Kristin Seefeldt

Kristin Seefeldt serves as Acting Faculty Director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan for the 2024-25 academic year while permanently holding the position of Associate Faculty Director. She concurrently holds the academic appointment of Associate Professor of Social Work and Public Policy.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Sociology and Public Policy, University of Michigan
• Master of Public Policy (MPP), University of Michigan
• Bachelor's degree, Georgetown University

Dr. Seefeldt's research investigates how low-income individuals navigate economic well-being and work challenges, with emphasis on social isolation mechanisms in segregated urban environments. Her six-year Detroit study revealed how economic and residential segregation perpetuate barriers to upward mobility, particularly for African American women, as documented in her book "Abandoned Families: Social Isolation in the 21st Century". She also examines welfare-to-work transitions in "Working After Welfare" and co-authored "America's Poor and the Great Recession".

As Associate Faculty Director, she oversees educational programming with specific focus on integrating doctoral students into poverty research initiatives. She currently serves as principal investigator for the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) pilot program, which studies economic stability through direct cash transfers.