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Missouri Budget Project Staff

Amy Blouin

Executive Director

Email: ablouin@mobudget.org

Amy Blouin is the founder and Executive Director of the Missouri Budget Project. Amy has a Master of Social Work from St. Louis University (1996), and a BA in Political Science and Religious Studies from Loras College, Dubuque Iowa (1991). Amy previously served as the Director of Advocacy for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and as Government Relations Staff for the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Amy has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Saint Louis University, spent time working in Central America and with the Iowa Department of Economic Development European Office in Frankfurt, Germany.

Amy has worked on state tax and fiscal policy issues for 15 years. She has received regional and statewide recognition for her work including a "40 Under 40" award from the St. Louis Business Journal and the Missouri Women's Network 2010 Award for Advancing Women's Equality.

Ruth Roetheli Ehresman MSW

Director of Health and Budgetary Policy

Email: rehresman@mobudget.org

Ruth R. Ehresman joined the Missouri Budget Project in August, 2005. Prior to that, she was the Policy Director of Citizens for Missouri's Children for 11 years. Throughout Ehresman's professional career, she has been privileged to work with, or on behalf of vulnerable families in a variety of settings.

Ehresman began her career as a secondary teacher and elementary school principal in areas with very low economic status. She directed a neighborhood social service ministry (Joint Neighborhood Ministry), and worked as the director of family programs in a multi-service agency serving abused/neglected children and their families (the Salvation Army Hope Center for Children).

Ehresman has participated in the development of public policy at the state level on issues relating to budget issues, health care, welfare reform, child welfare, nutrition, and child care. She has served on numerous boards and has been active in many coalitions. Ehresman is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Vision for Children at Risk and the Missouri Family Health Council. She is a co-chair of the St. Louis Children's Agenda, a member of the Catholic Charities Advocacy Advisory Council and of the Program Committee of the St. Louis Maternal, Child and Family Health Coalition.

In 2007, Ehresman was selected as a Health Care Hero in the area of public policy by the St. Louis Business Journal. She was honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in 2008.

Tom Kruckemeyer

Director of Fiscal Policy and Chief Economist

Email: tkruckemeyer@mobudget.org

Tom joined the Missouri Budget Project in 2005, after having served as chief economist in Missouri's Office of Administration- Division of Budget and Planning. During his 26-years with the state budget office, Tom worked in the administrations of six governors, both Democrat and Republican.

Tom earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and History in 1975 and a Master of Arts Degree in Economics in 1977 from the from University of Missouri-St. Louis. In 1990, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Traci Gleason

Director of Communications and Public Engagement

Email: tgleason@mobudget.org

Traci joined the Missouri Budget Project in November, 2010. Traci has considerable experience in both the public and non-profit sectors, having worked on public policy issues at the federal, state, and municipal levels. Her experience includes serving as a federal representative for the State of California, as well as positions with the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and the City of Kansas City, Missouri.

Traci earned a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California-Berkeley and Bachelor's Degrees in Psychology and Mathematics from Creighton University.

Jay Hardenbrook

Public Affairs

Email: jhardenbrook@mobudget.org

Jay Hardenbrook joined the Missouri Budget Project in November, 2011. For over a decade, Jay has worked in public policy in the public and non-profit sectors. He has experience crafting and impacting budgets, revenue and health policy at the state and federal level, and has worked for Legislators, both Republican and Democrat, and non-profits large and small.

Jay has worked as a Finance Aide for the Alaska State Legislature, a Child Advocate with the Partnership for Children in Kansas City, and a Senior Advocate with AARP in Missouri and Arizona.