Amy Hanauer to take helm of Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Posted November 05, 2019 in Press Releases
Policy Matters will launch national search for new director
After 20 years, Policy Matters Ohio founding executive director Amy Hanauer is taking a new position running the Washington D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and its advocacy arm Citizens for Tax Justice.
Hanauer will leave Policy Matters in January, 2020. Former Secretary Treasurer of the Communications Workers of America and Policy Matters Board Chair Jeff Rechenbach has assembled a search committee of board members Kamla Lewis (City of Shaker Heights), Doug Wang (retired senior vice-president at Northern Trust Bank), Teleange Thomas (Candid Midwest), Kirk Noden (founder of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative) and Melissa Cropper (President, Ohio Federation of Teachers). The committee will seek broad input from donors and partners to conduct a nationwide search for a new executive director.
“It is not going to be easy to replace Amy,” Rechenbach said. “For someone of small stature, she leaves big shoes to fill, but the board is committed to stewarding Policy Matters through this transition. We are eager to find the right person to continue the fight for a better Ohio.”
Hanauer moved to Cleveland in 1998, hoping to work for Ohio’s economic justice think tank. Finding a gap, she joined with community members, scholars, labor leaders and philanthropy to found Policy Matters, now critical to creating a more equitable and inclusive Ohio. With offices in Cleveland and Columbus staffed by 14 committed professionals, Policy Matters is among the state’s leading voices for economic, racial and climate justice. Under Hanauer’s leadership, Policy Matters helped raise Ohio’s minimum wage, beat back an attack on collective bargaining, create a tax credit for working families, and establish clean energy standards.
“I have learned a lot in Ohio, from the wins and the losses,” Hanauer said. “My goal now is to study how climate justice, worker justice, economic justice and racial justice depend on making the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share, so we can fund our schools, fix our planet, address inequality and deliver a better world. I’m leaving Policy Matters in great hands with phenomenal staff, an exceptional board, solid funding, and the best allies and partners imaginable. We’re the people’s think tank, the worker’s think tank and the planet’s think tank in an important swing state. I can’t wait to cheer at what Policy Matters accomplishes next.”