Board Member Year: 2020

Of Counsel

Eric Robins has both a legal and economics education, earning a J.D., M.A. in Applied Economics and Advanced Certificate in the Regulation of Law and Economics from the University at Buffalo. He has a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan. He is a Principal at his own firm, Law Offices of Eric Robins, focusing on real estate investments, corporate/securities law, and immigration. Throughout 2015, he taught regulatory economics and law at the Ukrainian State University of Finance and International Trade (USUFIT) in Kyiv, Ukraine. From 2006 through 2014, Eric was an Associate at Williams & Jensen, PLLC in Washington, D.C., where he undertook economic analysis on equity market structure and analyzed legislative proposals and regulations related to trade associations, corporations, hedge funds, banks and related financial reform issues. Eric has been a member of the National Economists Club (NEC) since 2006, serving as Vice President for Membership (2017-2018), Vice President for Programs (2009), then President (2010), and Chairman (2011). He served on the NEC Board of Directors from 2011 through 2014 receiving an award from the NEC for his service. Throughout his membership, Eric has strongly supported the programs and efforts of the club. He has also served in various leadership roles with the NEC’s affiliated group, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), including as a NABE Policy Conference Program Committee Chair (2013) and as a Co-Chair of the Finance Roundtable (2012). He also worked to expand the NABE’s outreach to younger economists through the “Get Connected” group (2009). He looks forward to receiving your support for Of Counsel with the NEC.

Board of Governors

Joann M. Weiner is an associate professor of economics and Director of the Master’s in Applied Economics at the George Washington University. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University and her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught at GW since September 2006. From 1999 to 2006, Joann lived in Brussels where she taught public economics at the Saint Louis University, worked as a consultant for the European Commission on its study of company tax reform, and was the senior economics correspondent for Tax Notes International. Prior to moving to Brussels, she served as a senior economist in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. She also has written for The Washington Post, Bloomberg Government, AOL’s Politics Daily, and the numerous publications of the non-profit publisher Tax Analysts. She is a former member of the Board of the EC Tax Review. She is a past chairman and board member of Community Tax Aid and former board member of the National Tax Association.

VP Strategic Marketing

Hugo Dante is an Economic Research Associate at the American Bankers Association. He graduated in May of 2018 with an Honors Bachelor of Science in General Chemistry from the University of North Alabama. Hugo is currently an MA Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he is pursuing a Master of Arts in Economics.

VP Membership

Scholastica (“Gay”) D. Cororaton is a Research Economist at the National Association of REALTORS®, a trade association of more than 1+ million members. She is the lead economist managing the conduct, analysis, and report writing for the monthly Realtors® Confidence Index Survey and the annual Profile of International Real Estate Transactions in the U.S. and similar reports for Florida, Miami, and Raleigh, NC and the Realtors® Land Business Survey. These surveys provide vital statistics about first-time buyers, cash sales, investors, and distressed sales; median days on market; and foreign buyer purchases. She provides the macroeconomic writeup for the quarterly Commercial Real Estate Outlook reports. Using data sourced from surveys and publicly available, she writes blogs on the economy and housing market that appear in NAR’s Economists’ Outlook blog page. She creates the quarterly data Congressional District and State Reports that are used in NAR’s advocacy for homeownership. Under her direction, the Realtor® University Speaker Series has become a monthly event since it started in 2013, featuring speakers who share their rigorous yet practical research on housing market conditions and homeownership. She also edited the October 2017 and May 2018 issues of the REALTOR® University Journal of the Center for Real Estate Studies.

Before immigrating to the United States in 2005, she was Assistant Director for National Planning and Policy Staff at the Philippine’s National Economic Development Authority, the country’s development planning agency. She managed a 10+ person unit that was responsible for macroeconomic monitoring, forecasting, and analysis.

She has an MS in Statistical Science from George Mason University, an MA in Economics and a BS in Business Economics (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, and an MS in Industrial Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific in the Philippines.

She is a Certified Business Economist™ (CBE), the certification in business economics and data analytics developed by the National Association for Business Economics. The CBE documents a professional’s accomplishment, experience, abilities, and demonstrates mastery of the body of knowledge critical for a successful career in the field of economics and data analytics.

When not at work, Gay loves spending time with her family enjoying day trips, shopping, and eating out. She is actively involved in the parish ministry of St. Philips Catholic Church in Falls Church, VA.  Gay previously served as NEC VP of Membership.

VP Special Events

Phillip Todd is currently a M.A. Fellow with The Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he is pursuing his Masters in applied economics. He also works for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as a policy analyst. Formally, Phillip received a B.A. in international business and a B.A. in marketing, both from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. In his time at John Brown University, Phillip founded the John Brown Investment Group, a student managed investment fund aimed at providing opportunities for students interested in finance or students who chose to major in the newly formed finance degree. Phillip also co-founded the Executive Honors Council at John Brown University as a part of the American Enterprise Institute’s Values and Capitalism program. In his role as chairman, he led a team that organized and hosted lectures and dinners centered around intellectual debate.

Secretary

Clare Boyle graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a degree in Economics, where she published an honors thesis studying structural and institutional characteristics that affect Virginia high school dropout rates.  Before continuing with her education, Clare worked as a paralegal for a boutique corporate immigration law firm in Richmond, Virginia.  In 2015, Clare began her graduate studies at the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Commerce, with a concentration in Business Analytics.  During her graduate studies, she worked as a Teaching Assistant for the McIntire School Commerce upperclassmen International Finance class. In 2016, as part of these graduate studies, Clare embarked on an economics-focused global immersion program wherein she traveled to India, the Middle East, and South Africa to study public and private industry as well as government.  Clare began her professional career in 2016 when she joined Booz Allen Hamilton as a Senior Consultant, where her main area of focus was federal acquisitions.  She recently joined the civil service as a Management/Program Analyst in the Coast Guard Acquisitions Directorate, in the office of Acquisition and Systems Engineering Policy.  Clare became a member of the National Economists Club in 2016, and was elected as Secretary in fall 2017.  In 2017, Clare was chosen as a Kakehashi Scholar through the NEC, and was fortunate enough to participate in a study tour in Japan to learn more about their economy, government, and culture.  Clare is very grateful to be part of a community that values the study and application of economics, and is very excited to serve again as Secretary of the National Economists Club.

Treasurer

Katherine Tare is an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, where she works in the Survey Information and Publications Branch of the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions. Primarily, her work focuses on the dissemination and publication of the Employment Cost Index (ECI), Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), and Employee Benefits Survey. Katherine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and attended the University at Albany, where she received her Bachelors of Science in Economics and Business Administration. Prior to the BLS, Katherine worked at the New York State Department of Labor in Albany, New York, where she used a data driven approach to workforce development and assisted businesses with their hiring needs. Although her work has mainly revolved around labor economics, Katherine’s interests include monetary and fiscal policy, public finance, and behavioral economics. In her spare time Katherine enjoys traveling, practicing yoga, and spending time with her cat Freddy.

VP Communications

Scott is currently a senior analyst in the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ Office of Policy Analysis and International Relations. His work focuses on the economic impact of EXIM supported transactions on the U.S. economy. Via NEC, he was a 2017 Kakehashi scholar and traveled to Japan in February of that year with other NEC members. Prior to moving to D.C., Scott served as an equity analyst with CT Mason in Boston. He served on the board of the Boston Chapter of the National Association for Business Economics as secretary and membership chair. In those roles he was responsible for both managing membership, and marketing events via email and social media. Scott is a CFA Charterholder. He previously served as NEC’s VP of Communications.

Co-VP Programs

Dr. Peter Evangelakis is a Senior Economist and Washington, D.C. Office Manager at Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). In this role, he has contributed to the firm’s business development and client support, run the firm’s consulting practice, managed the technical development of new software, co-authored a paper about the economic and demographic footprint of U.S. immigration in the Business Economics journal, and presented to a wide variety of audiences, including testimony in front of multiple state legislative committees.

Dr. Evangelakis is an experienced economic researcher and analyst. Prior to starting at REMI in 2017, he co-authored a report looking at novel macroeconomic measures of the digital economy. He also authored papers analyzing the design and behavior of political institutions, the fiscal effects of Florida’s 2007 property tax reform, and the non-pecuniary benefits of building a professional sports stadium.

During 2014-2015, Dr. Evangelakis taught undergraduate Intermediate Microeconomics as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, and during 2010-2011, he was a Research Assistant for Dr. Michael Greenstone, where highlights of his work included projects measuring the effects of climate change on mortality and electricity usage and estimating air quality effects of the NOx Budget Program.

Dr. Evangelakis holds Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics with High Honors from Swarthmore College.

 

Co-VP Programs

Peter Bruno is the Office Manager of the Group of Thirty. He assists in coordinating logistics for the Group’s plenary sessions, seminars, and working group meetings. He also edits and manages the publication process for the Group’s papers and reports, and provides research support for the Executive Director.

Peter received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in Political Economy from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 2017. While at Carleton, he participated in an off-campus program in Myanmar where he studied the effects of economic liberalization. He wrote his undergraduate thesis on trade and social policy formation in Latin America during the 2000s. Prior to graduation, Peter completed internships at the U.S. Treasury Department, the Center for Global Development, and the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Economic Development. Since May of 2018, he has been the VP for Special Programs at the National Economists Club.