Ben Doyle and Weiwei Wang Join Public Assets’ Board; Tiffany Bluemle Elected Chair
MONTPELIER –Tiffany Bluemle was elected chair of the board of Public Assets Institute at the organization’s annual meeting earlier this month. She announced that Weiwei Wang of Burlington and Ben Doyle of Montpelier have been elected to the board.
A non-partisan nonprofit with offices in Montpelier, Public Assets Institute is the state’s premier independent research organization on Vermont budget, tax, and economic issues and the source for timely and in-depth state fiscal and policy analysis.
“I have long respected and depended upon Public Assets for budget information and analysis. The role that it plays in shedding light on complicated issues and in shaping public conversation and priorities is critical. I am honored to serve as chair of a board that is rich in experience and expertise and am particularly happy to welcome the presence and insights that both of these accomplished young individuals bring to our work” said Bluemle, who is director of Change the Story Vermont.
Weiwei Wang is a research specialist at the Center for Rural Studies at UVM where she works on food access, consumer and producer behavior, and community development. She also serves on the Burlington Board of Registration of Voters, and is a member of the Vermont Coalition for Ethnic and Social Equity Standards.
“Public Assets asks the questions no one else is asking,” Wang noted. “Good policy requires solid information and deep thinking, and I’m pleased to help out on the board to support this important work.”
Wang was born in Beijing, China and moved to Vermont when she was five. Since then, she has lived across the U.S. and China, returning to Vermont in 2014. She holds a BA in International Relations and East Asian Studies from Connecticut College, and is completing her MS in Community Development and Applied Economics at UVM.
Ben Doyle is the Associate Enterprise Director for USDA Rural Development. In this role, he works with stakeholders and staff to build community capacity for accessing Rural Development resources. Doyle recently served as chair of the board of directors of the Vermont Humanities Council and is currently on the board of the Vermont State Employee Credit Union.
“The Vermont budget and taxes affect us all,” Doyle noted. “Public Assets’ work is essential to understanding where we are as a state and to plotting the course to become the state we want Vermont to be.”
A former high school English teacher and Peace Corps volunteer, Doyle grew up in Sutton and now lives in Montpelier. He holds an MA from New York University in the humanities and a BA from the University of Vermont in English.
Public Assets Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes sound state budget and tax policies that benefit all Vermonters. More information about Public Assets Institute and reports based on its research and analysis are available on its website www.publicassets.org.
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