Rx Kids Leadership
Rx Kids is led by Mona Hanna, MD, MPH, a pediatrician and director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative. A nationally recognized child health researcher and advocate, Dr. Hanna launched the community-partnered initiative in response to the Flint water crisis to improve outcomes for kids. She is also the Associate Dean for Public Health and C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery efforts. Dr. Hanna is the author of the New York Times 100 most notable book, What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City. Grounded in community-based participation, Dr. Mona Hanna and the Pediatric Public Health Initiative work with many local and national partners to boldly improve child health equity and share best practices.
Luke Shaefer, Rx Kids Co-Director
Luke Shaefer, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of Rx Kids and the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. There he directs Poverty Solutions, a U-M presidential initiative that partners with communities to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty. Poverty Solutions has a proven track record of collaborating on novel evidence-based policy changes in the City of Detroit, with the State of Michigan, and nationally. The New York Times named Shaefer’s coauthored book, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, one of 100 Notable Books of 2015, and he has received an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. The New York Times and Time magazine, among other outlets, have credited Shaefer’s collaborative research as one of the driving forces behind the expanded Child Tax Credit of 2021 that led to a historic decline in child poverty. Shaefer’s new coauthored book, The Injustice of Place, highlights poor communities like Flint, threading their common histories together and offering solutions to community resilience.
Rex, Rx Kids Spokesbear
Rex is a brown bear and the first bear to join Rx Kids! He is honored to be an official spokesbear for the program. He’s dedicated to sharing love and cuddles with all the little ones, as well as adults. He loves being the star of the Rx Kids “Welcome to the World Baby Bundle” and meeting all the Rx Kids babies! His image sits alongside official documents from the Governor of the State of Michigan. He often makes official appearances at signature Rx Kids events that celebrate love, motherhood, and kiddos. Some of his favorite things include strawberry sweetheart ice cream from the MSU Dairy Store, college basketball, and playing at local parks. If you were to ask him why he likes parks so much, he says they are a great place to have fun and get some exercise. Every time Rex goes to a park to play, he makes new friends! His best friend is a panda named Luna, who shares in his mission to help all babies thrive.
Luna, Rx Kids Spokesbear
Luna is a panda bear and joined the Rx Kids team on Valentine’s Day in 2024. As an official Rx Kids spokesbear, she is dedicated to sharing love and joy with Rx Kids families. Some of her favorite things include making food with fresh fruits and veggies, dancing with friends, making art to hang on the fridge, and reading. She loves visiting local libraries and snuggling up with little ones to hear a bedtime story. When making official appearances at signature Rx Kids events, her favorite part is meeting families, and she can’t wait to meet more great kiddos as Rx Kids expands across the state of Michigan. Luna is full of energy and is known for her positive outlook. If you were to ask her if she could make one wish, what would it be? She says she hopes that Rx Kids reaches all families someday because she has seen the positive impact and smiling faces it helps to create.
GiveDirectly is the first – and largest – nonprofit that sends money directly to those living in poverty. They believe people deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives. GiveDirectly has been delivering cash to people living in poverty globally since 2009 and in the U.S. since 2017. Give Directly has extensive experience managing large, multi-stakeholder cash programs funded by private philanthropy, local governments, and the U.S. government.
In the last decade, GiveDirectly has delivered $580M to 1.3M recipients in 11 countries in the form of basic income and other unconditional cash transfers, including $250M to low-income households in the U.S. GiveDirectly is administering:
- The World’s longest-running basic income research study ($30M, 12-year trial)
- Three of the eight largest guaranteed income programs in the U.S., including the City of Chicago’s $31M ARPA-funded 1-year pilot and the Cook County, Illinois $42M ARPA funded 2-year pilot
They have collaborated with research partners on 19 randomized control trials on cash transfers in the U.S. and internationally, including two ongoing studies on large-scale guaranteed income programs in the Chicago area. Overall, the findings broadly suggest that cash transfers can increase assets and earnings, improve food security and psychological well-being, and reduce the incidence of domestic violence.