STATEMENT: Demos Trustee Stephen B. Heintz Appointed Member of Bi-Partisan Commission on Key National Indicators

Washington DC — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed Stephen B. Heintz to serve on the newly created Commission on Key National Indicators. The bi-partisan Commission was authorized by Congress as part of the health care reform bill signed by President Obama in the spring of 2010.  It is charged with overseeing the development of a Key National Indicator System (KNIS)—on the web—that will help the American people better measure the progress and well-being of American society.

In these challenging times, the KNIS is an important tool for improving access to and widespread use of selected key statistical indicators on a wide range of issues and opportunities facing the country. These measures would be used by policymakers and the general public to examine vital areas of societal need and to develop sound solutions for difficult problems. 
    
Authorized with $70 million over 9 years, with members appointed by the House and Senate majority and minority leaders, the eight-member Commission is required to elect co-chairs and contract with the National Academy of Sciences to implement the system as a public service.  Both the Commission and the National Academy of Sciences will report to Congress annually. Evaluation through GAO programmatic reviews and financial audits will be ongoing.
 
Heintz is a trustee and former board chair of Demos in New York City, a public policy organization he co-founded in 2000 to promote a more engaged and inclusive democratic process and more broadly shared prosperity in the twenty-first century. Since 2001, he has served as president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York City. Previously, he was vice president and chief operating officer of the EastWest Institute in Prague, and served in cabinet-level positions in the Connecticut state government, including Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development and Commissioner of the Department of Income Maintenance. In 2010, he was elected chairman of the board of the Independent Sector.
 
Demos president Miles Rapoport issued the following statement about Heintz’s appointment: “Stephen Heintz is a foundation and non-profit leader with an extraordinary record of leadership in areas such as environmental policy, economic development and social welfare policy, and democratic reform, and it has been a great pleasure and honor to work with him for nearly a decade at Demos. As a commissioner of the Key National Indicator System, Stephen will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in public management and problem-solving to the important tasks set out by Congress for this new social measurement system. We wish to commend Speaker Pelosi for her decision, and we warmly congratulate Stephen for his appointment to this important public service position.”