Alberto Olivas
Executive Director
Congressman Ed Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service
ASU College of Public Service and Community Solutions

Alberto Olivas is the founding Executive Director of the Congressman Ed Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service, located in the ASU College of Public Service; Community Solutions. He previously was Director of the Center for Civic Participation for the ten-college Maricopa County Community College District.

Alberto serves as Board Secretary for the National Civic League, and is on the board of directors for Democracy Works, a national organization that works to improve elections and voting processes. He is Vice Chair for Arizona Town Hall, and is past Board Chair for Kids Voting Arizona.

He helped establish the Democracy Commitment, a national community college civic education initiative, and Alberto gives presentations and trainings nationally on issues related to public deliberation and on public engagement in policy development. He is a frequent research collaborator on topics related to public engagement and public deliberation for the Kettering Foundation, an organization focused on improving democracy. Alberto previously served as Director of the Governor’s Office of Equal Opportunity, and as State Voter Outreach Director for the Arizona Secretary of State. He was an appointed member of the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs, and also served as Vice President of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Carrie Bauer
Instructional Designer and Instructional Specialist
EdPlus at Arizona State University

Carrie Bauer is a an Instructional Designer and Instructional Specialist for EdPlus at Arizona State University (ASU), and a recent PhD graduate from the Justice and Social Inquiry Department at ASU.

Carrie’s research interests include the social economy, women and work, and socio-economic justice. Her dissertation research examined the experiences and perceptions of women immigrant, asylee and refugee social entrepreneurs and the role social entrepreneurship plays in their economic survival strategies.

After her undergraduate and masters’ graduations, Carrie worked in political consulting for five years, including owning her own political consulting and research firm in Chicago, Bauer Strategic Consulting (BSC). The company researched professional and personal information on individuals and issues based information for campaigns, regions, businesses and individuals. The company consulted local, state and nationwide campaigns to use research reports in polling, TV ads, direct mail and phone calls. While running the firm she also taught courses at Northeastern Illinois University and DePaul University in Chicago as an adjunct faculty member. Additionally, she has taught in-person and online courses at Arizona State University for the Justice and Social Inquiry Department, as well as the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Northern Arizona University.

When she’s not designing lifelong learning courses, Carrie likes to run, hike, garden, read, and spend time with her partner, two children and her amazing dog.