Alberta Slavin Award Winners

In his role as the Executive Director of the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council, Will Jordan furthers the council's mission to ensure equal access to housing for all people through education, counseling, investigation, and enforcement. Before EHOC, Jordan also worked with Emerson Park Development Corporation’s YouthBuild Program in East St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Missouri Division of Youth Services, and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. He is also a member of Stand for Children’s grassroots organizing initiative.

Jay Hardenbrook worked with AARP Missouri as Advocacy Director for nearly eight years. He has spent years building relationships with state legislators, working as the policy director for the Missouri Budget Project and as AARP Missouri’s Program Coordinator. His career has been dedicated to cultivating an extensive knowledge of Missouri’s budget process and building knowledge in health care, consumer, and utility issues across the state.

Geoff is the Chief Economist for the Missouri Office of the Public where he manages a technical staff that advocates for Missouri ratepayers. He has provided expert testimony on a variety of issues including, but not limited to: Rate Design, Performance Based Regulation, Income-Eligible Programs, and Economic Development. Geoff has been a frequent speaker at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the National Association of State Utility Advocates, Michigan State's Institute of Public Utilities, and USAID Conferences overseas.

Geoff lives in Jefferson City, MO, with his wife Kathryn and kids Allison and Walter. He received his doctorate at Saint Louis University, where he conducted research on organizational life-cycle analysis of network governance which he has translated to his present position with utility regulation.

Marc Poston is Director of the Office of the Public Counsel (OPC) representing the public in gas, electric, water, and sewer utility service cases before the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) and appeals of PSC decisions in Missouri's Appellate Courts. He previously provided legal counsel to the Missouri Division of Energy regarding the efficient use of energy, diverse energy resources, and economic development.

Marc was born and raised in the St. Louis area and now lives in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife Kelly, son Jack, and daughter Marley.

Marc's education includes a B.S. in Education and J.D. from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and an M.B.A. from William Woods University.

David was an integral part of founding CCM, serving in the early 1970s as Council to Utility Consumers Council of Missouri (now Consumers Council of Missouri), and representing consumers in rate hearings before the Missouri Public Service Commission.

Much of David's career was spent at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri as staff council and later as the Director of the Agency.

Two decades ago, David helped found Jews United for Justice (JUJ) and more recently he has been working with the JUJ Opportunity to Thrive Committee to combat predatory lending through advocacy and by supporting responsible employer based alternatives.

Following a 20-year career as a corporate public relations executive, Wendell left his position as VP of Communications for Cigna, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, to advocate for meaningful health care reform and to help organizations working for the greater good achieve their goals. In widely covered Congressional hearings, Wendell disclosed how insurance companies, to boost profits, engage in practices that have forced millions of Americans into the ranks of the uninsured, and use deceptive PR tactics to undermine health care reform.

His book, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out On How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care And Deceiving Americans, is a stark warning that corporate spin is distorting our democracy. Wendell is also the author of Obamacare: What’s In It For Me? What Everyone Needs To Know About The Affordable Care Act. He is also a regular contributor for The Huffington Post and HealthInsurance.org.

Wendell’s most recent book (co-authored with Nick Penniman) is Nation On The Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy And What We Can Do About It, which exposes legalized corruption, links it to kitchen table issues Americans face every day, and provides practical solutions to restore our democracy.

Consumers Council of Missouri presented the 2015 Alberta Slavin Award to Senator Claire McCaskill for her efforts in the U.S. Senate to pass the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act in the omnibus transportation bill that passed Congress in December and that President Obama signed into law.

The law prohibits nearly all rental car companies, including many car dealers, from renting, loaning or selling recalled vehicles until the safety defects have been repaired.  Previously, federal law barred dealers from selling recalled new vehicles, but no similar law covered rentals.

The award is named for Alberta Slavin, who founded the Consumers Council and served as chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission.