Wirepoints is an independent, nonprofit company delivering original research and commentary about Illinois’ economy and government. We have a particular focus on the Illinois state and local fiscal crises. We try to stick to policy, facts and numbers, not politics.
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Ted’s knowledge of finance, policy and government stems from his 16-year international career in finance and management. As the Head of Corporate Banking and a management member of Citibank in Poland, he advised the government on financial restructurings that continued the liberalization of the nation’s economy. In his Treasury roles in both Mexico and Poland, Ted managed multi-billion-dollar balance sheets and Sales and Trading businesses, which gave him hands-on experience in budgeting and crisis management.
After returning to the U.S., Ted shifted to public policy, where he spent six years as Vice President of Policy and Spokesman at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Ted received his master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, an MBA in finance from the Wharton School, and his bachelor’s degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Much of Ted’s inspiration to fix Illinois comes from the experiences of his parents, who immigrated to Chicago from Poland and Ecuador to pursue the American Dream.
Mark earlier originated and managed venture capital investments for Leo Capital Holdings. In 1997, Mark founded the Illinois Venture Capital Conference, a then-innovative approach that put young companies in front of venture investors long before Shark Tank came on the scene. It successfully matched dozens of young companies to venture capital sources over a number of years. He is the winner of the Fellows Medal awarded by the Illinois Venture Capital Association for outstanding contributions to the venture capital profession.
Prior to that, Mark practiced law with an expertise in debt transactions, turnarounds, bankruptcy and venture capital. Starting as an associate at Foley & Lardner, Mark was later a partner at Johnson & Swanson in Texas then Holleb & Coff in Chicago, where his work included serving as outside general counsel to the Illinois Development Finance Authority.
Mark received his B.A. in Economics and Political Science at Northwestern University and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School where he won the Deinard Award for top law review contribution. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas Law School in Austin.
Mark is a fervent, lifelong believer in the marketplace of ideas and the sanctity of the Bill of Rights.
John graduated from Hillsdale College in 2012 with a degree in American Studies with a focus in politics.
Before joining Wirepoints, John spent several years at the Illinois Policy Institute working as a public policy analyst.
His areas of focus include public pensions, education finance and government budgeting. John’s inspiration for policy work comes from his parents who ran a small business in Illinois for 30 years.
Kathleen Murphy is Wirepoints’ Director of Communication. She is a mom of two and political strategist. Kathleen ran for Lt. Governor with Jesse Sullivan in the 2022 gubernatorial primary.
Her signature issue in the primary was education. Kathleen put together the boldest and most comprehensive plan the state had seen for turning around its failing education system, and she looks forward to continuing that work at Wirepoints.
Over the course of the past decade, Kathleen worked on federal, statewide and local campaigns and with advocacy organizations as a communication strategist.
Julie is a business management professional of 30 years with an MBA in finance, a baccalaureate in communications technology accompanied by a minor in computer science. She is also an ABA approved paralegal.
Julie spent her early career in client and business management for S&P 500 companies in the communications technology industry. For almost a decade she was part of a custom software development firm which she managed for several years.
Pivoting to her passion for good governance where she has been civically engaged in her community for over 20 years, Julie has managed candidate races and participated as an advocate for effective, efficient government that serves the people.
She became the District Director for Illinois State Representative Allen Skillicorn of the 66th District, where she served two terms.