Michael E. Porter
Founder and CEO
Michael E. Porter is the CEO of ICIC and the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, based at Harvard Business School. A University professorship is the highest professional recognition that can be given to a Harvard faculty member. Michael is a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states, and regions. His ideas on strategy have now become the foundation for the required strategy course at the Harvard Business School, and are taught in virtually every business school in the world. Michael also speaks widely on competitive strategy and international competitiveness to business and government audiences throughout the world. In 2001, Harvard Business School and Harvard University jointly created the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, led by Michael, to further his work. He is the author of 16 books and over 100 articles. Michael's research on economic development gave rise to his third major body of work: the relationship between competition and society. He has conducted extensive research on economic development in America's distressed inner city areas, beginning with the Harvard Business Review article 'The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City'. In 1994, he founded The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a non-profit, private-sector organization to catalyze inner-city business development across the country.
Teresa Lynch
Senior Vice President, Director of Research
Teresa joined the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City in the fall of 2006. As Senior Vice President, Director of Research she is responsible for designing and overseeing a research agenda to promote inner-city investment and economic development. Before joining ICIC, Teresa was a Senior Economist at EDR Group, a Boston consulting firm. Prior to that, she was a graduate student in Urban Studies and Political Science at MIT, where she worked as research assistant on the Industrial Performance Center’s globalization study and the International Motor Vehicle Program’s study on globalization and jobs in the automotive industry. She has published or presented work on globalization and corporate strategy, foreign direct investment in the automotive industry, infrastructure investments and economic development, and the use of economic models and methods in environmental policy making. She holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Public Policy from UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Deborah Shufrin
Senior Vice President, Director of Programs
Deb joined the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City at the beginning of 2009. As Director of Programs, she is responsible for engaging with ICIC’s various constituents and partners to develop and manage the organization’s multiple programs aimed at increasing investment and economic development in the inner cities. Deb joins ICIC with a background in both economic development and investment analysis. As a member of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s economic development cabinet, she led several agencies responsible for business development, entrepreneurship and international trade for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Deb also has extensive experience in the investment world as a Director and mezzanine analyst at John Hancock, Vice President and equity analyst at MFS Investment Management and credit analyst at Morgan Stanley. She holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Brandeis University and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Matt Camp
Vice President, Director of Development
As Director of Development at ICIC, Matt is developing and executing a national strategy to engage public, private and nonprofit entities in significantly enhancing business growth in America’s inner cities. Matt is responsible for managing and implementing all activities relating to fundraising, business development and client/donor management. Matt works specifically with Programs and Research in advancing ICIC’s relationships with private sector and institutional sources of funding. Prior to joining ICIC, Matt worked as an independent consultant to for-profit and nonprofit organizations focused on educational and economic development issues. Matt also has over ten years experience in the financial services industry as a Senior Financial Analyst at Liberty Mutual and OneBeacon and as a General Manager at American International Group. Matt holds an A.B. in Government at Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Rachel Hitch
Manager, Inner City Economic Forum
As Manager of the Inner City Economic Forum, Rachel is responsible for the Forum’s ongoing activities, particularly the Membership Program and the annual Summit event. In this role, she continuously seeks to engage, connect and inform the nation’s most active leaders in inner city economic development. Prior to joining ICIC, Rachel held leadership roles for the City of New York, including managing communications for a major bureaucratic transformation within the Department of Education and providing economic and financial expertise for high-profile redevelopment projects at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the primary real estate and business development vehicle for the Mayor of New York City. Rachel holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University.
Arthur Romania
Controller
Arthur joined ICIC in January 2007. As Controller, Arthur is responsible for the day-to-day fiscal needs of the organization, insuring accurate record keeping, financial reporting and revenue maximization. Most recently, Arthur was with Massachusetts Mental Health Institute (MMHI) a psychiatric research nonprofit organization; controller in title, Arthur was also the de-facto CFO. Prior to MMHI, Arthur acquired extensive experience as Finance Director/Controller for Brigham and Women’s Hospital OB/GYN Associates.
