TIF Illumination Project Team [from 2013]
Bill Drew Chief Data Scientist
Beginning in the late ‘80s, Bill Drew has written database programs for large corporations and small not-for-profit organizations. With a Masters in Urban Planning, Bill worked on regional quality of life survey results for Metro Chicago Information Center. He moved on to association management, philanthropic, brokerage, and insurance clients. His innovative projects include: a speech-enabled email client for vision-impaired users, a rules- based calculation engine for comparative auto insurance quotes, and a data warehouse for a multi-national insurance firm. Bill served as president of the FoxPro Users and Developers Group since 2010. He worked to provide public access to property tax data with the Tax Integrity and Fairness Alliance. Before entering in the world of data, Bill was immersed in anti-war, civil rights, and labor activism. One of the turning points in his life was a period teaching English as a Second Language. He was fluent in Spanish and continued to be active in political activity on the southwest side of Chicago until he passed in 2017. May he rest in power!
Lisa has over 16 years experience in every aspect of design, and has headed up Gizmo Design for the last ten years. She creates websites, logos and marketing collateral for a variety of local Chicago companies, including equity firms, salons, chiropractors and health organizations, not to mention Allstate and Kraft. Lisa designs, develops and speaks regularly on WordPress and website management and development. You can find her on Twitter at @gizmodesign.
Udthum Google – Chief Map Maker – Udthum (alias for someone who would rather we not know their true identity) has been a GIS professional for 7 years. She works in the public sector on GIS data and mapping projects with a variety of local government agencies. In collaboration with these agencies she develops maps, atlases, and map applications that help facilitate local planning and decision-making. After business hours, she provides her GIS expertise to non-profit organizations like the Civic Lab, Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project, Latino Policy Forum, and Chicago Women’s Health Center. She has been working on the TIF Illumination project for two years.
Open Local Illinois is a non-partisan, not-for-profit educational organization, that is dedicated to educating the public on transparent practices in local government, and conducting research on the business of local government entities. We work to educate residents on the practices of their local government entities through research, allowing them to be more informed citizens and voters. Check out their TIF Research home page.
Rob is a Ph.D. student in economics at University of Illinois at Chicago. His current research interests include tax policy, urban development and welfare reform.
John Sheehan TIF Video Project
With over 30 years in commercial, documentary and independent video, John now has a YouTube channel that has racked up over 6.5 Million views and 3,000 subscribers. His video clips have been featured on HBO, Discovery, MSNBC, and VICE as well as social media sites like Raw Story, Boing Boing and Think Progress.
Carlyn So TIF Illumination Graphic Designer
Carlyn So is an architectural designer with a devoted interest in addressing social equity issues and revitalizing existing buildings. With a passion for understanding how the government can play a more meaningful role in society, especially in her hometown of Chicago, Carlyn often ties planning, community & economic development, and graphic mapping into her projects. She believes design is a powerful problem-solving tool that can enhance public policy as a vehicle for progress, explain complex socio-economic systems and trigger conditions for a more humane society.
Tom has been an educator, activist and champion of civic engagement for most of his adult life – he did his first voter registration campaign in 1972. Tom has started or led twelve nonprofit enterprises in the arts, community development and civic engagement. In 1994 Tom organized “42nd Ward Citizens for Chicago’s Future,” a grassroots effort that was part of a successful regional coalition to stop the expansion of casino gambling into Chicago. He was the founder of the Community Arts Program at Peoples Housing that combined cultural programming with training and micro-enterprise. He has been fighting privatization and leading efforts to inform citizens about the true state of local government finance, corruption and service quality. He was a co-founder of Protect Our Parks, which litigated successfully to stop the Latin School from privatizing part of Lincoln Park in 2007, He was a co-leader of No Games Chicago, which was an all-volunteer citizen’s effort that worked to defeat the bid for the 2016 Olympics. In 2010 he was the Green Party candidate for Cook County Board President. He teaches classes on creativity, public policy and civic engagement for several local universities. Follow @tomstee. LinkIn with Tom. Personal web site.
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