The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Laura A Sullivan

Senior Research Associate

Laura A Sullivan's photo

Contact

Email: lauras@brandeis.edu
Brandeis Directory

Expertise

Economic security and poverty, wealth disparities by race/ethnicity, retirement security, policy analysis, quantitative methods.

Degrees

  • Brandeis University
    Ph.D.
  • Brandeis University
    M.A.
  • University of Texas, Austin
    M.A.
  • University of Texas, Austin
    MPAff
  • University of California, Berkeley
    B.A.

Laura A Sullivan

Senior Research Associate

Profile

Dr. Laura Sullivan is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute on Assets and Social Policy, where she conducts research on the economic security of U.S. households and factors leading to long-term financial well-being and vulnerabilities. Dr. Sullivan is an experienced policy researcher and has co-authored and led the quantitative analysis of national survey data for a number of IASP publications in the areas of racial wealth disparities, retirement security, and the measurement of economic security. Dr. Sullivan has also taught graduate-level quantitative methods and policy analysis courses at American University. A 2013 PhD graduate from the Heller School, her dissertation research focused on understanding the financial impacts of household-level economic shocks on households approaching retirement. Previously, she worked in policy advocacy promoting economic development in low-income communities and communities of color in California and was an AmeriCorps member coordinating literacy programs in public schools in the Bay Area.

Scholarship

  • Sullivan, Laura; Tatjana Meschede, Thomas Shapiro, Teresa Kroeger, and Fernanda Escobar. Not Only Unequal Paychecks: Occupational Segregation, Benefits, and the Racial Wealth Gap. Waltham, Massachusetts Institute on Assets and Social Policy: 2019. (forthcoming)
  • Sullivan, Laura, Tatjana Meschede. "How Measurement of Inequalities in Wealth by Race/Ethnicity Impacts Narrative and Policy: Investigating the Full Distribution." Race and Social Problems 10. 1 (2018): 19-29.
  • Sullivan, L., Meschede, T., Shapiro, T., & Escobar, F.. Misdirected Investments: How the Mortgage Interest Deduction Drives Inequality and the Racial Wealth Gap.. Waltham, MA & Washington, DC Institute on Assets and Social Policy & National Low Income Housing Coalition: 2017.
  • Sullivan, Laura A. "Barriers and Facilitators of Retirement Savings for Pre-Retirees in the United States: A Qualitative Investigation." International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG). San Francisco, California. July 23, 2017.
  • Traub, A., Sullivan, L., Meschede, T. & Shapiro, T.. The Asset Value of Whiteness: Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap. Waltham, Massachusetts Institute on Assets and Social Policy: 2017.
  • Sullivan, L. & Meschede, T.. "Race, Gender, and Senior Economic Well-Being: How Financial Vulnerability Over the Life Course Shapes Retirement for Women of Color." Public Policy and Aging Report. 26. 2 (2016): 58-62.
  • Sullivan, L., Meschede, T., Shapiro, T., Asante-Muhammed, D., & Nieves, E.. Equitable Investments in the Next Generation: Designing Policies to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.. Waltham, Massachusetts Institute on Assets and Social Policy: 2016.
  • Sullivan, L., Meschede, T., Dietrich, L., Shapiro, T., Huelsman, M., & Draut, T.. Less Debt, More Equity: Lowering Student Debt While Closing the Black-White Wealth Gap.. Waltham, Massachusetts Institute on Assets and Social Policy: 2015.
  • Sullivan, L., Meschede, T., Mann, A. Ramirez-Kuykendall, S. & Shapiro, T.. Navigating and Unclear Path: Preparing for Retirement in the 21st Century. Waltham, Massachusetts Institute on Assets and Social Policy: 2015.