NGL People

Co-Director Jered B. Carr is a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Jered studies urban governance processes, with an emphasis on local public service delivery and policy coordination. His work explores the role networks of individuals and organizations play in overcoming governance challenges in polycentric settings.

Co-Director Michael D. Siciliano is an associate professor of public administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Michael studies how humans and organizations collaborate to improve society. His work explores the cognitive, social, and institutional factors influencing the formation and performance of networks in the public sector.

Kate Albrecht is a faculty member in the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics (PPMA) at UIC.  Kate Albrecht’s research focuses on public organizations engaging in both formal and informal structures of collaborative governance. Albrecht’s interests in understanding organizations as actors within broader institutional and community environments has led to a secondary focus on research methods, particularly methodologies capable of handling longitudinal, multi-level, dynamic, and inter-dependent data structures.

Kelly LeRoux is a faculty member in the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics (PPMA) at UIC. Kelly LeRoux conducts research on nonprofits’ voter mobilization and political advocacy activities and also studies issues of nonprofit performance, accountability, and networks. Her research has been published in more than a dozen public and nonprofit management journals including Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Journal Urban Affairs, and Administration & Society.

Saman Shafiq is a teaching faculty member within the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics (PPMA) at UIC. Saman Shafiq has worked on projects that are quite diverse in policy scope. Shafiq was part of the UIC team working on a collaboration project known as Northern Illinois Benchmarking Cooperative (NIBC). The project involved the identification of performance standards for municipal services such as policing and analysis of data collected by the communities to provide the most effective and efficient community services to the citizens. Shafiq has also been working closely with the lab on collecting qualitative data related to interlocal agreements in the 28E Iowa dataset and local government collaboration with nonprofits. Through her research, Shafiq wants to study how data and social network analysis can be used as tools to better understand the decisions that organizations and their members make. She wants to research how different relations and different attributes of individuals or organizations change the dynamics of the decisions they make along with how decision-making processes at an organization can be optimized so that they lead to the most effective results.

Saman Shafiq earned their PhD in Public Administration from PPMA in 2023.

Jun Li is an Assistant professor at the College of Charleston and an affiliated member of the Networks & Governance Lab at the University of Illinois Chicago. She specializes in nonprofit and public management, collaborative governance, using social network analysis. Her recent research expands to how public, public leaders, and bureaucrats accept AI use in government agencies to address the efficiency and equity challenges that AI agents bring to public sectors.

Jun Li earned their PhD in Public Administration from PPMA in 2024.

Alejandra Medina is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs (SPA). She has a PhD in Public Administration from the University of Illinois Chicago. Her primary research interests lie in understanding the drivers of network formation, evolution, and performance, positing her work within the fields of public sector networks, collaborative governance, public management, and organizational behavior. Alejandra is affiliated faculty at the Center for Policy and Democracy of SPA. Her current research includes the formation and evolution of emergency management collaborative networks and the effects of large-scale disaster events in collaboration. Her teaching focuses on research methods and collaboration across sectors.

Alejandra Medina earned their PhD in Public Administration from PPMA in 2023.

Jen Nelles is a Senior Research Fellow with the Innovation Caucus and co-director of the Oxford Regions, Innovation, and Enterprise Lab (ORIEL) at Oxford Brookes Business School. specializes in the areas of innovation and productivity policy, urban and metropolitan governance, regional economic development, infrastructure, and system dynamics. Her most recent work looks at the productivity puzzle and regional inequality in the UK and applies a system dynamics lens to understanding mechanisms and outcomes of agglomeration. Her most recent book takes a close look at one of these, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to understand how entrepreneurial intergovernmental organizations succeed and fail in fragmented political environments. Her scholarship on Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) and other cross-boundary regional organisations continues to bring nuance and new perspectives to the dialogue on regional governance in the United States. She also co-directs the RSA Network on Infrastructural Regionalism (NOIR). Oxford Brookes ResearchGate

Jay Rickabaugh is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at North Carolina State University’s School of Public and International Affairs (Raleigh, NC). His research focuses on how collaborative governance and regionalism impacts rural communities. In addition to his affiliation with UIC’s Networks and Governance Lab, he is also affiliated with the NCSU’s Science and Technology for Phosphorus Sustainability Center (STEPS) investigating collaborative governance and regional mechanisms affecting phosphorus in both soil and water. He also partners with Jen Nelles on projects pertaining to Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs).

Jose (Pepe) Sánchez is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. His research and teaching focus on cities, collaboration for service delivery, and metropolitan networks and governance. Pepe has been awarded twice with two of his young readers’ novels published in México, has a biweekly op-ed at the Mexican newspaper El Universal, a songwriting project, and has played alto saxophone with several professional bands in Mexico and Chicago.

Jose (Pepe) Sánchez earned their PhD in Public Administration from PPMA in 2023.

Austin M. Aldag is a PhD Student at Cornell University. His research agenda focuses broadly on local governments as institutions of social and economic change and inter-governmental relations and inter-municipal cooperation in particular of methods to bring about positive reform to the public sector. His work has been published in several prominent public administration journals including, but not limited to, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and Public Management Review.

Hanee Chang is a Ph.D. Student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Over five years of experience in the policy consultation industry, mostly with the governments in the global South led her to pursue a doctoral degree to explore a formation of collaborative governance to enhance the effectiveness of the public policy. Hanee’s research interests are urban governance and networks with an emphasis on intergovernmental service delivery and policy networks.

Michela Ghelfi is a PhD Student enrolled in the program The New Public Administration: data and human resources of the University of Milano-Bicocca. Her research project investigates through action-research factors facilitating and hindering collaboration between public and private organizations in the delivery of health services. Her research interests include network governance, network evaluation and interventions, health promotion and addiction prevention networks.

Divesha Goyal is a PhD student in the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics at University of Illinois Chicago. She has valuable research experience in various domains, including psychology, health, and policy analysis. Her research interests are driven by her multidisciplinary expertise to solve complex public policy challenges and improve data-driven decision-making processes in the realm of public health and healthcare.

Seohyeon Ko is a PhD student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has a strong research interest in criminal justice and previous experience studying juvenile justice policy in South Korea, using text analysis and network analysis. Seohyeon seeks to explore various aspects of networks within the criminal justice field, including network formation, performance, and accountability. Currently, her research focuses on community policing, correctional privatization, and victim support networks. Through her work, Seohyeon aims to foster effective criminal justice networks that support positive youth development.

Yashaswi Lal is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago, with a background in economics and a focus on public management and network studies. Her research interests lie in studying network-level dynamics such as trust and efficiency, and the challenges of collaborative governance. She is particularly intrigued by how network governance can address challenges of inefficiencies and effective public service delivery while fostering collaboration and representation. Her broader academic pursuits include exploring the interplay between democracy and economic systems within the context of public administration.

Luis David Ramirez B. is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. His research focuses on the intersection of democratic backsliding, collaborative governance, and the bureaucratic structures of public administration. Within this framework, he examines narratives of illiberal policies toward bureaucratic institutions, attacks by populist leaders on administrative bodies, and the erosion of pluralism in local service delivery networks. In addition to a strong foundation in quantitative methods, he has a keen interest in mixed-methods and qualitative approaches to research.

Weiqi Xia is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. With a multidisciplinary academic background in management, marketing, and policy, Weiqi’s research interests center on intra- and inter-organizational collaboration, with a focus on understanding the dynamics and challenges of collaboration within networks over time. Her previous work has explored individuals’ policy attitudes and their shifts, particularly in the context of U.S. immigration policy, using Twitter as a platform for analysis.

Maliha Zaka is a first year PhD student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her academic experience in the financial and economics field as well as professional research intrigued her to a deeper exploration of problems that pursuance of a doctoral degree could grant. She hopes to use her previous finance and economics background to probe into the nuances of public administration that centers on contemporary issues and have a substantial developmental impact. Within this her research interests are public and financial management.

Ezequiel Gaytan Neri is a PhD student of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. With a background in economics, and in public policy, some of his research interests include metropolitan governance, as well as the formation and evolution of intergovernmental networks to provide public services, building infrastructure and/or sharing knowledge regarding public finance management. Ezequiel worked for five years in the public sector at both the state and federal levels in Mexico. With experience in quantitative research, he is also interested in mixed methods and text mining.

Samuel Kurtz is a PhD Candidate of Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago and Founders’ Fellow at the American Society for Public Administration. Stemming from interest in addressing homelessness and economic development, his research interests include interorganizational service delivery, cross-sector contracting, governance networks, and goal sustainability. His work investigates the ways that regional organizations influence the structure of interorganizational contract networks, the mechanisms through which local governments monitor nonprofit organizations in collaborative service delivery, and the conditions under which partner choice may be utilized to mitigate risk. He also developed the Goal Ecology Framework, laying groundwork to investigate the ways that goals requiring both long-term planning and multiple organizations can be achieved. Read more about Samuel’s work at civicsamerica

Jahun Lee is a Ph.D. student of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His working experience in environmental organizations and research institutions made him pursue a doctorate degree. His research interests are urban governance, urban shrinkage, urban commons, community building, and social sustainability.

Raul Gutierrez Meave is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago, building on a previous Ph.D. in Public Policy from CIDE in Mexico City. His research explores the factors that drive collaboration among local governments in addressing urban challenges and delivering public services. He focuses on the interplay of networks, spatial relationships, institutional structures, and administrative capacities, employing methodologies such as spatial statistics, social network analysis, and econometric modeling to understand these dynamics. Raul’s work also addresses pressing applied policy challenges in sustainability, energy transitions, environmental justice, and urban development, bridging theoretical insights with practical implications.

Jason Michnick is a Ph.D. student of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago with professional experience in local economic development and nonprofit management. His research interests are in the intersection of economic development and environmental governance, especially around the role that public finance plays in collaborative networks and promoting sustainable development.

José Sánchez is a PhD student in the Public Administration program at the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago. José’s research interests are metropolitan governance and interlocal collaboration. Sánchez is particularly interested in the role of central big metropolises in metropolitan regions and networks. While in Mexico,  José was the executive coordinator of the National Local Government Award from 2013 to 2015.  His interests include Latin Jazz and Funk alto sax player, writer of children’s and young reader’s novels and biweekly editorialist at the Mexican newspaper El Universal.

Michele Santana is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. With over seven years of experience in higher education and professional work consulting on government grant funding and compliance, Michele is well-versed in academic advising, instruction, and policy implementation. Her research interests are focused on public policy, specifically in the areas of sustainability initiatives, healthy food accessibility, and active transportation infrastructure in urban areas. Outside of her academic pursuits, Michele is a member of the Blue Line Run Club in West Town and loves cycling around the city.

Michael Van Hulle is a PhD student in public administration at the University of Illinois, Chicago, with a passion for urban, corporate, and network governance. His primary research interests include the nexus between liberal democracy and post-nation state governance arrangements, world cities networks, and international migration networks. Before pursuing his PhD, Michael litigated complex mergers and acquisitions and federal securities claims at a corporate law firm in New York City.

Mashal E Zehra is a PhD student of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. With a background in economics and previous research on food insecurity and informal economy in the global south, Mashal decided to pursue a doctoral program to understand how intergovernmental collaborations can be improved for better service provision. Her research interests lie in exploring the institutional and structural precursors of network performance and collaborative governance. She is interested in the effectiveness of public service networks and inter and intra agency arrangements that mitigate collaboration risk and improve reliability.

Shuwen Zhang is Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration and a member of the Networks & Governance Lab at the University of Illinois Chicago. She specializes in local government management, collaborative governance, and social networks. Her research focuses on how local governments collaborate to address public challenges through interlocal agreements, regional institutions, and policy networks. Her dissertation research is in progress and analyzes the impact and effectiveness of regional intergovernmental organizations.

Personal Website: https://shuwenzzz.github.io/PersonalWebsite/