Consumers Union Scribblers:

Reggie James, Director

Reggie James is director of Consumers Union Southwest Office. Reggie also directs the Consumer Outreach program, which seeks to empower consumers to affect governmental policy and market practices as well as overseeing the organization's multi-state advocacy strategy. He is also director for Consumers Union's www.NotinMyFood.org campaign, that provides consumers with timely information on food safety risks.

A nationally recognized advocate, Reggie joined Consumers Union as a staff attorney in 1988 and became Director of the Southwest Office in 1996. Reggie holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Reggie previously worked as a Hearing Examiner with the Texas Youth Commission; was an engineering plant technician for Thermonetics Inc.; and also served in the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine service.

Rob Schneider, Senior Staff Attorney

Rob currently directs Consumers Union's www.PrescriptionforChange campaign aimed at making prescription drugs more safe, effective and affordable for all consumers. He is currently working out of Consumers Union’s headquarters in Yonkers, N.Y. Immediately prior to this, he coordinated Consumers Union's Internet and e-mail advocacy efforts from the Southwest Office.

Rob is a lawyer and a seasoned lobbyist – well know around the Texas Capitol for his work on financial services and insurance -- and a nationally-recognized expert in those areas. He has worked for Consumers Union for 14 years, and previously served as Associate Commissioner for Consumer Protection at the Texas Department of Insurance. Rob holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kathy Mitchell, Research Coordinator

Kathy Mitchell is the research coordinator for the Southwest Office and helps manage e-activism for Consumers Union. She manages interns and consultants, directs and edits substantive research for reports, authors reports, and assists with all online campaign activity. She serves on a state advisory committee overseeing access to records under the state's Public Information Act, and assists many local and state groups with government records access.

Formerly a senior health policy analyst specializing in health insurance research for a Texas state agency, she has a B.A. and M.A from the University of Texas at Austin. Active in the community, she serves on the Board of the ACLU of Texas and chairs the state legislative committee. She is a member of the board of the nonprofit environmental organization Public Research Works in Austin.

Urvashi Rangan, Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst

Urvashi serves as a policy analyst, media spokesperson and advocate on sustainability issues, accurate labeling and environmental health concerns across a broad range of products including food, organics, home products, cosmetic and cleaning products. As a trained environmental health scientist and toxicologist, she directs GreenerChoices.org, Eco-labels.org, and electronics recycling public education and advocacy projects. One of her most recent successes was helping the passage of landmark legislation in California that bans the use of the “organic” label on fish and seafood until federal standards are established.

Dr. Rangan received her B.A. in Chemistry from Boston University in 1990 and her Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1995. From 1995-97, she did post-doctoral work at the Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute. She was a NIH fellow from 1990-97.

Michael McCauley, Media Director

Michael McCauley has nine years of media experience, serving as media liaison for a number of nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining CU in 2000, Mr. McCauley served as Communications Director for Greenbelt Alliance, the Bay Area's regional land conservation and urban planning nonprofit. As Communications Director, he handled a number of responsibilities, including media outreach, policy communications, and marketing. Before moving to California, he was Communications Director for Trial lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), the national public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C. At TLPJ, he coordinated media relations for the organization's wide ranging docket of environmental, consumer, and civil rights cases. Prior to TLPJ, McCauley served as Research Director for Public Citizen's Congress Watch. During that time, he oversaw the group's research efforts on a wide number of consumer and environmental issues, and acted as a key spokesperson on congressional reform issues.

Gail K. Hillebrand, Senior Attorney

Gail Hillebrand manages the credit and finance team of advocates, and engages in legislative and administrative advocacy. She is a member of the American Law Institute. She is the former founding chair and a current board member of the California Reinvestment Committee, a coalition of low income advocates, nonprofit housing groups, and community and consumer groups working to increase lending and services by financial services institutions to low income consumers. Ms. Hillebrand has served on the Consumer Advisory Council to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (1994-1997). She is a former board member and former vice chair of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (1991-1993). She is a former board member of the San Francisco Women Lawyers Alliance (1990-1994). She has served on a number of state advisory committees, including the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act Advisory Committee to the California Department of Corporations.

Before joining Consumers Union in 1985, she clerked for the Honorable Robert Boochever of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and practiced law with the San Francisco office of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen.

Liz Foley,

Liz was born and raised in Staten Island, NY and joined CU in March 2005 as a Campaign Organizer with www.PrescriptionforChange.org. Before joining CU, she worked as a Regional Supervisor and Campus Organizer in New York City for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) for three years. In the time leading up to the 2004 election, she was the Pennsylvania Transportation Coordinator for America Coming Together (ACT) for their Election Day “Get out the Vote” efforts.

Liz also spent a year teaching English in Quito, Ecuador and doing development work in the Amazon. She also worked for a Member of Parliament in London, England. Liz received her Bachelor’s degree from Siena College in Albany, NY. She currently resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn.