Project Coordination Team
The Project Coordination Team is housed at The Harkin Institute at Drake University. The team provides all applicant and participant assistance, as well as interacting with the general public about the pilot. They are also responsible for collaborating with community partners to increase pilot awareness and contracting with key partners to provide translation/interpretation services, onboarding space, and benefits counseling expertise.
Ashley Ezzio
Project Coordinator
Email: Ashley.Ezzio@upliftiowa.org
Before joining the UpLift team, Ezzio worked in both government and nonprofit roles. Most recently she managed the Iowa Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program and coordinated the development and implementation of the Title V Community-Based Doula Project at the Iowa Department of Public Health. Ezzio has a bachelor’s degree in Child, Adult, and Family Services from Iowa State University and is finishing a master’s degree in public health from Des Moines University. Ezzio is excited to work on a project that addresses poverty at its core and ensure our communities have better access to everything they deserve.
Michael Berger
Project Coordinator
Email: Michael.Berger@upliftiowa.org
Berger joins the UpLift team after completing a practicum project with Mid-Iowa Health Foundation focused on researching basic income projects across the nation and engaging central Iowa partners to inform how to design the local pilot model. Berger has a bachelor’s degree in Public Health, minor in Business Administration, and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Iowa. Berger hopes this pilot can be used to spark a larger conversation around basic income and how to bring it to Iowa.
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