State Farm Mutual
National Network of Women in Community Development

KeyCorp

State Farm Bank

First American Real Estate Information Services, Inc.

The Unity Council
 

 
 

John Talmage, President and Chief Executive
John was selected to be the President/CEO by the Social Compact Board of Directors in May of 2006 after serving as Deputy Director. Prior to joining Social Compact, John served as the Deputy Director for Economic Development for the City of New Orleans. In New Orleans, John focused on business development issues, including workforce development,international trade and business recruitment and retention. Before joining the Mayor’s office in New Orleans, John worked in New York City, working primarily for the New York City Council. While in New York, John worked with communities throughout North Brooklyn to address economic development,housing and land-use matters. John is married to Melissa Talmage with whom he has two children, Olivia and Benjamin.
Ryan Sullivan, Managing Director
Ryan joined Social Compact's research team in 2000 as a research assistant, helping pioneer Social Compact's DrillDown in four diverse Chicago, IL neighborhoods. In his capacity as Associate Director for Emerging Neighborhood Markets, Ryan applied his strong statistical analysis and creative thinking to overseeing research and production of the DrillDown, as well as streamlining Social Compact's research methodologies. Ryan holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Philosophy from Boston College and a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Sydney, Australia, where he studied major movements in contemporary literature, exploring themes shaping the identity of urban areas.
Elsie Achugbue, Research Analyst
Elsie Achugbue joined Social Compact in 2006. Elsie holds a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her graduate studies focused on international development and planning in multicultural communities; and research interests include the political and practical implications of increased diversity in cities. Prior to graduate school, Elsie worked for two years in organizational evelopment,assisting individuals and organizations in building cultural competence in serving diverse immigrant and ethnic communities and in managing diversity in the workplace. She has also worked on community development projects targeting capacity building, minority leadership development, and sustainable affordable housing. Elsie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Macalester College.
Ryan Gerety, Associate Director of Research
Ryan joined Social Compact in June 2006 after completing her MA in Political Science at the University of New Mexico. Her graduate work focused on the polical economy of development. During graduate school, Ryan worked as a research assistant in the Complex Adaptive Systems group at the University of New Mexico, where she modeled nonlinear dynamics in cancer and in social organization. Previously, she was a software engineer and web developer at Xynergy, Inc. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico.
Andrew Martin, Manager, Data Warehousing
Andrew joined Social Compact in June of 2006. Andrew holds a MS in Applied and Resource Economics from East Carolina University and received his BA in Economics and Latin American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through his coursework and experiences studying abroad in Mexico, Andrew developed a keen interest in development issues and the informal economy. Andrew 's international experience also includes a year of teaching English in Japan.
Nebehat Noyan, Research Associate
Nebahat has joined Social Compact in December 2006 as a socio-economic research associate. Nebahat has completed her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering at Rutgers University, and holds a professional certificate in Urban Planning from Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Her dissertation work focuses on defining and quantifying “risk” sociated to roadway accidents using Bayesian and Spatial modeling methods, and understanding “risk” using efficient model-based visual representations for safer roadways. During her graduate studies, she worked as a researcher on projects sponsored by NJDOT, NYCDOT and NYSDOT. Previous to Social Compact, she worked as a GIS Software Developer at Avencia, a geospatial analysis firm based in Philadelphia, where she worked as a part of the team tasked to create a Mural Survey web application for Cartographic Modeling Lab at University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and as a part of the team tasked with design and development of the software product called “Arcas” that is designed as a Global Geocoding Service.
Quentin Stubbs, Research Associate
Quentin joined Social Compact in June of 2006 with experience in environmental policy, urban planning, and statistical analysis. He has served as a Planner/Statistician with an architecture/planning firm in Alexandria, VA assisting in environmental studies regarding the proposed D.C. baseball stadium in SE DC, the revitalization of naval facilities like the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Station Norfolk, and the Washington D.C. Navy Yard, as well as the proposed United States Institute of Peace. He has also worked as a Congressional Fellow via the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. in the Office of Congressman James Clyburn (SC-06) as well as the Minority Staff of the U.S. House of Representatives – Committee on Science researching a wide variety of issues like economic development, environmental health, population growth/sprawl, and appropriations. Quentin holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University with a concentration in Environmental Science and Policy. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in International Business from Mercer University.
Carolina Valencia, Associate Director of Research
Carolina Valencia holds a Ph.D. and a Master Degree in Political Science with a specialization in poverty reduction from Florida International University (FIU). In her studies, Carolina has focused on strategies to combat poverty at the micro and macro level in developing and developed nations. Through this research, Carolina has become deeply involved in informal economy studies and the development of micro enterprises. In addition, she has been an active member of Hands on Miami for four consecutive years. There, she has worked in a wide variety of projects to promote community development around Miami-Dade County and its outskirts.She holds an Arts and Science B.A. from the University of Richmond.
Linda Solomon, Administrative Assistant
Linda came to Social Compact in 2004 with over fifteen years experience working in the community focusing on human rights issues.  She has been instrumental in educating people regarding resources for housing, skill building, and employment through her work with S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat) SE Job Center.  Ms. Solomon spent ten years with Voters For Choice and Choice USA dealing with national and international reproductive rights and women’s issues.  She has also worked with the National Women’s Law Center where she created their first resource directory.  Formerly, Ms. Solomon put her creative skills to use as a columnist, writing the “Lowe Down” for teens in the Afro-American newspaper.
 
 
Another important use of data for community development is to demonstrate to potential private investors that lower-income communities often present substantial investment opportunities. An example of how data development has enhanced the ability of communities to demonstrate the economic potential of their neighborhoods is the Neighborhood Market Drill Down approach to measuring market value designed by the nonprofit organization, Social Compact.
- Gov. Ben Bernanke, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System