The WiiSE Inauguration
Pictured (clockwise from center back): Beth Pathak, Phyllis Barnett, Sarah Projansky, Janelle Menard, Julie Rioux, Ellie Margolis, Nina Basu, Beverly Ward, Camila Ozores Silva, Bob Barnett.
Not pictured: Carles Muntaner, Kim Wilson, Rebecca Garcia
The insular Washington DC think tank world was awash with ENVY and SPECULATION after the release of photos verifying the WiiSE Inauguration as the largest think tank inauguration in history!
The WiiSE Inauguration was held in Florida in June 2018 and was attended by 10 founding board members and staff.
In an emotional in-depth intervew on National Public Radio, Board Chair and President Beth Pathak gushed:
“I made a speech. I looked out. The field was — it looked like 95, 100 people. We had a massive crowd of people. I looked over that sea of people, and I said to myself, ‘WOW’, and I’ve seen crowds before. Big, big crowds. That was some crowd.”
In a press release, Professor Ellie Margolis, WiiSE Board Vice-Chair stated adamantly that, when family members were included:
"This was the largest audience to ever witness a think tank inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.’’
Response from the think tank “old guard” ranged from guarded to vehement:
“We prefer to avoid the term “inauguration” as it is often used in a statistically inaccurate fashion.”
– Urban Institute
“This just looks like a bunch of radical socialist feminist females!”
– Heritage Institute
“We have our own building.”
– Brookings Institute
“Were government funds used to pay for this inauguration??”
– Cato Institute
“Also our catering is much more elegant.”
– Brookings Institute