Heidi Aggeler

Managing Director and Co-Founder

Heidi co-founded Root Policy Research to further the role of applied research in community planning. She enjoys thinking about how markets respond to public policy, and is committed to helping clients address ever-changing economic, housing, and community development needs.

Heidi started her research and consulting career as an economic analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. She has been managing housing research projects since 1999, and has overseen completion of more than 100 housing market studies and needs assessments. Heidi also specializes in fair housing assessments, and has conducted fair housing training and technical assistance nationwide. She is a former member of the Denver Planning Board and is currently on the boards of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Guitar Foundation of America, New Cottage Arts, and the League for Animals and People in Summit County. She is frequently invited to speak on housing policy.

Heidi loves spending time with her human and (rescued) canine family members, and is an enthusiast of running, backpacking, skiing, and classical guitar.

Mollie Fitzpatrick

Managing Director and Co-Founder

Mollie is a housing policy expert, socioeconomic data nerd, and equity enthusiast. She co-founded Root Policy Research to help public sector clients understand their housing and community development challenges and develop meaningful policy actions to improve communities. Mollie also has expertise in public sector fiscal and economic impact studies, as well as childcare and human services needs assessments.

Mollie holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Colorado Denver and a somewhat unrelated bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M.

Outside of work, Mollie enjoys failing at maintaining a Colorado lifestyle. Instead, she allocates extensive time and mental energy to raising three small humans with the enduring partnership of a dry-witted husband.

Avilia Bueno

Director

Avilia is a labor economist and is passionate about how we construct communities and the implications our neighborhoods and surroundings have on life outcomes. Originally from the mountainous desert of El Paso/Ciudad Juárez, Avilia is fluent in Spanish and enjoys analyzing complex relationships with the help of data.

Avilia holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to joining Root Policy, she held a number of positions at the University of Colorado Boulder, varying from teaching Macroeconomics to working with the College of Arts and Science on research projects. She also worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas as a Senior Research Analyst, conducting research on the U.S.-Mexico border economy.

She enjoys spending time with her family in Mexico, Colorado beer, and annoying her husband by listening to podcasts at 2x speed.

Frankie Lewington

Associate

A member of the Root team since June 2021, Frankie utilizes his technical and engagement skills to help further communities’ affordable housing and equitable development goals. With a background in urban planning and public sector experience in policy analysis, community engagement, and strategic communications, Frankie brings a well-rounded understanding of how to approach land use and housing challenges to arrive at impactful, community-driven solutions.

Frankie received his Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management from the University of Oregon and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He also holds a Certificate in Tribal Relations from Portland State University.

Outside of the office, Frankie enjoys running the neighborhoods of Denver, navigating the emotional hills and valleys of being a Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns supporter, and spending time with his wife, sons, and 115-lb lap dog.

Cheri Colter

Associate

Cheri is a policy researcher with a principal interest in neighborhood effects as upstream drivers of health and education inequity. Her doctoral research was part of the National Science Foundation’s Neighborhood Change Research Initiative at the University of Texas and analyzed the impact of neighborhood environment on education outcomes in highly segregated and high poverty neighborhoods in south Dallas. Prior to joining Root Policy, Cheri completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of Inequality (IRISE) at the University of Denver where she launched the Health Equity Community Exchange statewide project.

Cheri completed her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. She also holds a Master’s degree in international finance, trade and economic integration from the University of Denver Korbel Institute and a bachelor’s degree in French and economics.

Lucy McGehee

Research Associate

Lucy is a sociologist interested in how neighborhoods shape individuals and how individuals shape their neighborhoods. Her background in both qualitative and quantitative research enables a rich understanding of data that centers around the lived experience of individuals and their families.

Before joining Root, Lucy received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the American University in Washington, D.C. and a Master of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Oxford where she studied evictions in London. She also worked in her home state of Iowa as a paralegal assisting low-income tenants with eviction filings—an experience that has informed her comprehensive understanding of the origins of displacement and its consequences.

On the weekends you can find her pizza-ing down green ski runs, petting dogs on brewery patios, and hanging out with her cat Willow.

Vanessa Bramante

Research Associate

Vanessa is a policy analyst interested in the way in which policies and practices create barriers to housing and equal opportunity. She is passionate about developing strategies and solutions, informed by quantitative and qualitative data, to address complex challenges. Before joining Root, Vanessa received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy at Salem State University and a Master’s degree in Global Thought from Columbia University. Whlie at Columbia, she assisted with research to determine community perspectives on sharks and seals at Cape Cod. She also worked as a grassroots advocate to expand access to higher education.

Outside of the office, you can find her at a Red Rocks concert, watching anything Gordon Ramsey (despite her lack of cooking skills), or ranting about sharks.

Carly Bouts

Research Associate

Carly is a policy analyst passionate about leveraging socioeconomic data to understand the influence of policies on opportunities and outcomes for individuals. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Clemson University. Previously, she conducted economic and political analysis for the U.S. Embassy in Belarus and for Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. She also worked to expand access to childcare as an AmeriCorps member and used data to inform outreach strategies as a nonprofit program manager.

Outside of the office, Carly enjoys running (slowly and for extended periods of time), hiking, and searching somewhat desperately for the elusive third hobby (she’s currently learning to paint).