Partners Michael W. Brown Prior to the establishment of City Policy Associates in 1998, Mr. Brown served as The U.S. Conference of Mayors' public affairs director. Appointed to that position in 1982, he was responsible for informing the public and the news media of the accomplishments and positions of the organization on all issues affecting cities. In addition to serving as spokesman for the organization, he was responsible for writing and editing official statements, publications, speeches and editorial submissions; managing press events for mayors in Washington and in other major cities; and writing and editing the organization's bi-weekly newsletter on urban issues.   As a senior staff member, he shared in the development of the organization's policies on the full range of urban issues, and in the design and conduct of the organization's national and international meetings and other events. He also published the Conference's multi-volume series on "Best Practices of City Governments," served as the mayors' representative on the State and Local Legal Center Task Force, designed and conducted a series of national conferences on improving communication between the nation's city halls and the news media, and worked with television networks on their community outreach efforts. Prior to his work at the Conference of Mayors, Mr. Brown was executive vice president of Ellis Associates, Inc., an education consulting firm based in College Park, Maryland; a program director for Operations Research, Inc., a research and development firm based in Silver Spring, Maryland; a management specialist for Northern Systems Company, a training company based in Omaha; and an administrator for the Human Development Corporation, the community action agency for the City of St. Louis.  He earned his B.A. and M.S. from Southern Illinois University and did additional graduate work at St. Louis University.   Laura DeKoven Waxman Prior to the establishment of City Policy Associates in 1998, Ms. Waxman served as assistant executive director of The Conference of Mayors.  Appointed to that position in 1981, Ms. Waxman was responsible for working with mayors and other city officials to develop their policy positions on a range of urban issues. In addition to advocating the cities' positions in the administration and the Congress, she provided information on legislation and regulations to cities; drafted testimony on these issues for presentation by mayors; designed and conducted dozens of national and international meetings of mayors and other city officials; and served as a liaison between the organization and the administration, the Congress, federal agencies, and other public and non-profit interest groups.   Legislative accomplishments include significant involvement in passage of the 1994 crime bill, the Brady Law, the Welfare-to-Work legislation, the Mickey Leland Hunger Relief Act, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, and the anti-drug abuse acts of 1986 and 1988.   As a member of the organization's senior staff, Ms. Waxman was responsible for the mayors' committees on Health and Human Services and on Criminal and Social Justice; the mayors' task forces on Drug Control, Immigration, Youth Violence, Welfare-to-Work, Hunger and Homelessness, Public Schools, and Police Policy; and the U.S. Conference of City Human Services Officials.  She published a series of assessments of hunger and homelessness in cities that extended over a 15-year period, and numerous surveys and policy papers on crime, drug control, public schools, and other issues. She obtained funding for, and managed, several projects in areas such as community policing, criminal justice, human services, volunteerism, disabilities, and mental health. Before joining the Conference staff, Ms. Waxman was in the Office of the Mayor, New Haven, serving as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of Human Services, and as City Drug Coordinator.  Prior to that, she was with the Connecticut Department of Community Affairs, working on  municipal projects. She earned her M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and her B.A. in Art History from Connecticut College.