Meet Our Scholars

Pete Subkoviak is currently the Director of Special Projects at the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, where he leads household financial stability and digital equity efforts in the nation’s second largest county. He spearheaded the launch of the nation's only county-led COVID-19 residential cash assistance program, the success of which led the county to create a guaranteed income pilot. Prior to his position at Cook County, Pete was the Senior Policy Advisor on the Toni Preckwinkle for Mayor campaign; he also served as an implementation consultant for Starbucks’ ground-breaking health insurance plan for transgender employees. A strong advocate for the rights and inherent value of working Americans, Pete is proud of his service to SEIU 775 of Seattle, where he directed a successful campaign to design and pass into law the Long-Term Care Trust Act. The bi-partisan legislation created the nation’s first public benefit for long-term care needs, which will cover Washington state’s 4.5 million worker and retiree populations beginning in 2022. Pete was a 2012 Point Foundation flagship scholar, studying insurance systems and health economics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before working on health care reform for the White House Domestic Policy Council. Prior to graduate school he worked for health and LGBTQ advocacy organizations in Chicago, where he co-created the blueprint for TransLife Care, a pioneering housing and employment program for transgender individuals