Senior Consultants
Senior Consultants work closely with Associate Consultants to provide expert services to Fels Research & Consulting clients on a wide variety of dynamic projects.
Dr. Deborah Diamond is a research and strategy consultant who specializes in developing strategies for growth, change and improved performance. Previously, Dr. Diamond served as the Director of Research at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation (GPTMC), where she tracked Philadelphia’s visitor volume and statistics as well as calculated the economic impact of tourism and conducted strategic research. Additionally, Dr. Diamond was Vice President of The Melior Group, a Philadelphia-based marketing research firm. She completed her undergraduate education at Bryn Mawr College and earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Chicago.
Matthew J. Hill, Ph.D. is an applied anthropologist with a background in organizational development and design. He excels at using data to build and nurture successful organizations, refine organizational strategies and leverage key assets to create value for end users. He specializes in strategic planning and organizational change initiatives in the public and nonprofit sectors, and has managed projects for the City of Philadelphia, NPower PA, the Center City District, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Hill has published widely on cities, cultural heritage and urban development issues. He lectures in the Urban Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and manages research projects at the Wharton Risk Management and Decision-Processes Center.
John Kromer's research and work focuses on strategic planning and policy development for disinvested metropolitan-area communities. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Fels where he teaches a course on “The Politics of Housing and Urban Development.” As the City of Philadelphia’s Director of Housing from 1992 to 2001, Kromer organized and implemented a program for the rebuilding of Lower North Philadelphia, where major development activity had not occurred since the 1960s. He also supervised the creation of a citywide network of nonprofit housing counseling agencies and financed innovative homeless and special-needs housing ventures. Subsequently as a consultant, Kromer has participated in the design and implementation of revitalization plans for the cities of Allentown, Reading, and York, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey.
Deane Mariotti was Manager of Program Investments at the Chicago Public Education Fund. She oversaw the Pritzker Expert Principals portfolio, including investments in the University of Illinois-Chicago and an innovative partnership with Teach for America and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She led a joint effort with the Chicago Public Schools to secure the districts’ largest federal grant, the Teacher Incentive Fund. She previously worked in the finance and academic offices of the School District of Philadelphia, focusing on quality management and the use of data in educational systems. Deane earned a master’s degree in Government Administration and an M.S.Ed. in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. in international relations, also from the University of Pennsylvania.
Annette Mattei is an independent consultant with more than 20 years’ experience specializing in research and public policy analysis of state, regional, and local economic development issues on behalf of nonprofit and governmental organizations. She has completed a range of research projects, from large-scale regional economic impact studies, to sector analyses, to organizational-level program evaluations. Her areas of research focus include innovation and entrepreneurship, higher education, workforce development, arts and culture, quality of life, early childhood education, demographics, and the Philadelphia region’s economic development. Before becoming an independent consultant, Ms. Mattei served as the Director of Research for the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL; now known as the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia), the Commonwealth’s leading regionally based statewide public policy organization.
Dr. Mario Moussa, co-author of The Art of Woo, is a management consultant and Co-Director of the Wharton Strategic Persuasion Workshop. A specialist in large-scale organizational change, he has led consulting projects for major health care companies, pharmaceutical corporations, banks, leading universities, and financial services firms. He has published widely in the field of organizational dynamics, power, and influence, and in print publications including Time Magazine, Business Week, U.S. News and World Report, and The Harvard Management Newsletter. As a keynote speaker for clients around the world, Dr. Moussa has addressed executives in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Istanbul, Sao Paolo, Delhi, and Paris, as well as cities across the U.S. Dr. Moussa holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought.and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Kerry L. Moyer, Ph.D. is founder and president of the Civic Research Alliance, an organization dedicated to assist school districts, municipalities, small businesses, and statewide organizations. He has extensive experience in education research and policy. Dr. Moyer has served on numerous committees and commissions, appointed by the Secretary of Education, the Speaker of the House, the Governor, local officials, and various university presidents. In addition, he served ten years (1983 to 1992) as a faculty member for the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Governmental Administration graduate program, serving as Program Chair from 1987 to 1992. Prior to the Alliance, Dr. Moyer served as the Director of Research, Capital Office, of the Pennsylvania Economy League. There he analyzed state and local government policies, consulted with individual municipalities and school districts, and prepared research for state agencies and statewide organizations. Dr. Moyers holds a Ph.D. in Research Methodology from the University of Pittsburgh, and a ME.D From Valdosta State University.
Dr. Leroy D. Nunery, II is a faculty member at the Fels Institute of Government. In June 2010, he was appointed Deputy Superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia. He is also the founder of PlusUltré LLC, a management consulting company started in 2007 that specializes in enhancing the strategic, managerial and operational capacities of entities in the K-18 educational spectrum. Prior to joining PlusUltré LLC, he served as President of School Management for Edison Schools, Inc. and Vice President, Business Services for the University of Pennsylvania where he was engaged in the strategic planning and implementation of Penn’s West Philadelphia Initiatives. His professional experience also includes sixteen years in various roles in corporate banking and capital markets and four years with the National Basketball Association as Vice President, Human Resources and Vice President of Business Development.
Harris Sokoloff is the Director of the Center for School Study Councils and is responsible for working with school superintendents, school boards, and district staff to help them keep pace with state-of-the-art educational and management theory, research, and practice. In that role, he develops and conducts more than 50 workshops and seminars on educational leadership issues each academic year for school superintendents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His initiatives with school districts and community organizations include a variety of projects to create opportunities to engage students in school and community problem-solving, as well as to build stronger, more productive relationships between schools and their communities. As founder and director of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement (PPCE), he has designed and implemented community engagement projects ranging locally and nationally.
Nicholas Torres currently serves as President of Education-Plus, Inc. where he works on scaling higher education models for low-income students, school-based health centers and blended learning education models for dyslexic populations. He serves as a Senior Fellow for Public Private Ventures, a Consultant for Community Wealth Ventures, and faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government. Mr. Torres opened and manages 3 high school college partnerships, 2 school based health centers, and anticipates opening a cyber-education school for learning disabled students in PA. He is co-founder and publisher of the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal.
