Institute of Metropolitan Affairs

Leadership and Research Assistants

Kathleen Kane-Willis

Interim Director, Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University
Director, Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy
kkane@roosevelt.edu
312.341.4336

Ms. Kane-Willis' public policy research experience spans more than a decade. Her main areas of focus are on drug policy, drug misuse, drug education curriculum development, and research involving women drug users. In recent years, Kane-Willis has focused her research on drug policy at the intersection of criminal justice reform and has managed over 20 research projects and authored dozens of reports. Reports include the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy's New Directions in Illinois Drug Policy: An Update on Incarceration for Drug Offenses in Illinois, Intersecting Voices: Impacts of Illinois' Drug Policies, What Youth Want: Youth Perceptions of Drug Education Programs, and Through a Different Lens: Shifting the Focus on Illinois Drug Policy. Kane-Willis' reports on drug use and policies have been featured on the front pages of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Daily Herald and other publications across the Midwest. She has also appeared on local and national television and radio discussing drug use, trends and policies. Ms. Kane-Willis has presented her research findings at over 15 academic conferences across the country and is frequently asked to moderate panels dealing with substance use disorders. In addition, she currently serves on the Research Committee and the Policy Committee for the Illinois General Assembly's Disproportionate Justice Impact Study.

Ms. Kane-Willis designed and teaches Drugs, Alcohol and Society, a course about drug use and policy at the both undergraduate and graduate levels in the Sociology Department at Roosevelt University. She also supervises and mentors students every semester through research assistantships with the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs. Kane-Willis serves as the faculty mentor for Roosevelt University's Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter and received the Advisor of the Year award in 2008.

Stephanie Schmitz

Project Manager, Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University
Associate Director, Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy
sbechteler@roosevelt.edu
312.341.2458

Stephanie Schmitz is the research project manager for the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs and serves as the associate director for the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy. Ms. Schmitz has completed masters-level education and practicum training in social work and has over five years experience working with substance use and mental health issues. She is also experienced in evaluating social service delivery systems. Schmitz is currently a doctoral student at Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Chicago focuses on mental health and substance use treatment needs, feelings of stigma and their relationship to service utilization among incarcerated populations. Her professional work focuses on public policy analysis and criminal justice reforms to address the social and legal consequences of national and local drug policies, studying service use patterns among individuals with mental and substance use disorders to improve service delivery systems and assisting community organizations in their advocacy efforts through the development of targeted research and advocacy messages. She currently serves on the Research and Policy Committees for the Illinois General Assembly's Disproportionate Justice Impact Study. She also serves on the Chicago Taskforce on LGBT Substance Abuse.

Research Assistants:

Vilmarie Fraguada Narloch

Vilmarie is currently enrolled in the PsyD program at Roosevelt. She received her M.A. in Counseling and Psychological Services from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Her primary interest is in working with young people suffering from substance use issues. Other interests include harm reduction, drug education, and prevention. Vilmarie is also Co-President of the award winning and internationally recognized Roosevelt University Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter, and has been an active member of the organization since 2009. Vilmarie won the Roosevelt University Torch award in 2011 for student leadership as a result of her efforts in engaging and empowering students to become active in changing drug policies.

Marcia Bazan

Marcia is a Clinical PsyD candidate at Roosevelt who is interested in working as a forensic psychologist within a correctional center or government agency. The issues being addressed by the IMA and ICDP are pertinent to incarcerated individuals and the public policy research being undertaken at RU emphasizes the need for legal and mental health service reform.

Abigail Moore

Abigail is currently a senior at Roosevelt University working on a Bachelors degree in sociology. Her primary interests are drug policy reform with a focus on racial disparities, urban studies research, and public transportation. Moore is also the Co-President alongside Vilmarie Narloch of the Roosevelt University Students for Sensible Drug Policy Chapter (SSDP) and has been an active member since 2008. She has lobbied twice in Washington D.C. with SSDP. Once against the cocaine and crack sentencing disparity in 2008 and again in 2010 against the failed media campaign surrounding the War on Drugs. Under their leadership, RU SSDP won the Outstanding Chapter Award at the 2012 International SSDP Conference in Denver, CO. RU SSDP also won the "Saving Lives Award" in 2012 for their work on Good Samaritan Legislation. Moore is also the recipient of two student leadership awards from Roosevelt University, "The Bronze R" and the "Torch" award. In 2011, Moore organized the SSDP Midwest Regional Conference which was hosted at Roosevelt University. Moore was also involved in the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity movement from Mexico, and was on the Chicago planning committee for the Caravan.