Xavier de Souza Briggs’s creative application of social science to pressing social problems has made him a trusted adviser to policymakers and philanthropists alike. His research on housing opportunity, spatial segregation, social capital, and the “geography of opportunity” have influenced housing and urban-planning policies at both local and federal levels. While working in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the White House Office of Management and Budget, Briggs expanded funding for social science research on policy effectiveness and led key developments in public and low-income housing. More recently, he has studied job quality and equitable climate action.
Professional positions
- 2021–present: Senior fellow, Brookings Institution
- 2021–present: Senior advisor, Freedman Consulting
- 2014–2019: Vice president of inclusive economies and markets (2014–2018) and vice president of U.S. programs (2019), Ford Foundation
- 2005–2016: Associate (2005–2014) and full (2014–2016) professor of sociology and urban planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 2009–2011: Program associate director, White House Office of Management and Budget (under President Barack Obama)
- 1998–2000: Acting assistant secretary, Office of Policy Development & Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (under President Bill Clinton)
- 1996–2004: Assistant (1996–1998, 2000–2002) and associate (2003–2004) professor of public policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Notable publications
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza, Susan J. Popkin, and John Goering. 2010. Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty. Oxford University Press.
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza. 2008. Democracy as Problem-Solving: Civic Capacity in Communities Across the Globe. MIT Press.
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza, ed. 2005. The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America. Brookings Institution Press.
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza. 1998. “Brown Kids in White Suburbs: Housing Mobility and the Many Faces of Social Capital.” Housing Policy Debate 9 (1): 177–221.
Degrees
- PhD, sociology and education, Columbia University
- MPA, Harvard University
- BS, engineering, Stanford University
