Jim Lewis is an applied researcher utilizing methods from sociology, economics, political science and public administration to address policy issues.  He currently holds research positions at University of Illinois, Chicago and Rob Paral & Associates.

Jim is Chair of the State of Illinois Budgeting for Results Commission, which is charged with implementing cost/benefit analysis across all state government programming, identifying obsolete state mandates for repeal, and assuring consensus on annual state revenue estimates.

Over his career, he has been Senior Program Officer at the Chicago Community Trust, Director of the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University and Vice President for Research and Planning at the Chicago Urban League.   He holds a Ph.D. in American History from Northwestern University where he was a Hearst Fellow.  He has taught courses in American history, urban politics and research methods at Northwestern and at Roosevelt.

Dr. Lewis has extensive experience in legislative redistricting, testifying in two federal remap trials, was a principal investigator in the official evaluation of Illinois welfare reform conducted by Northwestern University, and served on the Simon-Stratton task force making recommendations on Illinois campaign finance reform.  He played key roles in the founding of Illinois Partners for Human Service, the Back Office Cooperative, and the Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance.

Media credits include appearances on ABC World News Tonight, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 848, National Public Radio, WBBM Radio election night commentator,The Milt Rosenberg Show, and numerous other television and radio appearances.  He has written numerous articles and book chapters, as well as commissioned evaluation reports.

Jim is available to direct or conduct research projects.