Title

Scientist and Senior Lecturer

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Expertise

Poverty, economic security, homelessness and housing, research methods/statistics, working with large national data sets.

Profile

As IASP Research Director, Dr. Meschede manages the project "Family Financial Well-Being in the 21st Century: Strategic Positioning of Data Tools for Policy Impact" which includes analyses on Senior Long-term Financial Stability, Economic Security of the U.S. Middle Class, the Racial Wealth Gap, Asset Poverty, and evaluations of Housing Programs for Homeless Families. She has authored many IASP reports on these topics, talks frequently about her research to range of different audiences, collaborates with national partners to increase the policy impact of this work, and has been frequently cited in the media. Dr. Meschede has extensive experience in research on homelessness collaborating with Massachusetts’ state departments (DTA, DPH, DHCD) and local communities, and is the author of numerous reports and publications on homelessness. She has broad experience as project manager and principal investigator on studies on homelessness and housing, food insecurity and nutrition, the technology divide, and access to the labor market for persons with barriers. Dr. Meschede worked in Israel and Europe, and is on the faculty of the Masters in Public Affairs Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she teaches quantitative and qualitative research methods, statistics, and social policy.