Stefan Hankin, Founder & President
Stefan Hankin is the founder and president of Lincoln Park Strategies. Stefan has nearly two decades of experience in market research, data analytics, communications strategy, and public opinion polling and analysis for clients that range from America’s Promise to the City of Los Angeles to Raytheon to the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Stefan began his research career at the National Association of Home Builders Research Center and honed his skills in qualitative and quantitative research skills at Peter D Hart Research, Widmeyer Communications, and brilliant corners Research. During his career, he was part of the polling team that helped Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States, and has led research projects in more than 25 countries and all 50 states (and two U.S. territories).
Since founding Lincoln Park Strategies, Stefan has put data into action for Fortune 500 companies, foundations, national non-profits, local governments, as well as political candidates at the federal and state level. As someone who is never comfortable reaffirming the status quo, Stefan works to innovate the way data is used regardless of the size of an organization or the scope of the project. In addition to founding Lincoln Park Strategies, he is also the co-founder of Trendency Research (a dynamic modeling research platform) and Cube Root Data (a data capture firm).

Stefan’s research and analysis has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Christian Science Monitor as well as political outlets such as Politico and National Journal. He has also appeared on numerous radio and TV programs including ABC News, C-SPAN, and CTV in Canada discussing his research and opinions.

A native of the Boston area, Stefan received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and now resides with his wife and two daughters in Washington, DC. He is a recovering rugby player and serves on the planning committee for the major annual fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank.

Joan Vennochi, Associate Editor and Columnist, Boston Globe
Joan Vennochi started at the Boston Globe as a researcher on the Spotlight Team and shared in a Pulitzer Prize for a series on the MBTA. Since then, she has covered city, state and national politics; created a business column that explored the intersection of business and politics; and now writes for the Op-ed page. As a member of the Globe editorial board, she also helps formulate and write editorials. She is a graduate of Boston University and Suffolk Law School.

Raymond J. La Raja is a professor in political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and associate director of UMass Poll, which conducts Internet-based surveys of voters nationally. His research focuses on political parties, interest groups, elections and campaign finance. He is the co-author with Brian Schaffner of Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail (U. Michigan Press 2015) and Small Change: Money, Political Parties and Campaign Finance Reform (U. Michigan Press 2008).  He is founding editor of The Forum, an electronic journal of applied research in contemporary American politics.  He serves on the Academic Advisory Board of the Campaign Finance Institute in Washington, DC and has been past President of the Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association. 

Tatishe M. Nteta is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the director of UMass Poll. His research focuses on race and ethnic politics, political socialization, public opinion, and political campaigns. He has published scholarly articles in Political Research Quarterly, Political Psychology, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Communication and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, NPR, Vox, and the Huffington Post.

Jesse Rhodes is associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as well as associate director of UMass Poll. His research focuses on racial and economic inequality, presidential politics, and parties and partisanship. He is author of Ballot Blocked: The Political Erosion of the Voting Rights Act (Stanford University Press, 2017) and An Education in Politics: The Origins and Evolution of No Child Left Behind (Cornell University Press, 2012), as well as more than twenty articles and book chapters. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and many other publications.