Speaker & Moderator Biographies
Jody Feder, J.D.
Director of Accountability and Regulatory Affairs, NAICU
Jody Feder represents NAICU on issues including: accreditation, state authorization, Title IX, and educational privacy with Congress and the Administration. She joined the NAICU staff in March 2017 after more than 14 years as a legislative attorney with the Congressional Research Service. At CRS, she provided nonpartisan advice and analysis to Members of Congress on civil rights and education law. Prior to attending law school, she wrote about federal education issues as an editor for Thompson Publishing Group. Feder earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Brown University (RI) and a law degree from Yale University (CT).
Stephanie T. Giesecke
Assistant Vice President for Government Relations, NAICU
Stephanie Giesecke represents NAICU with Congress, the administration, and the higher education community on budget and appropriations issues. Previously, she was a legislative assistant for Rep. Bill Alexander (D-AR), and a legislative assistant for the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). She is an active member of the Committee for Education Funding and served as its president in 2006 and 2019. Giesecke is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (MO) and The George Washington University (DC).
Marjorie Hass, Ph.D.
President, Council of Independent Colleges
Marjorie Hass is a philosopher, leader, award-winning teacher, mentor, author, and an influential thinker in independent higher education. She has led the Council of Independent Colleges since 2021. and guides the organization's programming to ensure it engages a diverse membership; supports member financial health and innovation; and strengthens CIC's role as a champion of independent higher education.
Before joining CIC, Hass served as president of Rhodes College (TN) and of Austin College (TX). She also served at Muhlenberg College (PA) as a member of the philosophy faculty and as provost.
A philosopher by training, Hass has published widely on the philosophy of language, logic, and feminist philosophy and speaks frequently on leadership, shared governance, and the independent sector in higher education. She is the author of A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education (Johns Hopkins Press, 2021).
Hass earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a former NAICU board chair and currently is a trustee at Brandeis University (MA).
Karin L. Johns
Director of Tax Policy, NAICU
As director of tax policy, Karin Johns is responsible for developing NAICU's legislative strategies and representing the association on tax policy issues and nonprofit governance. She also serves as liaison to the NAICU Secretariat, co-chairs the Section 127 Coalition, handles issues affecting international students, immigration, and several Department of Labor issues like the overtime rule. Previously, she was legislative director for Rep. Phil English (R-PA), and a legislative assistant for Rep. Fred Grandy (R-IA). Johns graduated from Westminster College (PA) and attended the Fund for American Studies Institute on Political Journalism at Georgetown University (DC).
Barbara K. Mistick, D.B.A.
President, NAICU
Barbara Mistick has led NAICU since September 2019. Coming out of the pandemic, she helped organize the higher education community and spearheaded efforts to double the Pell Grant maximum award to $13,000. The effort secured a down payment increase of $400 in the FY2022 federal budget and $500 in the FY2023 federal budget, the largest increases in the Pell Grant maximum award since 2009. NAICU advocacy efforts also helped secure substantial increases in each of the core student and institutional aid programs in the 2023 omnibus spending package.
Mistick expanded NAICU’s mission to secure institutional aid, along with student aid, to ensure private, nonprofit colleges and universities were equitably treated when Congress distributed $77 billion in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds in each of the three stimulus rounds. She has enhanced NAICU’s communication efforts and virtual tools to keep members informed of federal efforts and opportunities for assistance. These efforts were critical to ensuring the health and safety for our nation’s campuses and the communities they serve.
During the course of her 30-year career in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Mistick has been an entrepreneur, educator and leader at institutions such as Wilson College (PA), the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the H.J. Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University (PA), the National Education Center for Women in Business at Seton Hill University (PA), and at various businesses she managed and/or founded. She is a graduate of Carlow University (PA) and the University of Pittsburgh (PA), and earned a doctor of management from Case Western Reserve University (OH).
Justin Monk
Director of Student and Institutional Aid Policy, NAICU
Monk is NAICU’s lead policy expert on Title IV federal student assistance programs and the institutional aid programs found in Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act (HEA). He also is responsible for developing association policy positions on student and institutional aid, in conjunction with the association’s member college, university, and association presidents. Previously, Monk was the director of government affairs for the KIPP Foundation, where he was the key advocate advancing the foundation’s policy, legislative and regulatory priorities. Prior to KIPP, he served as Student Veterans of America’s director of policy, during which time he led efforts to increase protections for and improve outcomes of student veterans in higher education. Monk earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Wake Forest University (NC) and a bachelor of science in business administration in economics from Appalachian State University (NC).
Suzanne Stokes Vieth
Director of State Relations and Outreach, NAICU
Suzanne Stokes Vieth is responsible for cultivating and managing the association’s network of state executives, tracking emerging higher education issues at the state level, and serving as primary liaison with the Congressional Independent Colleges Caucus. She joined NAICU from the Population Association of America/ Association of Population Centers where she served as deputy director for government affairs. Previously, she served as the manager of congressional relations for the Association of Public Television Stations and began her career as a legislative assistant in the office of former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). Vieth is a graduate of the University of Michigan.