Kristen Broady joins Chicago Fed as director of project highlighting research on barriers to economic mobility faced by low-income Americans
CHICAGO (February 1, 2022) – The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is launching the Economic Mobility Project to advance research on the economic prospects of Americans, with a particular focus on barriers faced by those with low incomes. Kristen Broady will join the Chicago Fed later this month to serve as director of the new initiative.
In the last two years, the pandemic has laid bare the economic vulnerabilities and structural challenges faced by many Americans. The Economic Mobility Project is being launched to highlight and leverage the Chicago Fed’s research, supporting efforts to strengthen and build resiliency in the economy as a whole. This work builds on decades of study at the Chicago Fed focusing on issues that affect lower-income Americans. The Project will gather internal and external experts to discuss and research critical issues that underpin Americans’ disparate economic opportunities such as place, education, banking and credit availability, and the structure of the labor market.
“In order to have a strong and resilient economy, we need all Americans to have opportunities to meet their potential regardless of their race, gender, or geographic location. The Economic Mobility Project will further inform economic analysis at the Chicago Fed and public policymaking more broadly, supporting prudent and necessary changes to reduce barriers and pave the way for a more dynamic, upwardly-mobile, growing economy,” said Charles L. Evans, president of the Chicago Fed.
Kristen Broady will start on February 8 to serve as director of the Project, joining Daniel Sullivan who will serve as the Project’s executive director.
“I am thrilled to be coming to the Chicago Fed to advance research and expertise that could help reduce barriers to economic prosperity for so many Americans,” Broady said.
Broady most recently served as a Fellow at the Brookings Institution, performing research and analysis on areas that include the racial wealth gaps, the return to education investment, and the disparate economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Broady has conducted research on mortgage foreclosure, labor and automation, and racial health disparities. She lectures at Spelman College and has served on the faculties of Alabama A&M University, Dillard University, Dominican University, Fort Valley State University, Howard University, Kentucky State University, and as a visiting faculty member at Jiangsu Normal University in Xuzhou, China. Broady earned a B.A. in criminal justice at Alcorn State University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business administration with a major in economics at Jackson State University.
Sullivan is an executive vice president at the Chicago Fed. His research has been primarily in labor economics, especially issues related to displaced workers and alternative work arrangements. For more than a decade, Sullivan served as the Chicago Fed’s director of research. He taught at Northwestern University and Princeton University and is currently a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.
The Project’s inaugural event, What is Inclusive Full Employment?, will take place on April 7 and explore the meaning and implications of the Federal Open Market Committee’s new framework characterizing its maximum employment mandate as broad-based and inclusive. It will feature Raphael Bostic, President of the Atlanta Fed and Charles L. Evans, President of the Chicago Fed. For further details and registration information, please visit chicagofed.org/mobility.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Background
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the nation’s central bank. The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the state of Iowa. In addition to participation in the formulation of monetary policy, each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, provides financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government, and monitors economic conditions in its District.
