Lawrence M. Mead, a politics professor, teaches courses about welfare reform, politics and public policy at New York University. He co-authored Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty & Welfare Reform.

Guian McKee is an associate professor at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia whose expertise includes poverty and civil rights. He is the author of The Problem of Jobs: Liberalism, Race and Deindustrialization in Philadelphia (2008) — which features a War on Poverty-funded job training program that developed out of an African-American church […]

David Ellwood, Scott M. Black Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University and dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is a noted expert on poverty and welfare. He is an author who co-chaired President Clinton’s Working Group on Welfare Reform, Family Support and Independence.

Mary Jo Bane is Thornton Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Management at Harvard University and co-coordinator of the Program on Religion and Public Life.  She is co-author of Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty & Welfare Reform. A former assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, her […]

Randy Albelda, professor of economics and senior research fellow at the University of Massachusetts’ Center for Social Policy, is an expert on poverty, particularly regarding families and women.

J. Lawrence Aber is professor of applied psychology and public policy at New York University in New York City. He is an expert on child development and social policy who researches the effect of poverty and violence on children. He is also former director of the National Center for Children in Poverty.

The Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., does considerable research on poverty and welfare. Its staff includes nearly 20 experts on various aspects of these issues; see a list.

The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan institute that promotes freedom and justice in a wide variety of issues. Daniella Gibbs Leger is the executive vice president of communications and strategy.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, nonpartisan initiative in Washington, D.C., that works to implement public policies that will reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the U.S. Contact media contact Adam Bradley.