People | Public Accountability Initiative

Staff

Kevin Connor
Co-Director

Kevin Connor was formerly a researcher at SEIU 1199 - United Healthcare Workers East, where he developed research projects regarding major health systems. Most recently, he authored the report "Wall Street and the Making of the Subprime Disaster," produced in partnership with NTIC, which garnered attention from national media outlets and homeowner advocacy groups for its comprehensive coverage of Wall Street’s role in the subprime sector.

Matthew Skomarovsky
Co-Director

Matthew Skomarovsky is an innovative web developer with a background in community organizing and investigative research projects. A leading organizer in high-profile social justice campaigns at Harvard, he was a prominent voice for transparency in the university's governance bodies. Skomarovsky directed HarvardWatch's investigation into the Harken Energy scandal and led the organization’s successful call for the resignation of ex-Enron director Herbert Winokur from Harvard’s governing board. During the 2004 election year he managed the business operations and award-winning website of Billionaires for Bush, the media-savvy grassroots street theater movement. In recent years, Skomarovsky has developed powerful web applications for the Freelancers Union, home of the largest online community of freelancers in the world.

Board

Aaron Bartley is a co-founder of People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc. (PUSH), a community action organization working to address issues of poverty and declining neighborhood conditions on Buffalo’s West Side. As a student at Harvard Law School, Aaron was granted the university’s inaugural Gary Bellow Award for Public Service for his role in initiating the Harvard Living Wage Campaign, which resulted in $10 million annual wage and benefit gains for 2000 low-income workers at the university. Following law school graduation, Aaron continued to organize low-income workers in Boston with the Service Employees International Union. Through his campaign work, he has appeared in many major media outlets including the New York Times, CNN, NPR and the Wall Street Journal.

Faisal Chaudhry is a student at Harvard University working on a JD-PhD degree in history and law, with a specific interest in legal and economic change and the relationship between legal and other sources of social norms in the Indian subcontinent between the late 18th and late 19th century. Chaudhry is also interested in practice areas relating to civil legal services and labor rights issues.

Molly McOwen is a fellow at the law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, in the international human rights practice group. McOwen has worked on significant human rights and civil rights cases including Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Her publications include "Through the Eye of the Needle: How the New York Health Care Security Act Will Escape ERISA Preemption" (2006). McOwen currently serves on the board of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, a prestigious law journal published quarterly in New York. McOwen is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard College.

Roona Ray is an MD/PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has a background in international and domestic public health, specifically with respect to the health of poor communities. She has conducted research for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Mexican National Institute of Public Health, and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a sex workers' union in India. Her expertise is in infectious disease: she serves as a peer reviewer for the HIV/AIDS section of the American Public Health Association, has contributed to research and writing for the HIV division of Human Rights Watch, and is a board member of Tiyatien Health, an organization delivering HIV treatment to rural communities in Liberia. Ray is a graduate of Harvard College and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Maple Razsa, a recipient of Truman, IREX, Fulbright and Krupp Fellowships, is Assistant Professor of International Studies at Colby College. In the late 1990s he investigated high-profile police brutality cases for the Civilian Complaint Review Board of the City of New York, where he was trained by the retired Director of the New York office of the FBI. Over the past eight years he has produced and directed four documentary films, shot in Mozambique, Croatia, Slovenia and the United States. His scholarship focuses on social movements, human rights, and cinema studies. He has been collaborating with and researching civil society organizations and social movements in the former Yugoslavia since 1990.








	Mission Projects People Contact	Staff Kevin Connor Co-Director Kevin Connor was formerly a researcher at SEIU 1199 - United Healthcare Workers East, where he developed research projects regarding major health systems. Most recently, he authored the report "Wall Street and the Making of the Subprime Disaster," produced in partnership with NTIC, which garnered attention from national media outlets and homeowner advocacy groups for its comprehensive coverage of Wall Street’s role in the subprime sector. Matthew Skomarovsky Co-Director Matthew Skomarovsky is an innovative web developer with a background in community organizing and investigative research projects. A leading organizer in high-profile social justice campaigns at Harvard, he was a prominent voice for transparency in the university's governance bodies. Skomarovsky directed HarvardWatch's investigation into the Harken Energy scandal and led the organization’s successful call for the resignation of ex-Enron director Herbert Winokur from Harvard’s governing board. During the 2004 election year he managed the business operations and award-winning website of Billionaires for Bush, the media-savvy grassroots street theater movement. In recent years, Skomarovsky has developed powerful web applications for the Freelancers Union, home of the largest online community of freelancers in the world. Board Aaron Bartley is a co-founder of People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc. (PUSH), a community action organization working to address issues of poverty and declining neighborhood conditions on Buffalo’s West Side. As a student at Harvard Law School, Aaron was granted the university’s inaugural Gary Bellow Award for Public Service for his role in initiating the Harvard Living Wage Campaign, which resulted in $10 million annual wage and benefit gains for 2000 low-income workers at the university. Following law school graduation, Aaron continued to organize low-income workers in Boston with the Service Employees International Union. Through his campaign work, he has appeared in many major media outlets including the New York Times, CNN, NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Faisal Chaudhry is a student at Harvard University working on a JD-PhD degree in history and law, with a specific interest in legal and economic change and the relationship between legal and other sources of social norms in the Indian subcontinent between the late 18th and late 19th century. Chaudhry is also interested in practice areas relating to civil legal services and labor rights issues. Molly McOwen is a fellow at the law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, in the international human rights practice group. McOwen has worked on significant human rights and civil rights cases including Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Her publications include "Through the Eye of the Needle: How the New York Health Care Security Act Will Escape ERISA Preemption" (2006). McOwen currently serves on the board of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, a prestigious law journal published quarterly in New York. McOwen is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard College. Roona Ray is an MD/PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has a background in international and domestic public health, specifically with respect to the health of poor communities. She has conducted research for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Mexican National Institute of Public Health, and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a sex workers' union in India. Her expertise is in infectious disease: she serves as a peer reviewer for the HIV/AIDS section of the American Public Health Association, has contributed to research and writing for the HIV division of Human Rights Watch, and is a board member of Tiyatien Health, an organization delivering HIV treatment to rural communities in Liberia. Ray is a graduate of Harvard College and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Maple Razsa, a recipient of Truman, IREX, Fulbright and Krupp Fellowships, is Assistant Professor of International Studies at Colby College. In the late 1990s he investigated high-profile police brutality cases for the Civilian Complaint Review Board of the City of New York, where he was trained by the retired Director of the New York office of the FBI. Over the past eight years he has produced and directed four documentary films, shot in Mozambique, Croatia, Slovenia and the United States. His scholarship focuses on social movements, human rights, and cinema studies. He has been collaborating with and researching civil society organizations and social movements in the former Yugoslavia since 1990.