Camille Busette Joins Brookings to Lead Race, Place, and Economic Mobility Initiative

Washington, D.C. — Dr. Camille Busette has joined the Brookings Institution, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today. Busette will serve as director of the Institution’s Race, Place, and Economic Mobility Initiative. She will carry out that role as a senior fellow in Governance Studies with affiliated appointments in Economic Studies and Metropolitan Policy.

Throughout her distinguished career, Busette has worked tirelessly to expand financial opportunities for low-income populations. She comes to Brookings from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, where she served as the organization’s lead financial sector specialist. Prior to her tenure at CGAP, Busette was the inaugural head of the Office of Financial Education at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She also previously served as a senior economics policy fellow at the Center for American Progress and as vice president of EARN, a leading provider of micro savings services to low-income families in the U.S.

“We are honored and excited that Dr. Busette will bring to Brookings her commitment, passion, and expertise for improving the lives of under-served communities,” said Talbott.

Darrell West, vice president of Governance Studies, added, “I can think of no one more qualified than Camille Busette to lead Brookings’ efforts to promote ideas that unlock racial and geographic barriers to economic mobility in America.”

As director of the Brookings Race, Place, and Economic Mobility Initiative, Busette will bring to bear her personal expertise as well as the Institution’s strengths—unparalleled convening power, a commitment to rigorous scholarship, and a track record of policy impact—to develop practical solutions to the complex factors that perpetuate inequality of opportunity.

She said, “I am delighted to be joining Brookings in this capacity. The challenges of race and economic opportunity are vexing and complicated and Brookings, with its storied reputation, is the best place to engage a variety of voices in overcoming the barriers to economic mobility confronted by millions of people.”

Busette holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. She is a former Ford Foundation Post-doctoral Research Fellow.