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Xavier Briggs

MEMBER SINCE: 2016

Xavier Briggs profile headshot
Xavier (Xav) de Souza Briggs is a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and, for 2021-2022, a visiting fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He is an expert on economic opportunity and inclusive growth, racial equity and pluralism, housing, urban and regional development, budgeting and democratic governance in the U.S. and abroad. An award-winning educator and researcher, he is also an experienced manager in philanthropy and government. Xav edited The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in America, which won planning’s top book award, asnd authored Democracy as Problem Solving, a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Prize for best scholarly book on a social problem, and Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty, winner of NAPA’s Louis Brownlow Award. In 2020, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Business, Public Service and Sociology at New York University and a volunteer on the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Prior to joining Brookings, he served for six years as vice president of The Ford Foundation, a professor at MIT and Harvard, and program associate director in the White House Office of Management and Budget. He serves on the boards of the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, Demos, the Global Impact Investing Network, JUST Capital, and One Fair Wage. Xav holds an engineering degree from Stanford, an MPA from Harvard, and a PhD from Columbia University.

History of Employment

Position
Division
Organization
Start
End
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Service, Business and Sociology
Wagner School of Public Service
New York University
2020
2020
Vice President
Inclusive Economies & Markets
Ford Foundation
2014
2019
Professor of Sociology and Planning
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
2013
Associate Director
General Government Programs
Office of Management and Budget, The White House
2009
2011
Associate Department Head
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2005
2009
Assistant to Associate Professor
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
1996
2004
MLK Visiting Professor
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2001
2002
Acting Assistant Secretary
Office of Policy Development & Research
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
1998
2000
Lecturer
School of Management and Urban Policy
New School for Social Research
1996
1996
Senior Advisor
Freedman Consulting, LLC
2020
Senior Fellow
Brookings Metro
Brookings Institution
2021
Visiting Fellow, SNF Agora Institute
The Johns Hopkins University
2021
Senior Fellow
The Brookings Institution
2021
Primary Policy Areas

Civic Engagement, Economy, Environment/Natural Resources, Housing, Infrastructure, International Aid and Development, Labor/Workforce Training and RecruitmentLabor, Nonprofit/Philanthropy, Poverty, Small Business, Social Equity, Transportation, Urban Affairs

Primary Functions

Academic Faculty, Academic Research, Advocacy, Budgeting and Finance, Data Analytics, Organizational Structure/Design/Development, Strategic Planning

Management Matters Podcast

Funding Democracy: Stepping up or Overstepping? with Xavier de Souza Briggs of Brookings Institution and Daniel Stid of American Enterprise Institute

Season: S Episode:7 | July 17, 2025

Show Notes:

James-Christian Blockwood hosts Xavier de Souza Briggs of the Brookings Institution and Daniel Stid of American Enterprise Institute. This conversation explores the multifaceted role of philanthropy in society, particularly in the context of governance, civil society, and the impact of the Trump administration on nonprofits and higher education. Briggs and Stid discuss the historical significance of philanthropy, its influence on policy, and the challenges faced by educational institutions. They also examine trends in charitable giving and the importance of maintaining a pluralistic approach to philanthropy for the future of civic engagement.

Grand Challenge: Connect Individuals to Meaningful Work

A More Equitable Economic Recovery with Xavier Briggs

Season: 1 Episode:39 | February 01, 2021

Show Notes:

In this episode, we welcome Xavier Briggs, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and Academy Fellow to discuss the challenges of integrating economic programs to promote recovery.

With Academy Fellow, Xavier Briggs, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program

Topics Include:

  • His varied approaches to public service
  • The critical role of intergovernmental relations in our country's system
  • The complexity of integrating healthcare and racial and social justice across major stovepipes
  • Practical steps in the next stimulus bill that could give these best practices legislative legs
  • Emphasizing underinvested areas in an economic recovery including different types of infrastructure, stormwater management, energy infrastructure, broadband, electric transportation
  • Forming compromises during a time of political divide
  • Areas of opportunity for the Biden Administration

Music Credits: Sea Breeze by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
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