Ford School doctoral candidate Shoshana Shapiro (PhD '23) was chosen as one of five 2023-24 National Poverty Fellows (NPF). As part of her postdoctoral fellowship, Shapiro will be in residence in the Office of Community Services (OCS) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in Washington, DC.
"I'm looking forward to working on equity research in the Office of Community Services to support the goal of making sure that federal human services programs are reaching all communities," said Shapiro, who is pursuing a joint-PhD in public policy and sociology. "This role will enable me to make connections between policy research and federal policy applications, drawing on my dissertation research that uses national administrative data to measure equity in nonprofit human services provision."
The NPF is a federal government-university partnership administered by the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) seeking to build the capacity of postdoctoral researchers conducting high-quality policy-relevant research on poverty and inequality in the United States. Fellows work in residence conducting research and evaluation activities at one of the following offices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in Washington, DC: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE); the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE); and the Office of Community Services (OCS).
As part of the program, fellows visit the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW–Madison as scholars in residence two times per year, are paired with a senior IRP research mentor and an outside policy mentor for the duration of their fellowship, and receive support to participate in academic conferences throughout the year.
The 2023-24 National Poverty Fellows are:
Meredith Dost (PhD 2023, Harvard University) who will be in residence at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).
Caitlin Lowery (PhD '23, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) will be in residence in the Division of Data and Improvement (DDI) at the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE).
Dianna Ruberto (PhD '23, University of Delaware) will be in residence at the Office for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).
Shoshana Shapiro (PhD expected 2023, University of Michigan) will be in residence in the Office of Community Services (OCS) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
KaLeigh White (PhD '23, University of Iowa) will be in residence in the Division of Economic Independence (DEI) at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE).