch Associate Program with
the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation in Washington, D.C. Her
policy focuses include budget and tax reform and education policy.
Ashley graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors in economics
from Loyola University Chicago receiving a B.B.A. in economics and
finance.
 Jerry Agar, Multimedia Fellow
jerry@illinoispolicy.org
Acclaimed talk radio host Jerry Agar joins the Illinois Policy Institute while continuing to work
as a weekend talk host for the Chicago radio station WGN AM 720.
Jerry, who writes for TownHall.com as well as his radio
shows, will be blogging and podcasting on the daily issues facing Illinois and beyond.
Previously, Jerry hosted shows on major talk radio stations such as WLS in Chicago, WABC in New York and KMBZ in Kansas City. Originally from a town of 800 people in Manitoba, Canada, Jerry came to
the United States when nobody was talking about adopting Canada's style
of medical coverage. His American radio career started in the Chicago suburbs of Geneva/St.
Charles at WFXW. He claims that it is not his fault that the station
went off the air and never came back on.
After traveling America as an itinerant morning show host on music
stations he started in talk radio in 2000 at WPTF in Raleigh, North
Carolina. While there he won Radio and Records Magazine's "Rising Talk
Star of 2004." In 2006 he was nominated for Talk Host of the Year. To read Jerry's latest commentary, click here.
 Don Soifer, Senior Fellow, Education
Don Soifer is Executive Vice President of the Lexington Institute and a newly appointed member of the Washington D.C. charter school board, the independent public body responsible for overseeing and authoring all charter schools within the nation's capital. He has published research and articles on a wide range of domestic public policy topics and runs the Lexington Institute's education program. Don has testified before the U.S. Congress and in official proceedings of several federal agencies and state legislatures, and his work has been published in many of the nation's most influential publications. Don will focus on education in his work as a senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute.
 Andrew Busch, Senior Fellow, Finance and Markets
Andrew Busch is the Global FX Market Strategist for BMO Capital Markets' Investment Banking Division in Chicago. He is a recognized expert on the world financial markets and how these markets are impacted by political events. On a regular basis, Andy consults with the staffs from the US Treasury, Congress, and the White House on economic and market issues. He is a regular contributor to CNBC, and is regularly quoted in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and the Associated Press. Daily, his views appear in his e-mail newsletter, the Busch Update. Andy will cover financial and budget issues for the Illinois Policy Institute.
 Leonard Gilroy, Senior Fellow, Regulation and Privatization
Leonard Gilroy is the Director of Government Reform at the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank advancing free minds and free markets. A certified urban planner (AICP), Len researches privatization, government reform, transportation, infrastructure, and urban policy issues. He is the editor of the world's most respected newsletter on privatization, Privatization Watch, and is the editor of the widely read Annual Privatization Report, which examines trends and chronicles the experiences of local, state, and federal governments in bringing competition to public services. His articles have been featured in such leading publications as Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, and The Weekly Standard. Len will focus on privatization issues and reform in his work with the Institute.
Donna Arduin, Senior Fellow, Budget and Tax Policy
Ms. Arduin is a partner at Arduin, Laffer & Moore, Econometrics, LLC, providing economic, fiscal, and policy advice to Governors, legislatures, think tanks, and corporate clients throughout the country.
Donna served as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Director of Finance from November 2003 until October 2004, where she was the Governor's chief fiscal advisor and was a member of over 70 boards and authorities. Prior to her appointment as Director, Schwarzenegger asked Arduin to undertake an outside, independent audit of California government and state finances.
Prior to working for Governor Schwarzenegger, Arduin served governors from three additional states, including Florida, New York, and Michigan. Donna was Governor Jeb Bush's Director of the Florida Office of Policy and Budget for five years, where she managed the formulation of the governor’s policy and fiscal recommendations, created the nation's first interactive "e-budget," and implemented performance-based budgeting and long-range planning. Additionally, Donna served Governor George Pataki throughout his first term as First Deputy Budget Director and led his successful efforts to reduce and simplify property taxes in New York and reduce the size of state government. Donna also served Governor John Engler for three years during his first term, as Chief Deputy Director of the Michigan Department of Management and Budget, as well as the executive director of his reinventing government commission and his appointee to the Michigan Municipal Bond Board of Trustees. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe, Inc, which is the community-based organization that coordinates child protection programs for the Miami area.
A graduate of Duke University, Arduin graduated magna cum laude with honors in economics and public policy. She worked as an analyst in New York and Tokyo in the private financial markets for Morgan Stanley and Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.
 John Hill, Senior Fellow, Energy Policy
Dr. John Hill is a Senior Fellow for the Alabama Policy Institute and the founder of the newly-formed American Indicators, a research and education organization devoted to tracking trends in health, family, education, the environment, and education. He has authored more than two dozen publications on responsible environmentalism, education, gambling effects, and family structure. John is also an adjunct instructor at Faulkner University, where he teaches introductory research methods, statistics, and quantitative business analysis for executive degree programs.
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