I was drawn to Urban because of the incredible breadth and depth of expertise on a range of policy issues. You can walk down the hall and query top national experts who are generous with their time and expertise. The commitment, integrity, and spirit of the organization is unmatched.
Anne F. Farrell is a senior fellow in the Family and Financial Well-Being Division at the Urban Institute. She studies child welfare, housing and homelessness, cross-system intervention, and community capacity building, with an emphasis on evaluation and measurement.
Farrell began her career as a frontline worker in a home visiting child welfare program and held positions of increasing responsibility while pursuing a funded program of translational scholarship. She conducts policy research on housing and child welfare, cross-system collaborations, and family and community resilience. Farrell has published numerous scholarly articles, technical reports, books, and book chapters and is editor in chief of the Journal of Child and Family Studies. She leads systems change initiatives in partnership with public agencies, philanthropy, nonprofits, and educational institutions. Farrell focuses on producing and translating evidence to inform upward mobility and quality of life.
Before joining Urban, Farrell was director of research and senior research fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and served on the faculty of the University of Connecticut. She has led and advised numerous federal- and foundation-sponsored trials of housing and other interventions for transition-age youth and young adults and families experiencing homelessness.
Farrell earned a BA in psychology from Fairfield University and an MA and PhD in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University.
Urban experts are permitted and empowered to work and affiliate with outside organizations, whether serving on boards, volunteering their time, or providing advice and counsel. And Urban welcomes visiting scholars, nonresident or affiliated fellows who work for other organizations. These outside affiliations enrich our perspectives and our learning environment. We also require all paid and unpaid experts to disclose their affiliations to Urban leadership and follow rules governing their engagement to ensure transparency for audiences and independence of experts.
