Benjamin Juarez
Public Policy Forum
633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 406, Milwaukee
Age: 33
Education: Master’s in policy analysis from Oregon State University; bachelor’s in political science, theology and French from Marquette University.
Current position: Fiscal researcher
Previous position: Southeast Wisconsin regional representative, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin
What did you learn in your previous role that can be applied to your new job?
“A lot of it has to do actually with putting myself out there. For me, it’s a maxim. The saying, ‘It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you,’ is really important to me because if you’re out there and you’re working very hard and you make your sacrifices, people take note and they give you good references without you asking for them. That’s what I found out after doing a lot of work both on the Obama campaign and for the senator’s office. People notice in this city.”
What do you hope to gain from your current role?
“A better understanding of public documents. How to read them and how to really understand where we’re going with them. There are a lot of things that, coming into this position, I didn’t even know existed. For example, final official statements on general obligation promissory notes. The city, the county and MMSD, which I’m looking at now, it’s available online.”
