19 Aug 2024 Biagi, Crouch, Madrid join Clinton School as Visiting Fellows
LITTLE ROCK – Gia Biagi, Michael Crouch, and Mark Madrid will join the Clinton School of Public Service as Visiting Fellows for the 2024-25 academic year.Biagi is Principal of Urbanism & Civic Impact at Studio Gang, Crouch is a Senior Program Officer at the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group, and Madrid is Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the National Minority Supplier Development Council.
As Visiting Fellows, Biagi, Crouch, and Madrid will make regular visits, deliver guest lectures and seminars, and provide unique mentorship to Clinton School students throughout the year.
The Clinton School Visiting Fellowship is extended to professionals who have produced meaningful impact through public service. Fellows are able to share public service solutions, and interact with students, faculty, and the wider Clinton School community.
Students gain invaluable experience through mentoring and learning opportunities, and the larger community has access to the fellows’ experience. These fellows are able to spend time during the semester at the Clinton School working with the school’s multidisciplinary faculty and public service-centered students to develop the next generation of public service leaders.
“At the Clinton School, we pride ourselves on bridging the classroom with the real world,” said Dean Victoria DeFrancesco Soto. “This year, we will welcome Gia Biagi, Michael Crouch, and Mark Madrid – three industry leaders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors – as Visiting Fellows to deliver guest lectures and provide mentorship to our students.”
Gia Biagi | Studio Gang
Gia Biagi is Principal of Urbanism & Civic Impact at Studio Gang, where she leads the office’s urban design and planning work. This part of the practice unites revitalizing cities with an emphasis on ecology, mobility, and community, and is focused on how to reimagine public assets, infrastructure, and institutions to be more relevant, connected, and responsive to the people and places where they reside.
Biagi’s career spans private practice and public service and has established her as a visionary leader in city planning, urban design, and infrastructure management. She served as head of Chicago’s Department of Transportation where she delivered hundreds of innovative transportation projects and created and implemented a nation-leading strategic plan focused on equity, mobility, and transformational neighborhood investments.
Biagi’s public service includes more than a decade at the Chicago Park District where she served as Director of Planning and Development and Chief of Staff. She has held various other private and public roles across the fields of housing, parks, and transportation.
Michael Crouch, Ph.D. | Walton Personal Philanthropy Group
Dr. Michael Crouch is a Senior Program Officer with the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group, specifically with Arkansas’s statewide K-12 education grantmaking work. He also currently serves on the Data and Transparency Panel for the state of Arkansas.
Previously, Crouch worked with the Walton Family Foundation national K-12 education team as a Research Officer, and with the Office for Education Policy (OEP) at the University of Arkansas.
He holds degrees from Vanderbilt University, Pepperdine University, and Harding University.
Mark L. Madrid | CEO & Founder, Author, AI Futurist
Mark L. Madrid is the CEO and founder of Breakthrough Mavens, LLC, and is the Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).
Madrid serves on the Board of Advisors at Trez.co, the Board of Directors for the Emmett and Miriam Texas State University McCoy College of Business Administration Development Foundation, the Advisory Council of the Hispanic Wealth Project and the Board of Directors of FRIENDS, Friends of the American Latino Museum, a national advocacy campaign striving for the creation of a Smithsonian National American Latino Museum.
He served as a Presidential Appointee and head official at the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Biden-Harris administration and, before that, as the CEO of the Stanford University Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative/Latino Business Action Network.
He is the author of “Energy, 21 Uncomplicated & Easy Tips to Start Your Day Energized,” the first in a book series, “Self-Fueling Excellence.”
