Initiative on Financial Security Staff

Lisa Mensah, Executive Director
Lisa Mensah is an expert in using financial tools to improve the economic security of the working poor.  At IFS, Ms. Mensah leads an advisory board of corporate executives and experts to explore financial products that build wealth from birth to retirement for America’s working families.  Ms. Mensah began her career in commercial banking at Citibank prior to working 13 years with the Ford Foundation.  Serving as Deputy Director of Economic Development for the organization, Ms. Mensah led the Foundation’s work in microfinance and women’s economic development. She became the leading national funder of individual development accounts (IDAs) – an innovative savings account structured with matching incentives and personal financial training used to finance homeownership, entrepreneurship and education. Under Ms. Mensah’s leadership, IDAs grew from an experiment at a handful of sites to become a tool used by hundreds of community organizations in all 50 states.  Ms. Mensah holds an M.A. from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Matthew Baumgart, Associate Director
Matthew Baumgart is an expert on Congress, the federal legislative process, and legislative strategy, having spent over 17 years working for the United States Senate. Most recently, he served as Legislative Director for Senator Barbara Boxer of California, where he supervised the legislative staff, managed all of the Senator's legislative activities, and was her chief legislative strategist. He also oversaw a study on privatization of Social Security. Prior to working for Senator Boxer, Mr. Baumgart worked for over 10 years for Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., of Delaware, primarily as an expert on health care reform and Social Security. While there, he also worked on savings policy, including extensive research on Individual Development Accounts and authoring a bill to encourage savings for college education. Mr. Baumgart relocated to New York City to join IFS in September 2007. He is a native of Seattle and has a degree in Communications, with a second major in Political Science, from Washington State University in Pullman, WA.

Pamela Perun, Policy Director
Pamela Perun is a lawyer and psychologist who consults on retirement income policy issues.  She recently researched pension plans integrated with Social Security for the Boston College Center for Retirement Research and the potential effects of Social Security reform on the private pension system for AARP.  For the Urban Institute, she has written about phased retirement programs, personal accounts under Social Security, contribution limits to savings plans, trends in stock-based compensation, and universal savings accounts.  She edits Employee Benefits, Compensation and Pension Journal for the Social Science Research Network.  Ms. Perun practiced employee benefits law in Boston and Washington, D.C., and has held research appointments at Duke University, Wellesley College and Harvard University Medical School. She received a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from Wellesley College.  She is a member of the Massachusetts, District of Columbia and California Bar Associations.

Mary A. Laraia, Senior Fellow/Project Director
Mary Laraia is a policy analyst specializing in community programs and financial services for underserved populations. At IFS, she oversees the work on state child account demonstration projects. Ms. Laraia has over twenty-five years experience as a senior executive in corporations, government, and the nonprofit sector.   Most recently, Ms. Laraia served as Group Senior Vice President and Head of Community and Sustainable Development at LaSalle Bank in Chicago. In this capacity, she provided leadership for the corporation’s award-winning social responsibility strategy, which included community lending and equity programs. Prior to her banking career, Ms. Laraia served as a Cabinet Member and Head of Capital Development for Cook County, Illinois, and Executive Director of Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council. Ms. Laraia received a B.A. from Northwestern and an M.S. from Loyola University, was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University, and taught Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Elena Chávez Quezada, Senior Associate
Elena Chávez Quezada is responsible for examining legislative policies on savings and investment. She contributes to IFS policy proposals and advises on IFS’s legislative strategy. Ms. Chávez Quezada previously worked at the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA), where she coordinated policy activities relevant to the community development venture capital industry and organized CDVCA’s annual conference. Ms. Chávez Quezada, a native New Mexican, also worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative correspondent for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in Washington, D.C. She is a board member of the Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, and holds a M.A. in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Andrew Butler, Junior Associate
Andrew Butler provides support for many of the programs and activities of IFS, with a current focus on policy work, research, and event planning. Prior to joining IFS in early 2008, he assisted with marketing and advertising for CT Homes, LLC, in New Haven, Connecticut. He previously worked at Seoul Language Institute in South Korea, where he created course materials and taught English classes for students planning to study abroad.  A native of Los Angeles, Mr. Butler holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University.

Katie Gadkowski, Junior Associate
Katie Gadkowski is involved in many facets of the IFS operation, with a current focus on child account state demonstration projects and savings and economic policy research. Prior to joining IFS in March 2008, Ms. Gadkowski worked as a business analyst for a large apparel company in New York City and was a paralegal for Weil, Gotshal & Manges. She is a Colorado native and holds a B.A. in economics from Tufts University.

Mary Gentile, Executive Assistant                                                                                                                                   Mary Gentile oversees all administrative and office management tasks, including scheduling, financial payments, database management, and supply and equipment requisition.  Ms. Gentile has over 10 years experience as an Executive Assistant/ Administrative Assistant, including stints at a marketing and design firm in New York and, most recently, in the non-profit sector.