Staff
Ed Sivak - Director esivak@mepconline.org
Ed Sivak is the founding Director of the Mississippi Economic Policy Center – an initiative of the Hope Enterprise Corporation. As director, Sivak manages the strategic direction, sustainability, research, training and advocacy agenda for the center.
During his tenure at MEPC, he has supervised the research and writing of numerous publications on the state budget, issues affecting working poor families and high cost lending. He also has educated the public through guest lectures and presentations and is frequently called upon by both local and national media to address policy issues affecting the state. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, the Clarion Ledger, Mississippi Public Broadcasting and the Mississippi Business Journal.
He has testified before legislative committees and at joint hearings held by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on community development finance in rural areas.
Prior to starting MEPC in 2006, Sivak coordinated major community development projects for the Hope Enterprise Corporation (HEC) – formerly the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta – including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded Mid-South Delta Initiative (MSDI) and the Collaborative for Enterprise Development (CED). HEC’s MSDI activities contributed to $125 million in financing for historically underserved entrepreneurs, homeowners and community health centers and supported the training of over 9,800 individuals and 3,700 jobs in the Delta. Sivak also served as project manager on the Collaborative for Enterprise Development, a community development project that provided recovery loans and technical assistance to 576 small businesses in post-Katrina New Orleans.
He holds a Master of Public Policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute in Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from Marquette University. He is a former member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council where he chaired the Community Affairs and Housing Committee.
He currently serves on the advisory committee for the implementation on the Tax Integrated Management System hosted by the Department of Revenue and is member of the State Sector Strategy Team hosted by the Department of Employment Security. Sivak is a long time member of the BancorpSouth Community Reinvestment Advisory Council and volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America. Sivak resides in Jackson, MS with his wife and two children.
Krista Buckhalter - Communications Director kbuckhalter@mepconline.org
Krista Buckhalter is communication director for the Mississippi Economic Policy Center (MEPC). As the communication director, her work primarily focuses on marketing and communications initiatives. She works to increase the visibility of MEPC's work and coordinates the policy center's annual conference. Her activities include designing and developing print materials for internal and external audiences, maintaining MEPC's web site and social media, creating a quarterly e-newsletter and media/news updates for our email subscribers and writing press releases and handling media inquiries. She has a bachelor's degree in Radio Television and Film from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Francinia McKeithan - Policy Analyst, SFAI Policy Fellow fmckeithan@mepconline.org
Francinia McKeithan will serve as the 2011-2013 State Fiscal Analysis Initiative Policy Fellow with the Mississippi Economic Policy Center in Jackson, Mississippi.
Francinia comes to MEPC after having worked as a Research Associate for the Office of Research Development in the Vice Chancellor’s Office for Research and Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).
Prior to that time, her work included internships with the South African Council of Churches’ Office of the Parliament and concurrent internships with the Women’s Rights and Education departments of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Her undergraduate studies included a BA in African and African American Studies partnered with a BA in Sociology along with dual certification in Public Service and Social and Economic Justice. After graduation, she enrolled in Graduate School at UNC and received a Master of Public Administration in conjunction with a Master of Social Work and certifications in Nonprofit Leadership and Child Welfare Education. Francinia’s policy and research interests include child welfare, education policy, social and economic justice, and the relationship between education and life outcomes.
Sara Miller - Senior Policy Analyst smiller@mepconline.org
Sara Miller is Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi Economic Policy Center. As a senior policy analyst, Miller primarily focuses her work on Mississippi tax and budget issues. Before working at the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, she served for three years as an Evaluator for the Mississippi Legislature’s Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER). She went to Louisiana State University for her undergraduate degree and was awarded a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University. Before and during graduate school, she worked at a nonprofit HIV/AIDS organization in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and at the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Jessica Shappley - Policy Analyst jshappley@mepconline.org
Jessica Shappley is a Policy Analyst for the Mississippi Economic Policy Center (MEPC). As a Policy Analyst, Ms. Shappley primarily focuses her work on asset-building, economic development, and housing issues. Before working at the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, she worked as a Research Associate at the Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Mississippi State University researching in the areas of public safety, immigration, disaster preparedness, and health disparities. She attended Mississippi State University (MSU), where she holds a Master of Public Policy and Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication with a concentration in journalism. While attending MSU, she worked at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and the SSRC. Ms. Shappley is a member of the American Society for Public Administration, Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society and Pi Alpha Alpha Academic Honor Society.
Sarah Welker - Policy Analyst swelker@mepconline.org
Sarah Welker is a Policy Analyst with the Mississippi Economic Policy Center. Welker focuses her efforts within MEPC’s Income And Working Families issue area. Accordingly, she researches and monitors policies that impact Mississippi’s low-income and working families; conducts outreach and training on issues related to self-sufficiency and economic stability of families; and researches best practices for adult basic education, postsecondary persistence, and workforce training.
Welker serves as a board member for the Women’s Fund of Mississippi and was a member of Blueprint Mississippi’s 2011 Education Committee and Higher Education Subcommittee. She was a member of the Community College Board’s ABE to Credentials Taskforce and supports the Center’s work with the Delta Workforce Funders Collaborative. During her time at MEPC, Welker has authored several major publications for the Center including: Building Pathways to Credentials and Careers and State of Working Mississippi 2012.
Before coming to the Center, Welker served as the Data Analyst for KIPP Delta Public Schools in Helena, Arkansas. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated summa cum laude with degrees in both Economics and Public Policy Analysis. During her time at UNC, she worked with the Hunger Pilot Research Project examining the provision of emergency food assistance through North Carolina’s food banks.
