Hannah Thomas

Hannah Thomas

Policy expert in housing, guaranteed income, assets and financial capability

About

Solution-oriented implementation researcher working to make public policy work better for those it impacts. My work focuses on policy areas that touch the intersections between financial lives and housing, including assets and wealth building, guaranteed income, public housing, affordable housing, workforce development, homeownership, children's savings accounts, and family self-sufficiency programs.

My goal is to keep asking programs how to best meet the needs of program participants. I use a variety of methodological approaches including participatory research, ethnography, and narrative analysis, drawing on traditional qualitative data collection techniques modified to best fit each approach.

Research Focus

Housing Policy

Public housing, affordable housing, and homeownership pathways

Financial Capability

Assets and wealth building, children's savings accounts

Guaranteed Income

Implementation research on direct cash programs

Participatory Methods

Ethnography, narrative analysis, qualitative research

Experience

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Principal
Abt Associates
May 2023 - Present | Cambridge, MA
Senior Associate
Abt Associates
June 2022 - May 2023 | Cambridge, MA
Associate
Abt Associates
October 2014 - June 2022 | Cambridge, MA
Research Associate / Project Manager
Institute on Assets and Social Policy
January 2010 - August 2014 | Waltham, MA
Oversaw and managed a longitudinal in-person interview research study on assets and wealth building with 140 families from around the country. The project focused on understanding assets as a pathway to mobility, particularly focused on the differences for white families and African American families.
Founder
Egleston Community Orchard
June 2010 - Present

Education

PhD, Social Policy and Sociology
Brandeis University
2006 - 2012
MA, Geography
University of Cambridge
1998 - 2001
Double first class honours

Selected Publications