Jess Carson is the director of the Center for Social Policy in Practice and a Research Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy. Jess studies how policy affects people, focusing on how legislative and administrative decisions shape access to resources available through work, the social safety net, and community settings. She has particular interest in the structural issues surrounding access to early childhood care and education, the multi-dimensional nature of food access, and in measuring how policy and program effects vary within and across rural places. Jess’s work is applied in nature, and she is passionate about helping nonprofit partners get the data they need to continue their good work. She has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of New Hampshire and has lived in the Granite State every minute of her life.
