Jennifer S. Vey is a senior fellow with Brookings Metro and the director of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking. Vey’s work primarily focuses on how place-based policies and practices can generate widespread economic, social, and environmental benefits. She is the author or co-author of dozens of Brookings publications examining the changing place needs of people and businesses; the implications of these shifts on how we live and work; and how transformative placemaking investments can support the development of more vibrant, connected, and inclusive communities. She also co-edited Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Older Industrial Areas (2008) and Hyper-local: Place Governance in a Fragmented World (2022).
Prior to joining Brookings in 2001, Vey was a community planning and development specialist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She earned a Master of Planning degree from the University of Virginia and holds a B.A. in Geography from Bucknell University. She lives with her family in Baltimore.
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Areas of Expertise
- Innovation Districts
- Urban reinvestment
- Regional economic competitiveness
- Metropolitan growth and development
- Placemaking
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Current Positions
- Executive Vice President of Policy and Research, Greater Baltimore Committee
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Past Positions
- Senior Fellow, Brookings Metro
- Director, The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking
- Fellow, Brookings Metro (2007-2015)
- Senior Research Analyst, Senior Research Associate, Brookings Metro (2001-2007)
- Community Development Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1999-2001)
- Budget Analyst, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1998-1999)
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Education
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, Master of Planning, 1997
- University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, graduate study in geography, 1993-1994
- Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, Bachelor of Arts, Geography, 1993