Robert Bruno is Director of the Labor Education Program and a Professor of Labor and Employment, as well as the director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

In addition to publishing numerous scholarly articles on a diverse range of labor relations subjects, Professor Bruno has also co-authored numerous research reports on labor unions, workplace practices and labor and employment policy topics. He is also the author of five books; Steelworker Alley: How Class Works In Youngstown (1999), Reforming the Chicago Teamsters: The Story of Local 705 (2003), Justified by Work: The Meaning of Faith in Chicago’s Working-Class Churches (2008) and A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike (co-author 2016), which was awarded the United Association for Labor Education Best Book award in 2017 and What Work Is (2024).

Professor Bruno has given expert testimony to the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, as well as the Illinois House and Senate Committees on Labor and Commerce. He has also been a frequent commentator on labor relations for both regional and national media and has served as a commentator for numerous newspapers. Professor Bruno has taught many different labor relations courses, specializing in collective bargaining, labor history and American politics, as well as given numerous public presentations on labor relations.

Jayne Vellinga has been a leader in the field of workforce development for more than thirty years, assuming the role of Executive Director for Chicago Women in Trades in 2009 after ten years of service as the agency’s Director of Programs. To advance women’s participation in construction and other nontraditional occupations, Jayne has overseen a large-scale expansion of program services, the development of a comprehensive technical assistance program, the acquisition of a workshop facility, and the establishment of a welding program. In addition to authorship of downloadable career education guides, curriculum and toolkits, Jayne has provided technical assistance to unions, industry leaders, community organizations, educational institutions and workforce agencies, and has presented at numerous conferences and meetings nationally and locally. Prior to joining the staff of Chicago Women in Trades, Jayne spent 13 years developing and delivering job training and placement services to Southeast Asian refugees.

Kathy earned a BA in Behavioral Sciences and a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Central Florida and an MS in Environmental Engineering at Florida Atlantic University.

During rewarding careers in environmental sciences and sustainability in both government and a Fortune 50 corporation, she also raised a wonderful son and restored four historic homes. She then happily retired with the idea of creating a nonprofit to supplement existing standard trades programs with historic preservation and restoration training elements.

Realizing that she needed to better understand the world of preservation trade training, she first had a failed attempt at a now defunct program in Tarboro, North Carolina (but restored another historic home while there). After benchmarking other preservation programs, both public and private, Kathy is now pursuing a Historic Preservation and Restoration diploma from Savannah Technical College.

Her non-profit is called “The Preservation Workshop” and will be piloting in Hartford, Connecticut in 2026.

From watching his parents and neighbors restore their own windows as a child, to helping out around the family business as a teenager—when it was still in their garage, Jackson Hoggard grew up immersed in the practice and business of window restoration. As a young adult, he saw the success of the business, Double Hung, and the efforts of his father David. He realized his passion for evangelizing window repair. Driven by his desire to save windows from the landfill, Jackson got a degree in construction management from Cape Fear Community College and then traveled the southeast working for two of the nation’s best builders. He helped deliver over $600mm to the built environment over the span of eight years. He also gained valuable industry insight, expertise, and relationships that help him spread the truth and science of window repair nationwide. He is an active board member of the Window Preservation Alliance.