Expert Type: Guest Author

Gbenga Ajilore is the chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Previously, he served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Undersecretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Biden administration, and was a senior economist at the Center for American Progress and a tenured associate professor of economics at the University of Toledo. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Andrea Louise Campbell is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Campbell holds an A.B. in social studies from Harvard University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tarik Abou-Chadi is a professor in European Union and comparative European politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield College. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Humboldt University Berlin.

Justin Gest is a professor of policy and government at George Mason University. He previously was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in Harvard University’s Departments of Government and Sociology. Gest earned his bachelor’s degree in government at Harvard University and his Ph.D. in government from the London School of Economics.

Aaron Quick is a research fellow at Clark Atlanta University. He is an alumnus of Central State University, where he earned his bachelor’s in social work. He holds a Master of Social Work from North Carolina State University, and he is working on his Ph.D. at Clark Atlanta University in the policy, planning and administration, and social science program.

Simone Smith is a research fellow at Clark Atlanta University. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in social work, policy, planning, and administration at The Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker who received her Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work from The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

Latrice Rollins is an associate professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. She holds a B.A. is sociology from Spelman College, and a master’s and Ph.D. in social work from the University of Georgia.

Desha Elliott is an economic development enthusiast and strategic partnerships creator with a successful track record in business/program development. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the Whitney M. Young School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University researching policy, economic development, and underserved entrepreneurs.

Shadonna Davis is an assistant professor at Clark Atlanta University’s Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work. She holds a Ph.D. in educational policy studies with a concentration in social foundations of education at Georgia State University, an advanced qualitative research certificate, a master of social work, and a bachelor’s in business administration from Georgia State University.

Laura Brugger is an assistant research professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and in the Center for Social Development. She completed her Ph.D. in public and social policy with a concentration in geospatial analysis at Saint Louis University.