Albany, NY — The Empire Center is expanding its research operations with the addition of three research fellows:

Ken Girardin, Fellow, Labor Policy: Ken helped to produce the first independent analysis of New York’s property tax cap, which demonstrated the cap’s effectiveness and boosted efforts to extend the cap and ultimately make it permanent. He also authored The Janus Stakes, a quantitative analysis of the influence New York’s public-sector unions have over public policy in the Empire State. Ken has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York.

Dr. Holly Grant, Adjunct Fellow, Education Policy: Dr. Grant is affiliated with the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the New York State Association of School Business Officials. She earned a PhD in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, a Master of Arts in Teaching at Montclair State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Smith College. She also completed an advanced Certificate in Education Finance from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Dr. Ian Kingsbury, Adjunct Fellow, Education Policy: Dr. Kingsbury received his PhD in education policy from the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. He has published more than ten peer-reviewed studies, mostly addressing school choice.

These fellows—and all of Empire Center’s experts—are available to speak to the media. Please send requests to [email protected].

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.