Mae Watson Grote is a nonresident fellow in the Family and Financial Well-Being Division at the Urban Institute, bringing more than three decades of experience in financial security, safety net policy, and emerging technology. Her work focuses on how AI, open banking, and blockchain can improve financial outcomes for low-income households and strengthen public- and private-sector infrastructure. At Urban, she collaborates on research that explores the role of financial technology innovation and regulation in expanding access to income supports and reducing economic inequity. Grote is the founder and former CEO of Change Machine, one of the nation’s first nonprofits to integrate financial coaching with SaaS technology. She codeveloped an AI-powered product recommendation engine with IBM and led successful policy campaigns such as Refund529, which helped working families save more than $6.5 million for college. Grote has been an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and cofounded Nonprofit Leaders in Financial Technology (nLIFT). She earned her BA from Rutgers University and her JD from the City University of New York School of Law, which named her an Extraordinary Alum. She recently completed the Oxford Fintech Programme at Saïd Business School, where her coursework focused on explainable AI, blockchain applications, and digital financial infrastructure.
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