    
Staff Alex Johnston
Contact Alex: 203-772-4017 x11 or alex.johnston@conncan.org Ronald Jarrett
Contact Ron: 860-727-9977 x16 or ron.jarrett@conncan.org Marc Porter Magee
Contact Marc: 203-772-4017 x14 or marc.magee@conncan.org Lisa Whitfield Director of Operations, Speakers Bureau and Workforce Readiness
Contact Lisa: 203-772-4017 x18 or lisa.whitfield@conncan.org Jessica Bonafine
Contact Jessica: 860-727-9977 or jessica.bonafine@conncan.org
Karen Rutzick Karen Rutzick is Communications Manager at ConnCAN. In that capacity, Karen manages ConnCAN’s media relations, web content, newsletters and other communication vehicles. Before joining ConnCAN, Karen worked in Washington, D.C. as communications manager for the Save Darfur Coalition, where she led the international communications strategy and production of coalition materials. Previously, Karen was a staff correspondent for National Journal's Government Executive Magazine and a desk assistant for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Karen is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. She lives in New Haven. Contact Karen: 203-772-4017 x19 or karen.rutzick@conncan.org Tori Truscheit Contact Tori: 203-772-4017 x15 or tori.truscheit@conncan.org. Allison Pelliccio
Contact Allison: 203-772-4017 x13 or allison.pelliccio@conncan.org. Jessica Stram Government Relations Associate
Contact Jessica: 860-727-9977 or jessica.stram@conncan.org. Lourdes Fonseca
Contact Lourdes: (860) 727-9977 or lourdes.fonseca@conncan.org. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alex Johnston is Executive Director of ConnCAN. As ConnCAN’s first employee, Alex was responsible for launching the organization and currently leads its effort to bring parents, educators, businesspeople, public servants and community leaders together in a common effort to make great public schools available to every child in Connecticut. He previously served as director of operations at the New Haven Housing Authority, working as a member of the management team tasked with turning the agency around from the brink of receivership. A graduate of Harvard University, he studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship and received a D.Phil. in politics from Oxford’s Lincoln College, where he studied the impact of government funding on non-profit service providers. Alex lives in New Haven, CT with his wife Caroline, and is a board member of the New Haven Preservation Trust and the founder and president of the City Point Historic District Neighborhood Association. 
Ronald Jarrett is Director of Community and Government Relations at ConnCAN. In this capacity, Ron oversees ConnCAN’s community outreach and government relations initiatives. Prior to joining ConnCAN, Ron was deputy director of information services for New York State Senate Minority Leader (now New York State Governor) David A. Paterson. In this position he managed grassroots and organizational campaigns supporting state legislation. Previously, he was an editor at Atria Books/Simon & Schuster. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, he received a J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with a concentration in Entertainment Law. He lives in Hartford, CT.
Marc Porter Magee is Director of Communications and Research at ConnCAN. In this capacity, Marc oversees ConnCAN’s research and policy work, print and e-newsletters, media and foundation relations, and website and online projects. Prior to joining ConnCAN, Marc worked in Washington, D.C., as research director of the Partnership for Public Service, founding director of the Progressive Policy Institute's Center for Civic Enterprise, and as a contributing editor of the policy journal Blueprint. He is co-editor, with Will Marshall, of the book The AmeriCorps Experiment (PPI), author of more than 30 research and policy reports, and in 2005 led the development of U.S. News & World Report's first ever ranking of government agencies. Marc is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University. Marc, his wife Kathleen, and their two children live in Milford, CT.
Lisa Whitfield is the Director of Operations and also directs ConnCAN's Speaker's Bureau and Workforce Readiness Project. Before joining ConnCAN, Lisa worked for more than a decade as a legal office manager at an insurance defense firm and at a general practice law firm in Connecticut. Prior to that, Lisa served for nine years as the director/educator of the Business Management Program for a Connecticut college-level proprietary school. Throughout her career, Lisa has consulted on the issues of management, leadership, marketing and employee development and training. A graduate of the University of New Haven, Lisa is a member of the American Management Association, the Society for Human Resource Management and The Human Resource Association of Greater New Haven. She currently lives with her husband and children in New Haven, CT and serves as a Eucharistic minister for her local parish. 
Jessica Bonafine is ConnCAN's Government Relations Manager. As the Government Relations Manager, Jessica is responsible for managing and executing government relations activities and advocating for ConnCAN’s policies before state legislative bodies and agencies. Prior to joining ConnCAN, Jessica was the advocacy director for the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance. In this position she worked collaboratively with partners across Connecticut to help secure a significant increase in state support for early care and education. Previously, Jessica served as the clerk of the Appropriations Committee and legislative aide to State Representative Denise Merrill. Jessica is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, majoring in sociology and public policy and government. Jessica lives in Manchester with her four children. 
Tori Truscheit is Research and Policy Manager at ConnCAN. In this capacity, she is responsible for developing ConnCAN's major research projects and reports, including the Issue Briefs, School Report Cards and the State of Connecticut Public Education report. Before joining ConnCAN, Tori taught sixth grade literacy and social studies in a New York City public school through Teach for America, an alternative certification program that places recent college graduates in under-resourced schools. She went on to teach sixth and seventh grade English at Elm City College Prep, an Achievement First public charter school in New Haven. Tori graduated from Yale University, majoring in English, and received a master's degree in teaching with a specialization in Adolescent English from Pace University. While attending Yale, she served as a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow at All Our Kin. She lives in New Haven.
Allison Pelliccio is ConnCAN's E-Advocacy Associate. In this capacity, Allison is responsible for managing ConnCAN’s database, its electronic communications with members, its online action center, updates to ConnCAN’s website, and the training of members in online communications skills and activities. Allison is a Connecticut native and graduated from Fairfield University in 2003 with a degree in Political Science. Before joining ConnCAN, she worked as E-Organizer of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, where she managed communications with PPC's database of supporters. Allison, her husband, and their two dogs live in Branford.
Jessica Stram is ConnCAN’s Government Relations Associate. Her responsibilities include supporting the development and successful passage of the organization’s "Great Schools for All" legislative agenda. Previously, Jessica served as the Government Relations Fellow at ConnCAN for the 2008 Legislative Session. Prior to her arrival at ConnCAN, Jessica was a Public Policy Intern for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in Washington, DC, where she conducted research for their national anti-bullying legislative campaign. Jessica earned her Bachelors Degree from the University of Connecticut, and recently completed her Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration at Southern Connecticut State University, specializing in youth and political participation. Jessica currently resides in Wallingford, CT.
Lourdes Fonseca is ConnCAN's Community Relations Associate. Her responsibilities include supporting the implementation of various parent organizing projects and advocacy projects. Previously, Lourdes served as a community organizer at Hartford Areas Rally Together (HART). Prior to that position she was a family resource aide for the Hartford Board of Education. She worked at the Board of Education for 7 years. Lourdes is also an active community leader in the City of Hartford. She earned her Child Development Associate credential at Goodwin College in East Hartford, CT. Currently, Lourdes resides in Hartford.