Staff

Jill Michaels

CI Principal Jill Michaels is an economic development professional with 20 years experience in the field. Before starting CI in 1993, she served for three years as the Executive Director of Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation, the Vermont regional development corporation serving the east central portion of the state. Prior to that she was Development Director for the Vermont Town of Rockingham. She came to Vermont from Philadelphia, where she was deeply involved in community-based and small business development throughout the City. She served as Coordinator of Community Research and Adjunct Professor for Temple University's Institute for Public Policy Studies, Professor of Organizational Development and Operations Research at LaSalle College, and Research Coordinator for Public/Private Ventures, an employment and training think tank. She has acted as a consultant at the local, state, and national level on community-based development issues and has been very successful in fundraising for public/private development entities and activities. Ms. Michaels has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA/MPA from the Wharton School.

Sridhar Srinivasan

Associate Sridhar Srinivasan of SSTech, located in New York City, works with CI on technology, international relations and finance-related projects, such as the development of alternative distance learning models for the New York Society of Security Analysts. Mr. Srinivasan is an Engineer with an MBA from the Wharton School who has worked in international finance at the World Bank and with the Asia Society.

Albert Zielenski

Associate Albert Zielenski is an educator with a background in electrical engineering. Mr. Zielenski has taught technical subjects at the secondary and junior college level in Vermont and the Philadelphia region. He has designed computer hardware and software for such companies as Control Data Corporation, Singer Business Machines, and National Cash Register. He created and teaches in the Pre-Engineering Technology Program at River Bend Career and Technical Center in Bradford, VT and has developed and taught workshops and training programs for adults in mathematics, statistics, web page design, Internet skills, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He has experience with presentation and graphics software and provides technical support for CI's operations. Mr. Zielenski has a BSEE from Cornell and an MEd in Secondary Education from Temple University. He designed CI's new web site, as well as sites for River Bend and the Town of Bradford, VT.

Melissa Shusterman

Associate Melissa Shusterman has served as the Telemarketing Field Initiatives Manager for a major international telemarketing and telecommunications firm's Mass Markets Division in charge of prioritizing and implementing bi-monthly product and scripting changes in consumer and small business call centers. Prior to joining Field Initiatives, she led the successful creation and deployment of the firm's first competitive intranet site. Ms. Shusterman came to the private sector from a stint with Senator Russell Feingold, first as Field Director for the Senator's successful election campaign and then as staff in his Washington Office. Ms. Shusterman has a BA from Bryn Mawr College and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

Partner Firms

Other firms that work with CI on projects include HowellMartin, a Brattleboro-based marketing and public relations firm; Economic & Policy Resources of Williston, VT, a full-service consulting firm providing economic, financial and public policy research and analysis; Land•Works, a Middlebury, VT landscape architecture and planning firm; Baldwin Development Corporation, a Baltimore-based real estate development firm; Murphy and Dittenhafer, a Baltimore-based architectural firm; Preservation Investments, developer of commercial projects in historic structures headquartered in Middlebury, VT; Ames Hill Film and Video, a Marlboro-based film production company; NBJ Management; and Renaissance Development Corporation.