Staff

Dan Swinney, Executive Director

Dan has 35 years of community and labor organizing as well as community development experience. After graduating with a Bachelor's in History from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Dan worked as a machinist for 13 years in the Chicago area. He organized Steelworker Local 8787 at G+W Taylor Forge in Cicero, Illinois and served as Vice President. Taylor Forge closed in 1983. Dan founded the Center for Labor and Community Research (CLCR) in 1982 in response to the thousands of manufacturing plant closings in the Chicago area.

Xiaochang (Mike) Jin, Research Director and Chief Financial Officer

Jin is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Master's in Sociology from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He has completed all the requirements for his PhD except his dissertation. Prior to coming to the United States, Jin was a lecturer at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.

Dan Bianchi, Assistant Director

Dan Bianchi holds a Master's degree in Cooperative Economics from the University of Mondragon, where he conducted field research on the cooperative movement in the Basque region of Spain.

Matt Hancock, Assistant Director

Before coming on board with CLCR, Matt worked as a researcher at the Institute for Labor in Bologna, Italy. He has a Master's in Cooperative Economics from the University of Bologna, where he conducted field research on the cooperative movement in Emilia-Romagna and the "Emilian Model" of development.

Erica Swinney, Director of Community Programs

Erica spent two years in the Peace Corps training teachers and community leaders in Paraguay before working with environmental justice organizations in California. She has a Bachelor's in Biology for the University of California at Berkeley and a Master's in Ecology from San Francisco State University.

Leonard C. McKinnis, National Policy Coordinator

Leonard recently completed his PhD in Systematic Theology from Loyola University Chicago. He also holds Master of Theological Studies in Theology and Culture from Harvard University. Leonard brings a broad range of government experience including a former appointment as a White House Intern and a Mayoral Fellow for the City of Chicago. In his capacity as National Policy Coordinator, Leonard works closely with our Executive Director, Dan Swinney, in shaping a national policy for CLCR. This includes replication of our signature programs and initiatives, and building a wide coalition of individuals in labor, business, government and community, who will be influential in advancing the policy agenda of CLCR

Ingrid Gonçalves, Director of Communications

Ingrid recently graduated from the University of Chicago with a double major in Political Science and International Studies. Her Bachelor's thesis explored the internet as a political battleground in the environmental dispute between The Coca-Cola Company and local communities in the Indian state of Kerala.