Executive Board
Executive Board
Gregory Daco, President
Gregory Daco is a senior principal economist in the U.S. Macroeconomics
Group of IHS Global Insight. His primary responsibility is tracking and
forecasting the international trade and government sectors using IHS
Global Insight's U.S. Macroeconomic Model. Daco is also responsible for
developing monthly alternative scenarios for short- and medium-term
forecasts. His expertise includes U.S. government policy, international
trade, and monetary policy.
Prior to joining IHS, Daco worked in the economic affairs department of
the Belgian Embassy in Australia and Switzerland. He holds a master's
degree in economics from Boston University and a Master of Business
Administration from Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
Daco has been a member of the National Association for Business
Economics since 2008 and is a founding member of NABE Boston.
Hanna Luchnikava, Vice President
Hanna Luchnikava is a South Asia economist with the Global Economics
Group of IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. Her research
focuses on macroeconomic, financial, and business developments in South
Asian markets, as well as Mongolia, Myanmar, and Laos. Prior to joining
IHS in 2009, Luchnikava worked at the World Bank's Development
Economics Research Group and at McKinsey and Co.
She has a master's degree in international economics and finance from
the International Business School at Brandeis University and a
bachelor's in international relations from the Belarusian State
University. She speaks fluent English, Russian and Spanish. Luchnikava
has been a member of the National Association for Business Economics
since 2010, and she is a founding member of NABE Boston.
Jonathan H. Francis, Secretary
Jonathan H. Francis has been a member of the National Association for
Business Economics since 1989 and served on the board of directors in
2001-2002. Francis has been a member of the Conference of Business
Economists since 1987 and served as its chairman in 2000.
Upon completing his Ph.D. in international economics and stabilization
policy at the University of Michigan, Francis went to work for the Bank
of Canada in Ottawa. He returned to the United States to join Wharton
Econometric Forecasting Associates in Philadelphia. He has also worked
for the First Boston Corporation, RHO Management Company – both
in New York – and finished his career at Putnam Investments in
Boston.
In 2011, Francis earned a Certificate in Art and Appraisal Studies at
the Rhode Island School of Design. He has established Bien Fait
Decorative Arts Valuation Services LLC to develop his interest in
decorative arts as a valuation specialist and an appraiser. He is
secretary of the Boston Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers.
Leslie Levesque, Treasurer
Leslie Levesque is a senior economist in the U.S. and Global Consumer
Markets group at IHS Global Insight. She is responsible for analyzing
and forecasting U.S. retail sales segments, as well as detailed
consumer expenditures and prices, consumer finance, income distribution
and demographics. She also specializes in U.S. small business.
Levesque previously worked for Bain Capital and Putnam Investments. She
has a master's degree in international economics from Suffolk
University in Boston and a bachelor's in business administration from
Plymouth State University. Levesque has been a member of the National
Association for Business Economics since 2010.
Kimberly Blanton, Public Relations
Officer
Kimberly Blanton is a veteran financial and economics reporter who
developed and writes a blog, Squared Away, for the Center for
Retirement Research at Boston College. The blog provides news and
research findings about financial behavior, psychology, and the U.S.
money and debt culture that shapes our decisions.
Blanton worked for 17 years at The Boston Globe and has also written
for The Economist, The Dallas Times Herald, Boston Magazine, CFO
magazine and many other publications. She has appeared regularly
on national and New England television and radio. She holds a master's
degree in economics from Indiana University and lives in Somerville.
She is a founding member of NABE Boston and can be reached at
kimberly.blanton@rcn.com