Coming Soon! The Temple University Center on Regional Politics
Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics (CORP) will provide elected federal, state, and local officials and private sector and non-profit leaders within the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) with a forum to seek consensus on policies to improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for residents of Southeastern Pennsylvania. CORP’s mission is to provide the neutral ground and intellectual resources that a university can offer to encourage and support interaction among leaders throughoutSoutheastern Pennsylvania, with the goal of developing evidence-based policies that respond to the region’s needs and promote its broad civic and economic interests. As indicated by its name, the center will have as a special focus the politics of public policy, or identifying the most promising practical strategies to achieve optimal policy results. The center will not advocate or lobby for specific policy measures but will provide the region’s leaders with options and recommendations for addressing issues that incorporate assessments of both policy impact and political feasibility. Toward this end, the center will produce and sponsor policy research and conduct educational seminars, legislative briefings, quiet discussions, and open forums to improve public understanding of problems and opportunities confronting the region and to encourage collaboration among leaders across partisan lines, economic sectors, and jurisdictional boundaries. The center will work cooperatively with other organizations with public policy missions to maximize the efficient use of scarce resources for the overall benefit of the region.
About the Board of Fellows
More than two dozen federal, state, and local elected officials and business, civic, labor, and non-profit leaders have agreed to join the center’s board of fellows, which is still under development. An announcement of the board will be forthcoming soon.
About the Staff
Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., PhD is director of Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. Before joining Temple in 2004, he was senior advisor to Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell. McLaughlin served as an advisor and spokesman for the National Governors Association (1978-82), the Pennsylvania House Democratic caucus (1974-78), and Philadelphia Mayor William J. Green III (1982-83). From 1983 to 2002, he represented the City of Philadelphia, SEPTA, and other public and private sector clients on major issues affecting Southeastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. From 1968 to 1971, he covered state and local government for the Chicago Tribune. McLaughlin also directs Temple’s Institute for Public Affairs, which sponsors and produces policy-related research produced by Temple faculty and students. He is assistant dean for external affairs of the College of Liberal Arts and teaches American politics in the political science department. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Middlebury (VT) College and master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from Temple University.
Kelly D. Colvin is the associate director of Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. Prior to joining Temple in 2011, Colvin served successively as special events coordinator (2000-2002) and district director (2002-2007) for Congressman Curt Weldon, regional representative in five states for US Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling (2007-2009), and director of federal and state government relations for The School District of Philadelphia (2009-2011). She also was a district representative for US Senator Rick Santorum and an intern for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge in both Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Colvin earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Franklin and Marshall College and a master’s degree in governmental administration from the Fels Center of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was the recipient of the Fels Institute Excellence in Leadership award.
Michelle J. Atherton is publications editor and senior policy writer and researcher for Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. She is also assistant director of the Institute for Public Affairs, staff advisor for the Pennsylvania Policy Database Project, and director of the Pennsylvania Capital Semester, an internship program in Harrisburg for students at Temple and all Pennsylvania colleges and universities. Atherton graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a dual B.A. in English literature and philosophy of science. She holds a master’s degree in political science from Temple, where she was a University Fellow. She also served as a legislative intern to Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, and taught American politics, the politics of race and political philosophy as a teaching assistant and adjunct instructor before joining the Institute for Public Affairs in 2008.
Nathan R. Shrader is a graduate assistant at Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. Before coming to Temple University in 2009 as a PhD student in political science, Shrader served successively as a legislative aide and deputy communications director to Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, legislative aide to Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter in the Virginia General Assembly, and research analyst at Abrams Learning and Information Systems under General John N. Abrams (retired). Shrader earlier served as legislative intern in Washington for United States Senator Arlen Specter and legislative intern to Pennsylvania State Representative Rod E. Wilt. He has worked as a consultant, manager, staffer, and volunteer on more than two dozen campaigns for federal, state, and local candidates of both parties. He has authored guest opinion articles on political and policy issues for the Philadelphia Daily News, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the McKeesport Daily News. Shrader holds a bachelor’s degree from Thiel College and a master’s degree from Suffolk University, both in political science.
Charlene M. Wiltshire is business manager for Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics. She joined Temple in November 2006 as business manager for the Institute for Public Affairs, where she continues to be responsible for financial matters including grant, contract, and budget administration. Wiltshire enjoyed a 25-year career in New England and Pennsylvania with what was formerly known as the Bell Telephone System, managing various financial departments until 1996. In 1983, when AT&T was required to divest itself of its baby-bells, Wiltshire was selected to create and manage the budget of the newly-formed Bell Atlantic Corporation headquartered in Philadelphia. She also developed and managed the cost allocation data for the corporation’s regulated telephone company subsidiaries, comprising six mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from American International College and a master’s degree in education from Temple.
Langston Swygert-Huzzy joined the Center for Regional Politics and the Institute for Public Affairs as senior administrative specialist in March 2012. Prior to joining the staff of the institute, he served as financial coordinator for the School of Social Work with responsibility for cost center management, account reconciliation, budget preparation and compliance, student worker supervision, and web-site management, among other duties. In his current role, he is charged with providing logistical and executive/administrative support to the Center’s Director and the members of the Center for Regional Politics, the Pennsylvania Policy Database Project, and the Pennsylvania Capital Semester Program. He is but a few semesters away from earning his undergraduate degree from the Philadelphia Biblical University with a dual focus/major in Biblical studies and organizational management.