Xavier de Souza Briggs
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Xavier de Souza Briggs (born 1968) is an American educator, social scientist, and policy expert, known for his work on economic opportunity, social capital, democratic governance, and leading social change. He has influenced housing and urban policy in the United States, contributing to the concept of the "geography of opportunity," which examines the consequences of
housing segregation Housing segregation in the United States is the practice of denying African Americans and other minority groups equal access to housing through the process of misinformation, denial of realty and financing services, and racial steering. Housing ...
, by race or economic status, for the well-being and life prospects of children and families (see also residential segregation in the United States). He is a former member of the Harvard and MIT faculties, currently a senior fellow of the
Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. From 2005 to 2014, he was a professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT). He returned to the MIT faculty in 2011. In January 2014, he went on leave anew, to join the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
as Vice President of Inclusive Economies and Markets — leading the foundation's economic opportunity work worldwide—and later, following a reorganization, its U.S. Programs. At the end of 2019, he left the foundation to begin a visiting appointment at New York University (NYU).


Professional life

In New York City, Briggs helped develop the widely emulated "quality-of-life" planning approach to neighborhood revitalization, and in 1996 his work with the Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program in the South Bronx won the President's Award of the American Planning Association. He began his teaching career at Harvard in 1996, took a leave to work in the Clinton Administration from 1998 to 2000, returned to Harvard and, in 2005, moved to MIT. He was also a faculty affiliate of The
Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...
, a leading nonpartisan policy research organization in Washington, DC. Briggs' research centers on economic opportunity, racial and ethnic diversity, and democratic problem-solving in cities worldwide. His teaching has included
negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...
and collaborative problem solving;
policy analysis Policy analysis is a technique used in the public administration sub-field of political science to enable civil servants, nonprofit organizations, and others to examine and evaluate the available options to implement the goals of laws and elected ...
; strategy and
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...
,
housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...
and
economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...
; the politics, history and ethics of planning and
social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...
; and the uses of research in public policy making. His earliest research, focused on the social networks of poor young people, examined the controversial desegregation of
public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
following a landmark civil rights lawsuit in
Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
, New York — later the subject of an HBO miniseries,
Show Me a Hero ''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...
. The widely cited study distinguished the role of social support and social leverage as distinct resources for economic mobility and status attainment — in plain terms, for "getting by" as opposed to "getting ahead." In 2002, he was a
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
Visiting Scholar at MIT. His edited book, ''The Geography of Opportunity'' (Brookings, 2005), analyzed the singular role of segregation as America has become more racially and ethnically diverse and at the same time more economically unequal. The book argued that significant responses to segregation remain rare and suspect in American politics and culture, also that these responses consist of either "curing" segregation (by changing housing patterns, i.e. changing where people live) or mitigating its substantial economic and social costs (by changing the links between place of residence and exposure to risks and resources, rather than changing housing patterns themselves). The edited volume also included the leading research on racial attitudes toward integration,
racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
in
housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...
market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...
s, links between
smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood sc ...
in
land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
policy and housing affordability and segregation, and other key topics. The book won the top book award in planning in 2007 (the Paul Davidoff Award). A second book, "Democracy as Problem Solving: Civic Capacity in Communities across the Globe" (MIT Press, 2009) offers an account of transformative change and the politics of reform in the U.S., Brazil, India and South Africa. The book, which was a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Prize, also offers an alternative theory of the functions and forms of
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
, focusing on local governance and grounded in core concepts of learning and bargaining, accountability, and stakeholder participation. Influenced by American educator and political philosopher John Dewey, this work argues that learning and bargaining are the twin capacities essential to collective problem-solving and shows the conditions under which it is possible to cultivate and advance both. Briggs is the founder of two online tools for self-directed learning in the field of civic leadership and local problem-solving: The Community Problem-Solving Project @ MIT, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Working Smarter in Community Development, sponsored by the
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
. In 2010, he and co-authors Susan Popkin and John Goering published "Moving to Opportunity: The Story of An American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty" (Oxford University Press). The culmination of more than a decade of work on housing opportunity and the effects of high-risk neighborhoods on poor children and their families, and focused on "surprising" results of one of America's most ambitious housing experiments — a
randomized control trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...
— the book won the Louis Brownlow award from the National Academy of Public Administration. "MTO" underscores the alarming impacts of a "quiet crisis" of unaffordable housing, particularly in America's most economically successful urban regions, where increases in housing prices, especially rents, substantially outstrip increases in wages, especially for low-wage workers and their families. The book also dispels myths about access to social capital, offering an argument about "the weakness of strong ties" — the cost of durable ties to risky relatives, in particular — echoing and extending sociologist
Mark Granovetter Mark Sanford Granovetter (; born October 20, 1943) is an American sociologist and professor at Stanford University. He is best known for his work in social network theory and in economic sociology, particularly his theory on the spread of info ...
's influential 1973 thesis on "the strength of weak ties." The book also questions dominant assumptions about individual choice and choice-driven social policy, directly responding to claims of behavioral economics, such as those in the book,
Nudge Nudge or Nudging may refer to: Arts * Nudge (band), an American electronic rock band * Nudge, a character from the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson * "Nudge Nudge", a sketch from the third ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' * Gerald "Nudge" N ...
, by renowned legal scholar Cass Sunstein and Nobel economist
Richard Thaler Richard H. Thaler (; born September 12, 1945) is an American economist and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In 2015, Thaler was p ...
. This mixed-method research, with ethnographic, survey and administrative data on families and regions in the controversial MTO social experiment, complements the influential research of economists Raj Chetty, Lawrence Katz and others examining the decline and the drivers of
economic mobility Economic mobility is the ability of an individual, family or some other group to improve (or lower) their economic status—usually measured in income. Economic mobility is often measured by movement between income quintiles. Economic mobilit ...
in America. As these and other scholars have shown conclusively, segregation and neighborhood effects play an important role. Briggs has been an adviser to the Rockefeller Foundation and the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, and was a member of the Aspen Institute's Roundtable on Community Change. He served as an expert witness for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in civil rights litigation. He serves on the boards of the Global
Impact Investing Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an al ...
Network, Just Capital, Demos, and the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, and is a former trustee of Restaurant Opportunity Centers United (ROc-United), Citizens Housing and Planning Association, and The Community Builders (a nonprofit housing developer and manager). His views and research have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Salon.com, National Public Radio, and other major media. He has appeared on CNN and other broadcast news networks, explaining public policy and budget issues in both English and Spanish. In November 2020, Briggs was named a member of the
Joe Biden presidential transition The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the
Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...
and the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
.


Personal life

Briggs is Bahamian-American and has identified himself as a mixed-race person of color. Born in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Briggs spent the early part of his life in Nassau,
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, where his family - with roots in the Black Seminole nation,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
- has lived since the early 19th century. His mother, Angela (1933-2015), was the daughter of Bill Aranha, Nassau's crown lands officer during the 1940s, and his father, Nevin Briggs (1932-1978), was an out island doctor, born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. Raised by his mother, Briggs moved back to the U.S. in 1976, several years after The Bahamas secured independence from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. In Miami he attended
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Belen Jesuit Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, all-male, preparatory school run by the Antilles Province of the Society of Jesus in Tamiami, Page 1anPage 2/ref> unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, operated by the Society of J ...
, a Catholic high school with strong ties to Cuba and the Cuban-American community. He later received a BS in engineering from Stanford University, worked with the innovative planning firm of Moore Iacofano Goltsman in Berkeley, CA, and won a Rotary Scholarship to study education and community development in Brazil, living in Salvador,
Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...
. In 1993 he earned a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. In 1996 he earned a PhD in sociology and education from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he studied under Robert Crain,
Herbert Gans Herbert J. Gans (born May 7, 1927) is a German-born American sociologist who taught at Columbia University from 1971 to 2007. One of the most prolific and influential sociologists of his generation, Gans came to America in 1940 as a refugee fro ...
, Charles Kadushin, and other scholars. While a student at Stanford, Briggs designed and taught the second version of the Unseen America course, an approach in democratic experiential education, and joined with
David Lempert David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and others to publish a book on this alternative approach to education.


Key publications

* * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links


Profile of Xavier Briggs
from the
MIT School of Architecture and Planning The MIT School of Architecture and Planning (MIT SAP, stylized as SA+P) is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1865 by William Robert Ware, the school offered the f ...

Xavier Briggs on Failed Urban Policy and Proposals to 'Tear Down HUD'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Xavier 1968 births American urban planners Teachers College, Columbia University alumni MIT School of Architecture and Planning faculty Stanford University alumni Harvard Kennedy School faculty Clinton administration personnel Living people American sociologists Obama administration personnel Harvard Kennedy School alumni