Douglas C. Drake
Marketing and Business Development Coordinator
Douglas C. Drake is a senior policy consultant at PPA. In this capacity, Mr. Drake oversees numerous PPA projects. He also coordinates PPA’s marketing and business development work.
At PPA, he has worked on projects for a wide range of clients including: several regional Michigan Works! agencies; the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators; the Michigan State Housing Development Authority; the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth; the Michigan Department of Corrections; the Michigan Department of Human Services; the Michigan Department of Community Health; the Michigan Municipal League; the Michigan Association of United Ways; the Michigan Environmental Council; the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; and other governmental and nonprofit clients in Kansas, Ohio, and Oregon.
His research work at PPA has included economic development, workforce development, education policy and finance, insurance policy, state tax and budget issues, health care policy and related issues, nonprofit mission and financing, and many others.
Mr. Drake’s career in public service and policy development spans 40 years and is highlighted by his key policy roles and experience in developing and implementing Proposal A, Michigan’s school finance reform legislation, and a variety of other major Michigan taxation and education policies. He is widely regarded as one of Michigan’s top public finance and public policy experts.
Prior to joining PPA, Mr. Drake served for seven years as associate director of the State Policy Center for Wayne State University, where he coordinated the university’s outreach efforts in public policy with state government, particularly with the legislature. He wrote and edited public policy issue papers and arranged series of seminars and workshops for legislators and legislative staff on various key policy issues, including a series entitled Health Care Policy 101. While in the Wayne State position, he also served as the coordinating editor of and a major contributor to Michigan at the Millennium: A Benchmark and Analysis of Its Fiscal and Economic Structure.
Other positions held by Mr. Drake include director of the state’s Office of Education and Infrastructure at the Michigan Department of Management and Budget (MDMB), where he played a leading role in the development, implementation, and early administration of the new school finance system created by Proposal A. As director of the MDMB Office of Revenue and Tax Analysis, he was responsible for the economic forecasting and revenue estimating for the state as well as the administration of the state revenue-sharing program for general-purpose local governments. As director of the House Taxation Committee staff and the House’s Democratic research staff, Mr. Drake worked on a wide variety of bonding, budget, economic development, and education and tax issues before the Michigan legislature.
Mr. Drake also serves as a member of various boards and organizations, including the Michigan Health Council, the Michigan State Employees Retirement System Board (chair), the National Tax Association, the American Education Finance Association, and the American Society of Public Administration (past president, Michigan Capital Area Chapter). He also currently serves as a member of two separate Local Fiscal Emergency Review Teams for the State Department of Treasury (City of Pontiac and Village of Three Oaks).
Mr. Drake received both his bachelor of arts and his master of arts in political and economic history from Michigan State University.
119 Pere Marquette Drive • Lansing, MI 48912
(517) 485-4477 - Phone • (517) 485-4488 - Fax