Xavier ‘Xav’ de Souza Briggs

Xavier ‘Xav’ de Souza Briggs is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. An award-winning educator and researcher, he is also an experienced leader in philanthropy and government. His recent research has focused on revitalizing local economies by investing in advanced industries, good jobs, climate action, and tangible ways to advance equity in the way government works.

He has helped catalyze public conversation about: generative AI and the future of work and workers; how big, public/private bets on “industrial policy” can generate real and lasting economic benefits for local workers and communities; how clean energy and other investments to address a changing climate can be more equitable, scalable and adaptive; and the power of equity impact analysis to help government serve everyone more effectively and strengthen public trust.

His books include Democracy as Problem Solving, The Geography of Opportunity, and Moving to Opportunity. His views have appeared in The New York Times, Time, CNN, Fortune, Fast Company, The American Prospect, Planning magazine, and other media.

An elected member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, he previously served as vice president of the Ford Foundation, a faculty member at Harvard and MIT, and senior White House official. He earned an engineering degree at Stanford University, an MPA at Harvard, and a PhD at Columbia and was a Rotary fellow in Brazil.