The Wonk Room

Think Progress: Wonk Room is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund is a nonpartisan organization. With the blog, CAPAF seeks to provide a forum that advances progressive ideas and policies.

Editor

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report. He holds a B.A. degree in Government from Harvard University and a J.D. degree from the Georgetown Law Center. Faiz has previously worked as a Research Associate for the Democratic National Committee, as a Legislative Aide to Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and as a communications aide in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. His writings have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, Florida Today, and Salon. Faiz has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and CNBC television, among other places, and has been a guest on many radio shows. (E-mail Faiz HERE.)

The Wonk Room is produced with editorial assistance from the staff of ThinkProgress.

Writers

Brad Johnson is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, focusing on climate issues. Brad holds a bachelor’s degree in math and physics from Amherst College and master’s degree in geosciences from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. He is the co-author of Technomanifestos and the founder of HillHeat.com. Prior to joining the Center, he worked as a developer for Saatchi & Saatchi, Lextranet, and the Democratic National Committee. Brad grew up in Boston, Massachusetts.


Matthew Duss is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, focusing on national security issues. Matthew holds a master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the center, he was a research intern for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a blogger for The American Prospect. Matthew grew up in Nyack, New York.


Igor Volsky is a Research Assistant for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, focusing on health care issues. Igor majored in history at Marist College where he also hosted his own political radio show and contributed political columns to the school newspaper. Prior to joining the Center, Igor blogged at BodyPolitik.org and interned with ThinkProgress, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College. Igor grew up in Russia, Israel, and New Jersey.


Pat Garofalo is a Research Assistant for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, focusing on economic issues. He graduated in 2008 from Brandeis University with a bachelor’s degree in history and journalism. While at Brandeis he was the editor-in-chief of The Brandeis Hoot, Brandeis’ community newspaper. He has interned with ThinkProgress and the New Jersey Herald. Pat is originally from northern New Jersey.


Ben Furnas is a Research Associate at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and policial science from Cornell University. He also studied developmental economics for a semester at the National University of Singapore through a Marist University travel scholarship. Prior to joining the Wonk Room, Ben wrote for MicCheck, CAPAF’s progressive radio prep sheet. He grew up in, and often yearns for, Ithaca, NY.

Peter Harbage is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and President of Harbage Consulting, a Sacramento-based health policy firm. During his career, Harbage has served as Senior Advisor for Health Care to Senator John Edwards, Assistant Secretary of Health for the State of California, and Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration. Harbage teaches at the University of Southern California. Harbage has appeared on CNN, NPR and KCBS. He has been cited in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Peter graduated Phi Beta Kappa with High Honors from the University of Michigan, where he also earned his Master of Public Policy.