Alena Stern

Alena Stern is the chief data scientist at the Urban Institute, leading Urban’s data science team. She is also a founding member of the Racial Equity Analytics Lab within the Center for Equity and Community Impact and a senior advisor for Urban’s Equitable Automated Systems work. She uses advanced data science methods such as machine learning, data imputation, and big data analysis to study policy solutions to advance equity and inclusion. She leads research on equitable use of AI and technology in local governments and ethical application of data science methods to advance racial equity. She creates interactive data tools and dashboards used widely by policy makers and practitioners in diverse domains such as transportation equity, neighborhood change, the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, and the representativeness of data and programs in cities.