TAUBMAN CENTER FELLOWS & SCHOLARS
The Taubman Center and its affiliates house several research fellows each year, typically academics and experienced practitioners who take a sabbatical to study, write about, and help spread insights and ideas on a variety of subjects. During their time at the Harvard Kennedy School, they engage with other scholars and practitioners, faculty members, staff, and students.
Alison R. Williams
Alison Williams is a consultant to non-profit and corporate clients seeking to positively impact the world. From 2016-2023, she served as Chief of Staff to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, supporting his transformational vision for the State. During Governor Hutchinson’s tenure, she coordinated the most successful chair’s initiative in the history of the National Governors Association, expanding awareness of and access to computer science education, and led the first Women’s Commission recognized by the state in nearly fifty years. Before returning to Arkansas, Williams worked in the Washington, DC, area for more than a decade in the public and private sectors.
As a civil servant, she served in the U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense, led a federal interagency board responsible for coordinating federal security programs on the African continent, and managed external affairs portfolios. In the private sector, she consulted with both start-ups and Fortune 100 companies in the defense and homeland security industries. Early in her career, she worked with former Congressmen Asa Hutchinson and John Boozman. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Williams is a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government, an inaugural member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas’s Clinton School of Public Service and serves on the University of Arkansas’s Data Science Advisory Council. She and her husband Bob enjoy travel, live music and yoga.
Jamey Tesler
Jamey Tesler is currently the executive director of the just launched Mass Mobility Hub, a public benefit corporation with a mission to support the mobility sector and is looking to build community, support companies in their growth, and accelerate change in this sector. Jamey is also a Visiting Fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Previously, Jamey served as Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for a fully multimodal state transportation department, oversaw the leadership of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and served on the board of the Massachusetts Port Authority.
Jamey had previously served as Registrar of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in June of 2020, after serving in the role on an interim basis since June of 2019. Jamey has previously worked for more than 20 years in senior management roles in the public sector with experience in infrastructure, transit, sustainability, mobility, public finance, and public policy. Jamey has also served as General Counsel to the Massachusetts State Treasurer, Deputy Legal Counsel in the Office of the Governor, Deputy General Counsel for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Acting Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Transportation, and as Chief Operating Officer at MassDOT.
Miro Weinberger
Miro Weinberger served as the Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, from 2012 to 2024, the longest continuous service of any mayor in the city’s history. During his tenure, Weinberger led significant initiatives that transformed Burlington, earning widespread recognition for his leadership in sustainability, economic development, and public health. Under his leadership, Burlington became the first city in the United States to achieve 100 percent renewable energy status, and carbon emissions were reduced by 18 percent between 2019 and 2023. He also steered the city’s financial recovery, raising its credit rating from near junk-bond status to AA, saving taxpayers and ratepayers over $40 million in interest. Additionally, Weinberger’s housing focus quadrupled the rate of housing production, and his proactive approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic helped keep Burlington’s infection and death rates among the lowest in the country.
Prior to becoming mayor, Weinberger co-founded The Hartland Group, a real estate development and consulting firm based in Burlington, Vermont, in 2002. As a partner, he was instrumental in completing over $40 million in development projects, creating more than 200 homes across Vermont and New Hampshire. The Hartland Group was recognized for its focus on creating vibrant, high-quality, and sustainable urban neighborhoods, emphasizing well-designed buildings in downtowns and emerging New Urbanist communities.
Weinberger’s early career began in New York as Vice President for Capital Projects at the Greyston Foundation from 2000 to 2002, where he managed $20 million in affordable housing and community development projects. His work included leading the renovation of historic sites and navigating complex environmental remediation efforts. Prior to that, he served as Executive Assistant to the President of Greyston.
Weinberger holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the Harvard Kennedy School (1998), where he completed a policy analysis thesis for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on promoting regional cooperation among municipalities. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Environmental Studies from Yale University (1993), where he received the prestigious Ellsworth Award for his senior thesis.
Weinberger’s dedication to public service, urban development, and sustainability continues to shape his legacy as a transformative leader in Burlington and beyond.
Paul Mounds, Jr.
Paul Mounds Jr. served as Chief of Staff for Governor Ned Lamont from 2020 to 2023, where he oversaw all the workings of the Governor’s Office and the Executive Branch, including the Governor’s cabinet and agencies. During his three-year tenure, Mounds helped lead the state’s covid pandemic response and negotiated and implemented state budgets that created the state’s largest rainy-day fund and record payments to pay down long term fiscal liabilities. After spearheading efforts to secure the reelection of Governor Lamont by a double-digit margin, Mounds departed the position at the beginning of Governor Lamont's second term in January 2023 to become the Vice President of Community and Corporate Alliances for Yale New Haven Health.
In his two decades of public service and experiences as a trusted advisor to elected officials and executives, Mounds previous roles include serving as the State of Connecticut's chief operating officer, vice president of policy and communications for the Connecticut Health Foundation, and a senior staffer for Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy, U.S. Congressman and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John B. Larson and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal in various policy and communications roles.
Mounds is a member of the Trinity College Board of Trustees, where he serves as Chair of the Governance Committee and member of the Executive Committee, and the Governor's Prevention Partnership. He previously held board positions at the University of Connecticut, the State of Connecticut Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth and the State of Connecticut Judicial Selection Committee
Born in Hartford, CT and raised in East Hartford, CT Mounds is a graduate of the Loomis Chaffee School and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College.