The following bio is that of an event speaker or guest author. This person is not directly affiliated with the John Locke Foundation.

Charles Chieppo is the principal of Chieppo Strategies, a public policy writing and advocacy firm, and a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute, a Massachusetts public policy think tank. Previously, he was policy director in Massachusetts’ Executive Office for Administration and Finance and directed the Shamie Center for Restructuring Government at Pioneer. His columns appeared regularly in the Boston Herald and his work has also been published by a number of other publications including the , the Nashville Tennessean, Education Next and the >i>Weekly Standard. He was an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration. Chieppo is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication and Vanderbilt University Law School.

James Stergios is executive director of the Pioneer Institute. Prior to joining Pioneer, he was chief of staff and undersecretary for policy in the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. For the Office for Commonwealth Development, he spearheaded urban revitalization strategies and the development of Commonwealth Capital. His prior experience includes teaching at the university level and founding and managing his own business. He has a doctoral degree in political science from Boston University.